"P.B.O."

"To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy."

- President Barack Hussein Obama

Regarding Obamania ... couldn't help but feel taken by the scene in DC yesterday ... After all, it is where I grew up - and where so much good (& bad) happens ... Yesterday was definitely a positive step ... America needed it & the world needed to see & hear it ...

Although, like many Arabs/Muslims, I am concerned about some of the stances he has taken with respect to our foreign policy - particularly his most recent choice to not speak up when over a thousand Palestinian civilians were slaughtered in Gaza on our dime ... He did (finally) address both Muslims in America & the "Muslim World" as a whole ... Offering a hopeful alternative to the rocky relationships that have existed thus far ... Allowing them to see what a peaceful transition of democratic power looks like - something our people rarely get to witness ... Let alone what a basketball-playing, daps-giving, cigarette-smoking, inspiring-speech-delivering, community-organizing, smooth-operating, new American leader with a Swahili/Arabic name looks like!

My immediate fam is in Dubai right now, and the feelings Abu-7meid expressed are undoubtedly what I would be feeling were I with them ...

But alas, I was not ... I was here in Los Angeles with my better-half's family & a few close friends ... A mosaic of Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Black, White, Brown, & Beige Americana ... so these words meant that much more to us:

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace."

Thank You Mr.President ... I sinsyrianly HOPE WE CAN!!!

3iiiiiiiiish