If it ain’t over ‘til it’s over, it’s over at last. Yes, he did it. The next President of the United States, it is finally safe to say with a loud voice, is Barack Hussein Obama. Not just Barry for the ESPN fans, nor Barack H. for those frightened of prejudicial backlash from the Bible Belt, but a candidate who won decisively despite a middle name of Hussein. There is no reason why President Obama should use his middle name. Bill Clinton resonated without a Jeffersonian middle and Jack Kennedy marched into Camelot without his Bostonian f-word on the lips of reporters. But neither is there any need to disguise the fact that a name like Hussein, or even Muhammad, is as American as Tom, Dick, Harry, Mario, Chang, Hideki, Prideep or any of the myriad names that grace American passports.

Names do matter, but nothing matters more than getting over the name blame game that highlighted the Islamophobia in this tense, mercifully past tense now, presidential campaign. The turning point that sealed the fall of the McCain/Palin ticket was no doubt the economic crisis, but the ethical zenith of the electoral mudfest surely came from the heartfelt reflection of General Colin Powell, who reminded the entire nation that the blood of a soldier who died for his country is no less honorably shed when he has a Muslim name. The most powerful nation on the planet now has a President who embodies the diversity of the American dream, not the perversity of white supremicists and rightwing religious demagogues. This is the good news.

But the bad news is not about to disappear. The media pundits will carry on the talking head size conversation over Wall Street, tax reform, health care, education, ending two wars and a tsunami size national debt, as they should. But even John McCain’s gracious concession will not stop the deep-seated prejudice on the christo-eccentric landscape of red-state-blue-state politics against those who do use the name Hussein or Fatima. The invective permeating robocalls and unsolicited DVD offerings of hate films like Obsession will not magically disappear after the inauguration. Indeed, now that the election itself fades into yesterday’s news, expect a surge of news stories that shift the attention back to the War on Terrorism. Like the cinematic remakes of Halloween, the allegedly liberal elite media will recast their entertainment-first reportage to satisfy a public that revels in othering. All it takes is a suicide bomb, a cassette to Al-Jazeera or a stoning in Somalia to light up the screen with cultural clash.

I hope and trust that President Obama will be the leader the country and the world so desperately needs. But I am also proud that his name is Hussein and that his father came freely from a continent that so many other men and women left in chains on slave ships. The audacity of hope has no statute of limitations, but it can never be taken for granted.

Daniel Martin Varisco