My 2009 Presidential Inauguration Thoughts

As I sit here this Tuesday morning watching my child play in front of me, I am excited and humbled by the events happening at our nation's capital. America has come so far! Looking past a persons skin color and at we really need to grow is an amazing thing, and I believe that we should be proud as Americans.

Last night Tony and I were able to watch the HBO special "We Are One" from Sunday's inaugural event at Lincoln Memorial. Performances from Garth Brook with his hit "We Shall Be Free" to Beyonce's take on "America the Beautiful" would have been enough to bring chills even to the toughest critics (I received them numerous times). It was a beautiful display of patriotism.

I am now glued to the television for the Inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama. The greeting of Barack and Michelle by the President and Mrs. Bush was very moving. Throughout the process of the interviews and election there has been coldness and disconnect felt from President Bush, but the greeting of the new President and his beautiful wife did not show this, which was wonderful to see. As they walked through the doors they even slapped each other on their backs, which yes nearly made me cry.

As a mother, I am proud of the country my child will grow up in. While there will always be racism, we have grown so much. As a voter, I will tell you that I am not Democratic or Republican, not red or blue, but I did vote for President Bush during both of his terms and I did vote for President-Elect Obama, for the same reasons. I vote because I believe in the person and what they can bring to my country and my family, which are the most important reasons for me.

Watching our new president and his family, literally tears me up. What wonderfully humble and real people. There are no underlying factors at work; no family money or big oil companies. Just real people wanting to make real change. Will change begin tomorrow? Of course not! There are so many things that have to happen first. At the state our country is in we may not see it for a year or so, but it will come.

Have Faith and God Bless!
Robyn Arbogast
visit us at thearbogasts.blogspot.com


The Hussein Name Flap is Absurd
December 12th, 2008 11:11 EST

Djelloul (Del) Marbrook (Editor/Mentor) this article can be found at http://thesop.org/index.php?article=14366

Juan R.I. Cole, a history professor at the University of Michigan, has written a cogent essay about the number of famous American names of Semitic origin. The essay was prompted by the hate campaign centered on President-elect Barack Hussein Obama`s name.

A repugnant e-mail and radio campaign to connect Barack Obama`s middle name with Muslim terrorism is being waged, and, like all ideologically driven smears, it rides roughshod over the truth.

Many Christian names are of Semitic origin. Many names thought to be Christian are of pre-Christian origin, meaning they have been Christianized by usage.

The Hussein in Barack Obama`s name is not Muslim, it is not a religious name, it is in fact a pre-Islamic Arab name, meaning the Comely One. True, many Muslims now bear the name, as many Christians bear pre-Christian pagan names. But the hate-mongers want us to believe that the name has something to do with Muslim terrorism. The popularity of the name Hussein derives from its having been borne by the Prophet Muhammed`s grandson.

Raising this bogus issue about it is rather like saying anyone named Sean has something to do with Irish terrorism, a notion we would immediately reject as absurd.

This swift-boating is an insult to the many Americans who bear Arab names, such as Gen. George Joulwan, our former European commander, or Gen. John P. Abizaid, our former Iraq commander, or the poet Naomi Shihab Nye or the late Gen. Omar N. Bradley or Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, former director of the National Institutes of Health, to mention but a few.

Their distinguished military service probably gave Generals Joulwan and Abizaid a pass from this hateful smear. And perhaps Tony Shalhoub`s endearing performance as Monk on television immunizes him against this rabidity.

But the facets of this kind of hatred are many. For example, it isn`t just Islamophobia at work here, it`s pure racism, and any Jew who takes comfort in the venom of the Christian right against Arabs and Islam should remember that such venom can turn on Jews in the wink of an eye, and often has.

Particularly disturbing is the abject failure of the media to clarify a simple fact about Barack Obama`s name whenever the issue arises, namely that Hussein is an ethnic name, not a religious name. Indeed this evening Wolf Blitzer on CNN, reporting the mindless flapdoodle concerning Barack Obama`s name, further muddied the waters by referring matter-of-factly to Hussein as a Muslim name. What is so hard for the media about this problem, considering the sheer amount of paid blather in which we`re bathed every day on airwaves that we all own?