[WOBBLY BOB]

“these are not the Somalian fishermen I knew”

[adorno]

“these are not the Somalian fishermen I knew”

To Obama, it's more like: "There, but for the grace of Allah, go I".

Obama can identify with those hostage takers/pirates/terrorists. He's probably sympathizing with them and the thought has probably entered his mind that, if he hadn't been brought to the U.S. by his mom, that he probably could have ended up being one of those pirates. Obama is putting himself in those pirate shoes.