Khaled Hosseini on McCain/Palin

Here.

There is one thing that makes me uneasy though: Hosseini is upset at McCain/Palin's failure to "denounce the use of Obama's middle name (Hussein) as an insult." I, however, am puzzled at Obama's lack of a position on his middle name. It seems to me that he could have decided, long ago, that he does not like it, and had it officially altered or dropped. Or, if he does not object to it, he could declare that his middle name is a fine and honourable name, and though he is not himself a Muslim, direct or implied Muslim-baiting by the use of his middle name is not acceptable.

It seems to me that his lack of clarity on this kind of thing invites such attacks, and worse, raises doubts in the minds of those who don't believe that all Muslims are evil. But Obama is a consummate politician and there is no doubt that he has calculated the electoral costs and benefits of every possible course of action: presumably he has concluded that silence is best. McCain and Palin, with their increasingly grating tantrums, seem to be digging their own graves. Why take away their shovel?