Obama will stand with the Muslims

Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific reassurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.

From Barack Obama’s The Audacity of Hope on page 261.  An email is circulating which summarizes this as follows:

This guy wants to be our President and control our government…

From Audacity of Hope: “I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”

A noble sentiment from Obama is turned into a fear-mongering distortion.  This election will be brutal.  But we can win it.  And we must.