I have a flu, but am not too sick to be outraged. You know who bothers the Angry Arab? (Here you are all supposed to say, in unison: "Who, oh Angry Arab?"). Muslim American organizations. They really bother me. I am more likely to donate money to Tony Danza Fan Club, than to them. Since Sep. 11 they have gotten worse. First, they think that they can really out-smart the system: One Muslim-American leader was bragging in Florida in 2000 about how many Muslim votes he had brought for George W. Bush, and how George W. Bush is going to be great for Muslim and Arab rights. His name is Sami Al-`Aryan and he is now in jail on various charges of aiding terrorism. Of course, those Muslim organizations are so conservative socially that they are in tune with the social agenda of the Republican Party. And I hate how they feel that they have to offer daily apologies for any act by any Muslim anywhere around the world. Why? Not that one endorses such acts; but when you feel obligated to offer apologies for every act of violence by every kook or person who happens to be Muslim or Arab you are only reinforcing the suspicion. Arabs and Muslims in the US should insist that their citizenship is not conditional; that they should not be expected to issue a press release every time or any time a Muslim does anything anywhere. We do not expect Jewish Americans or Methodist Americans to account for the behavior of every Jewish person or every Methodist person; and by the same token, we should not expect Muslim groups to do that. It is crazy. And they love to invite White House officials to their conferences. (Here, this group invited a White House official, who happens to be of Middle East backgroud--most likely the only token one in the radius of the White House--to a panel on Iraq, and he told them what a wonderful job Bush is doing in that occupation. He also did not waste time to name all the countries of the "coalition" to deny that this is an American enterprise. I saw part of that on C-Span and he did not name Micronesia despite its heroic soldier in Iraq. You can watch the silly conference, especially if you are dying to hear that Islam is compatible with democracy and with women's rights.And with all what is going on in the world, especially in Iraq and Palestine, MPAC is busy issuing a press release saying that they: "strongly oppose the decision of the French government to ban Islamic headscarves from public schools as a major affront to freedom of religion and expression." Notice how they forgot to notice that the French ban did NOT single out Muslim headscarves. Also, they are dying for acceptance or approval by the US government, and would love to have their pictures taken with White House officials. James Zoghby of the Arab American Institute is the master of such silliness. If we Arab Americans are even interned in this country, James Zoghby will drive the buses taking us to camps, and then have his picture taken with the prison guards, and take it to UAE to ask for money for his group.