Obama can't win

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - no matter what Obama does, he just can't win.

He can't live up to his own hype - who could? Here's an obviously intelligent man who's walked into one of the most difficult jobs in the world at one of the worst possible time in history. The world is still in love with Obama, but I cynically find myself wondering how long it can last, once everyone realizes that he's a plain old mortal.

Of course, everyone here is talking about Obama's speech yesterday. I managed to listen to the whole thing using the White House's streaming website, and I admit, I was impressed.

I was impressed by the strength of his language, if not always for the content. I thought his seven - was it seven? - speaking points were well-chosen, although I hadn't anticipated a discussion on women's education. And I was surprised to hear his forceful statements on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, because he had to know that no matter what he said, someone was going to get pissy.

And yet he did it anyway. Cheers. How did he put it?

But I am convinced that in order to move forward, we must say openly the things we hold in our hearts, and that too often are said only behind closed doors.

I had dinner last night with a senior university official who was present at the speech, and she described it as a love-fest, with people whistling, and cheering, and calling his name throughout the speech.

Watching the video, I didn't get that sense through the entire speech - in fact, there were several places where it seemed to me Obama paused, expecting applause, and none came. As I recall, those were in the portions of the speech pertaining to Iraq and to Israel.

I was also surprised to hear that Hillary was there! I haven't heard one single word about her in weeks!

The university official also said that Obama wasn't introduced, he just walked onto the stage and some people weren't ready for him. Which is odd, because I distinctly recall hearing "Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States" come over my connection.


Awhile ago I blogged a plea to Obama to highlight similarities rather than differences in his speech, and to point out to the world that since we made this mess, we can fix it. I was very moved to hear:

So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. This cycle of suspicion and discord must end.

The New York Times has run a series of "Arab" student responses to Obama's speech. Imagine my shock to recognize the faces of three of my former students smiling back at me! The first three students are former pupils of mine. As I recall, one of them is Egyptian, one Jordanian, and one (the third) is Palestinian.

I'm still struck by the issue of "Arabness" in Egyptian identity. Call an Egyptian an Arab and you've got a fight on your hands. But as soon as the Palestinian issue comes up, it's "our brothers" this and "we Arabs" that. I'm constantly perplexed by this. You could stretch the point further by highlighting the fact that Iranians and Afghanis aren't Arabs either (I recall a moment at a dinner party in my former institution where one professor, with a merlot-red tongue, called my Persian adviser an "Ay-rab." It was a bit shocking). I suppose it has something to do with the perception of a foreign, evil "other" ....

But what do I know? I'm just a lowly biologist.

I feel like just as I'm beginning to get a handle on the depth and complexity of my questions about the region, I'm leaving.

And I haven't even begun to get started on the answers.