You must understand my frustrations as somebody who observes two "worlds" (the American and the Arab "worlds").  While I lament American ignorance of things Arab/Muslim, I also lament Arab ignorance of things American.  I have just watched the weekly show on AlJazeera with Muhammad Hasanayn Haykal (the most famous and admired Arab journalist alive).  He has been talking about the US for the last two shows.  In last week's show, he told them that Kissinger had told him in the 1970s that "I am the president of the US."  Today, he told them that US senators run for re-election every two years, and that Americans have no attachment to their lands.  He told his audience about the "well known American journalist" Stanley Hoffman who writes in US newspapers (he was of course referring to the noted Harvard University professor of European affairs).  And he is supposed to be the keen Arab observer of the US scene.