Excitedly yelled my autistic brother all of twenty-one years, who caught a glimpse of the pre-oath ceremonies before skipping off to get ready for school that morning.
My brother’s deep patriotism, one that awaited the day the departure of Bush was made official, welcomed this moment as the culmination of lost hope in a man who sent American troops on a death march to Iraq five, almost six, years ago.
Although I can confidently say that my brother and I depart from each other’s ideological political positioning significantly, I could still appreciate my brother’s excitement over the “regime change.”
My father’s reaction rested more on what was not said. Although what was said focused squarely on the, in his mind, strange reverence for the recitation of the oath over the invocation and the benediction, the political over the religious. He could not understand why, consistently, as both the reverend and the pastor approached the podium and recited their sermons, why the audience remained seated for that portion and stood up in unison for the arrival of Supreme Court Justice John Roberts. This appeared to my father as a weird twist to the separation of church and state, wherein the state is church. But there was one particular recitation that delighted my father, Obama’s choice to include his middle name in its entirety, “Hussein,” and not by initial.
However, what was not said was very much written in lines that produced and maintained his stunned grimace: a Blackamerican officially became the 44th President of the United States, at 12:01pm and not after taking the oath of office-as my father, the ever astute political historian remarked (so excited was he to point out this little known factoid before the CNN correspondents announced this executive office protocol to their millions plus viewing audience). For a man who arrived to the states in 1968, a couple of months after the assassination of MLK, the U.S.’s racism-infused atmosphere emitted a pungent stench that filled the air and was hard to miss, even for a Syrian Bedouin country-bumpkin, fresh off the TWA jet from Brussels.
As would have been expected, given the Obama administration’s silence on Gaza and our community’s already marked division over the election of the man, this historic moment gave rise to mixed reactions coming from Arab-Americans. Facebook status alerts were litmus test-ament to this: ranging from a bashful admittance that they too “teared up during Obama’s speech” and proclaiming that “this is our moment for change,” some regarded this moment as an omen that portended American greatness. While others who asserted, “_____is hoping our new President’s policies never warrant a shoe-throwing.” and “_____”How can we throw coins into a fountain of blood and wish for peace?” Hope Obama will cut aid to Israel & hold it accountable 4 war crimes-hopeful, I know :-/” towed the ever familiar line of pessimistically-tinged apprehension and one-issue political positioning.
Related posts:
- The Mish ’3aarif Model: Bush and Arab Leaders Should Follow the Perv
- Inauguration Day: Burying the Gaza Dead
- Why Arab Americans should not vote
- Guest Post: How Will Arab-Americans Be Voting Tomorrow?
- Political Unity for Arab Americans?
welcomed this moment as the culmination of lost hope in a man who sent American troops on a death march to Iraq five, almost six, years ago…
Death march? Wow. Just… wow. Not big on history, eh, Maytha?
Posted by programmer craig | January 21, 2009, 1:41 amOh… I forgot to ask if you viewed the Obama Presidency as a vindication for Kabobfest nitwits? Didn’t you guys support Ralph Nader? And was I imagining all those racist and demeaning posts directed at Obama?
But now he’s in office, Kabobfesters will tell themselves and everyone else that he only got to where he is because of support of people like them… and you’ll expect him to deliver things that you want, or threaten to withdraw your non-support, right?
Been reading this blog for years, and I still haven’t figured out how those chaotic little brains of yours function.
Posted by programmer craig | January 21, 2009, 1:47 amPC it’s good to have you back. I missed yoU!
Posted by Anonymous | January 21, 2009, 2:11 amCan’t wait for the world to get scrubbed clean with the audacity of soap!
Posted by Anonymous | January 21, 2009, 9:43 amI’m not back. I was on toot trying to click on Lawrence of Cyberia and ended up here. Fuckers.
Posted by programmer craig | January 21, 2009, 11:25 amWelcome back PC, its just not as fun without you.
Posted by Super Sayyin | January 21, 2009, 11:58 ammy, my PC-that's quite a mouth you have on you. I had no idea
Posted by Maytha | January 21, 2009, 2:17 pmMaytha, you have too much “favorite” junk. Nobody has that much stuff they like. Everyone knows you are lying. Also, you have too many blogs. Anyone with more than 2 blogs is just trying way too hard to be relevant. Get back into college and get a degree in something besides propaganda, get a good job, get married and have a few kids, buy a nice house and then a nicer one… you might find you don’t hate the world so much. Or maybe your husband will divorce you and be a deadbeat dad and you’ll be on welfare and you’ll end up just like all those dried up old hippies in Berkeley, old lonely and bitter. But it’s worth a shot, right?
Posted by programmer craig | January 22, 2009, 1:48 amMaytha do you mean Jean-Paul Sartre when referring to Satre’s essays?
Posted by Anonymous | January 22, 2009, 3:57 amyo Anon 3:57-are you talking about my list of favorite books on my profile? I believe so-but I’m going to have to update that list. Things might have changed.
Posted by Maytha | January 22, 2009, 8:47 amI believe so-but I’m going to have to update that list. Things might have changed.
See? You can’t even remember which authors you were claiming as favorites!
Posted by programmer craig | January 22, 2009, 11:57 am