It is his name – he should use it proudly.

Barack Obama says his presidency is an opportunity for the U.S. to renovate its relations with the Muslim world, starting the day of his inauguration and continuing with a speech he plans to deliver in an Islamic capital.

And when he takes the oath of office Jan. 20, he plans to be sworn in like every other president, using his full name: Barack Hussein Obama.

The manÂ’s name is Barack Hussein Obama. Why should he shrink from using it? Indeed, one of the silliest controversies of the election season was over whether or not the use of that middle name constituted a vicious hate attack on the then-candidate. This move by the new president should settle that question once and for all.

As for the speech, I’ve commented on what he should say and where he should say it in a previous post. All I will say in addition to those earlier words is that the only “reboot” needed in the speech is a metaphorical one applied to the rumps of followers of Islam. Mutual respect and goodwill are wonderful – but not if they mean the sacrifice of fundamental American values like freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion around the world. To the degree that Islam is an obstacle to the spreading of those values around the world, there can be no mutual respect – and to the degree that the followers of Islam use terror and violence to oppose such freedom, there can be no goodwill.

Posted by: Greg at 01:54 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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