US Citizen Named Mohamad "Excused" from Waiter Job for Bush F/R Banquet

[Bertha Venation]

I searched to see if this had been posted already -- didn't find it.

From The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40265-2003Dec5.html

Arab American Waiter Ousted from Fundraiser Claims Bias

An Arab American waiter who has worked for seven years at the Hyatt Regency in Baltimore said he was sent home yesterday prior to a presidential fundraiser by a manager who asked him just one question: "Is your name Mohamad?"

Mohamad I. Pharoan, 58, a naturalized U.S. citizen, said that he was not told why he was being sent home, but that he believed he was singled out by the U.S. Secret Service or the hotel's security staff because of his ethnicity or religion.

<snip>

President Bush raised more than $1 million for his reelection campaign at the afternoon banquet for more than 550 people at the Hyatt Regency at the Inner Harbor. Pharoan said he arrived for work dressed in a tuxedo at 8:24 a.m., about four hours before the banquet. An employee from the hotel's personnel office checked off his name on a master list, Pharoan said. About 15 minutes later, he said, the Hyatt's banquet manager pulled him aside and asked about his first name. It was a strange question, he said, because he was sure the manager knew his name.

"I told him, 'Yes, my name is Mohamad,' " Pharoan said. "He said, 'I'm sorry, we cannot use you today -- you have to go home.'"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I suggest you read the rest of the article. The Secret Service, of course, is denying any involvement.

When I first heard of this, I -- it's not that I didn't believe it, I wouldn't put anything past this scummy administration -- but I couldn't assimilate it. Kathy'd read it in the Post and told me about it and I sat there for a minute, staring at her with my jaw on the ground.

on edit: I misspelled "Mohamad."

[Gman]

1. They probably also sent home men named

Juan and Jose and a waitress named Sheniqua. Allowed to stay were the Tom's, Dick's and Harry's.

Can't have any unAmerican sounding names here.

[Bertha Venation]

2. kick

"No biggy. It's just one man."
"It's not like he was fired."
"Hey -- you must've missed the naturalized citizen part."
"You can't be too careful."
"Helloo -- he's from Syria!"
"Helloo -- he's Muslim!"

"Big fucking deal."

Where is the outrage?

[CityZen-X]

3. A Man Named Yashua

was sent home long ago.

[LizW]

4. Disgusting, but not surprising

And even worse, if the man continues to object to this discrimination, he will undoubtedly end up out of a job and maybe even in jail. If Bush's* SS was behind this, and the man makes a fuss that looks bad for them, something will magically show up in his past that is incriminating. Then the whole story will be "Look how thorough we are and how we protected the Pres and found this threat before he could do anything!"

[Bertha Venation]

5. excuse me while I

go call Ralph on the big white telephone. The scenario you propose makes me retch -- because it's entirely plausible.

I am so angry I don't know how to deal with it. The thought of four more years of this administration makes me shudder & want to check job listings in Vancouver.

Kathy said she'd gladly suffer four more years if it meant that not one more human being died in Iraq as a result of *'s war. I'm not even sure that's a good enough reason.

[KharmaTrain]

6. Knuckledrag Connection

A-Rab = Terrorist = Bomber = Death To Fearless Leader

Black = Drug User = Terrorist = Gangbanger = Death To Fearless Leader

Hispanic = Drug Seller = Terrorist = Castro = Death To Fearless Leader

You don't want these subversives around a real "Murican"...of course, unless he's "one of ours"...you know, that Chalabi guy sitting in the corner with the $2,000 suit and his friends. Or there's that Faud dude...and his weasely-looking foreign spinner...ya know, the people who run radio commercials saying how they love America...so much they couldn't dare spare us the details on how their own killed 3,000 of ours (the ones they love) or why killing us is taught in their schools. Well, guess a case could be made that there's a quid pro quo going on right now in many Sunday School classrooms.

Repugnicans always need a boogie man...that scary A-rab terrorist has been money in the bank, literally, for 3 years now. Just keep the riff-raff out of the way...they make the rich people lose their appetites.