I am not qualified to speak on this matter beyond having a friend from Iran with family still there, but when has that ever stopped anyone from giving their opinion on the Internet? I suspect that what Reality-Based Lefty says is true - such laws are probably not a visible part of daily life for the middle class. I also suspect that they are more of a problem in smaller, less urban communities where there is greater likelihood of stuff like this being enforced. Like many such laws, they exist not to be enforced all the time, but to provide another tool and more leeway for the police and government to enforce their will. The point is not how often people are arrested for this, but that anyone CAN be arrested for it.

Tell me, have you actually gone to college?

I can't say I didn't see this coming. In all the furor about Obama being a "secret Muslim" and the campaign's fervent denials, I always wished that someone would at least have the decency to point out that such accusations, while obviously intended as a smear, should not be considered so even if they are false, because there is nothing wrong with being a Muslim. I wish that Obama had had the courage to make a similar reply to that of J.R.R. Tolkien when responding to fascist accusations of his being Jewish: ".. I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people". Instead, his denials validate the premise that being Muslim would somehow automatically disqualifies one from the presidency.

However, I fear that his response, sadly, is what is required to win. Considering that Howard Dean was savaged for the mere suggestion of being "evenhanded" in our Mideast policy (a situation that pretty much reveals everything you need to know about the Israel Lobby), I don't doubt that anything less than antipathy towards Muslims would be translated as 'softness' by those repugnant vultures. I can only hope (and I think that given his friendship with UChicago professors, I am justified in believing this) that Obama personally doesn't share these views and will indeed have the courage to take a more 'evenhanded approach' once he reaches office. I also hope that others will realize this and not demand too much of him during the campaign (though after the campaign is an entirely different story). We live in a disgusting, narrow-minded nation that has demonized an entire culture and an entire side of the political spectrum. We cannot hope to win by openly stating all of our ideals. The best we can hope for is incremental change.