Colin Powell

During his endorsement of Obama on Meet the Press, Colin Powell mentioned the dirty tactic of many GOP officials and supporters calling Obama a terrorist, Arab and Muslim. Only one of those three should be taken as an insult. But Arab and Muslim have been hurled as insults. The one time that McCain has come to Obama's defense against a posse that he and Palin rounded up in Minnesota, a woman said that she heard Obama is an Arab. McCain took the microphone from her and told her, "No... he's a decent family man." As if Arab men aren't decent family men. I don't think that was McCain's intention at all. He knew where she was going with the question, and didn't want her to say "terrorist". He knew that she thought Arab, Muslim and terrorist are synonyms. But I think many people in attendance, as they booed McCain for defending Obama, thought McCain, like them didn't believe that you can be both Arab and decent.

Several journalists have addressed this, but there has been an absence of defence of Islam and Arabs from politicians. Until Colin Powell's Meet the Press appearance. This could not have been said any better.

"Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That's not America. Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that he is a Muslim and might have an association with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel particularly strong about this because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay, was of a mother at Arlington Cemetery and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone, and it gave his awards - Purple Heart, Bronze Star - showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death, he was 20 years old. And then at the very top of the head stone, it didn't have a Christian cross. It didn't have a Star of David. It has a crescent and star of the Islamic faith.

And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he could serve his country and he gave his life."