Ba-Rockin in the Muslim World

Don’t let the White House’s coyly understated title fool you. The “Remarks by the President at Cairo University” delivered on June 4 will forever be known as “The Speech to the Muslim World.” Our first orator-in-chief in a long time dazzled with a 55-minute riff on history and politics, Jews and Muslims, Barack Obama in Kenya and Barack Obama in Indonesia. Buried among the many important messages Obama had for the Muslim world, however, was this equally important message from the Muslim world to Obama (included only in the transcript the White House released):

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Barack Obama, we love you!
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you. (Applause.)

(For the record, this is practically inaudible in the video. Seriously. Go to 40:00: "Lower Quality Version: President Obama Speaks to the Muslim World from Cairo, Egypt")

All kidding aside, though, I’ve been wondering as I’ve watched and read this speech just who Obama thinks he is. Despite the token admission that “no single speech can eradicate years of mistrust”, he launches into a series of verbal apologies and attempts to, it seems, eradicate years of mistrust.

I entirely agree with the President’s identification of American misunderstanding of the Muslim world. Americans often do conflate Muslims as a whole with the violent extremists who pervert Islam and the teachings of Muhammad. They are not Muslims, and the sooner we figure that out, the better. Yet is Obama so arrogant as to think that the sound of his voice is enough to counteract that ignorance?

But it seems the President has anticipated a counterargument. He made it clear with that mellifluous voice that, to relieve the “tensions” between America and Islam, “The first issue that we have to confront is violent extremism in all of its forms.” Ohhh, ok, my bad...

...Waaaait a minute...(wow, you almost got me! You're good, you.) If that’s the first issue we have to confront, then why are you talking about it before taking active steps that clearly improve on those of your predecessor to confront it? Why are you delivering an apology to the Muslim world instead of delivering a “stop-besmirching-the-good-name-of-my-friends-the-Muslim-world-or-else” to the violent extremist world? And I don’t mean a speech, either.

And, perhaps most importantly of all, why isn’t the President, perhaps the one man in the world who can get what he asks for most of the time, calling on the Muslim world to partner with us, in whatever ways we might need, to combat these extremists? The most helpful thing Obama can do for the Muslim world isn’t patronizing them, hitting up France, then coming home. It’s urging them to take on the filth masquerading around as members of their own faith and pledging our help in that effort.

The “Audience Member” you shut down with a "thank you" (seriously, not even a "love you too, man"?) may well echo the sentiments of the Muslim world by echoing your words of love, Mr. President. But remember what Mama Cass said:

Worn out phrases and longing gazes
Won’t get you where you want to go;
Words of love, soft and tender
Won’t win her anymore…