If you saw the clip of John McCain defending Barack Obama during one of his town hall meetings, you know what I'm talking about. A woman who could not quite put a sentence together (no, not Sarah Palin) said that she "couldn't trust Obama," and then went to say she'd read about him, but mostly stammered until she finally came out with it: "He's an Arab." And what was great was that McCain immediately shook his head, grabbed the microphone back and said, "No. He's a decent family man..." and then noted that they simply disagreed on the issues. But the point is, ladies and gentleman, HE IS NOT AN ARAB!! Phew. Thank God for that. It's one thing to have an African American president -- but an Arab American President? Don't worry -- it'll never happen.  Arab and terrorist have, of course, become synonymous.  Nevermind that the "terrorist" in question in the recent Republican attacks was Bill Ayres, a U.S. citizen (and a waspy one at that).  Arab is now the opposite of American, mom, apple pie, and everything decent in the world. No small wonder that the most successful underground (and not so underground) smear against Obama has been the rumor that he is a secret Muslim. My mother's family immigrated to the U.S. from Syria. They were Christian; they spoke Arabic at home when my mom was growing up, but they assimilated quickly. Now, I notice that many in my extended family do not mention that heritage. And I wonder about friends we have who have come more recently from the Middle East -- those whose accents and last names are recognizably Arab. For myself and other second and third generation Americans with Arabs in their closets, it's easy to pass. But what is it really like to be an Arab in America now, and will it be better under President Obama?