An apology, for the wrong reasons

In an earlier post, I noted an email I got from my cousin. In it she sent a photo of Obama carrying a book and ran on about his reading The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria (and the email noted he also was a Muslim). I usually ignore her political and religious notes, but had to respond to this one, since the book examines a world that is facing a number of rising economies and how the U.S. will fare in the future.
Here's a brief review: "This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else." So begins Fareed Zakaria's important new work on the era we are now entering. Following on the success of his best-selling The Future of Freedom, Zakaria describes with equal prescience a world in which the United States will no longer dominate the global economy, orchestrate geopolitics, or overwhelm cultures. He sees the "rise of the rest"—the growth of countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many others—as the great story of our time, and one that will reshape the world. The tallest buildings, biggest dams, largest-selling movies, and most advanced cell phones are all being built outside the United States. This economic growth is producing political confidence, national pride, and potentially international problems. How should the United States understand and thrive in this rapidly changing international climate? What does it mean to live in a truly global era? Zakaria answers these questions with his customary lucidity, insight, and imagination.
My cousin sent an apology, but only apologizing if she "offended" me, ignoring the really offensive part: the ignorance and malice in the matter she forwarded.