Hebba Aref and Shimaa Abdelfadeel arrived at the Joe with different groups of friends and associates, each enthusiastic Obama supporters.  Before the event began each of the groups were invited to take seats directly behind Senator Obama to "enhance the camera shot."  

That's campaign parlance for feigning diversity for the television audience.  Problem is it looks like the Barackstar is only so interested in equality and diversity.  While their groups were invited to take prominent seats both Aref and Abdelfadeel were individually forbidden from joining their friends and associates because they were wearing traditional Muslim head scarves.

Aref's group, for their part, took up for their girl and refused to provide the Obama camp with an assist after personally seeing her profiled.

Aref, who was born in the United States to Egyptian immigrants, said she had defended Obama during the primaries against a constant drumbeat of rumors that he was Muslim...

She was grateful that the group she was with at the rally, which included her brother, Sharif, as well as non-Muslim colleagues of his, declined the invitation to take seats behind Obama after she was refused.

Still, she said, it was difficult to hear a Obama's message of unity among races.

"As he's saying it, I'm thinking, 'Well, wait a minute, I was obviously ... profiled and discriminated against an hour ago.'"

Look, I'm no fan of Senator Obama but this one even surprises me.  Aref received a half-aced apology from a campaign spokesman but is demanding a personal apology from Barack himself.  She and Miss Abdelfadeel deserve far more than that.  They deserve a Presidential candidate who talks about unity and actually means it.

Obama, who has personally and repeatedly deflected rumors and intimations that he is himself a Muslim claims to be a Bible believer.  I'd humbly submit he re-familiarize himself with the second chapter of the Letter of James which teaches in verses 14 through 17:

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save him?

Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

If the Jim Johnson and AIPAC / Hamas examples are any indication Obama will apologize at some point soon and then fire a staffer.  Heck, he'll probably invite the women to sit next to him on a stage somewhere and make them living props while lavishing them with praise for this or that.  

It's just a shame the man has to continue firing, retracting and apologizing.  On the issues of race, faith, discrimination and equality there's no room for these sorts of repulsive "gaffes."