Rachael Ray and the Perception of Islam
I have often railed about how we kow-tow to over-sensitive Muslims that get their turbans in a twist over anything that might remotely seem offensive. To avoid insulting Muslims in the future it is imperative that we also avoid allowing them into this country or even displaying anything that remotely might appear as if we are endorsing terrorist culture or dress.
So it is completely appropriate that bloggers like Michelle Malkin knock some sense into Madison Avenue.
Michelle Malkin, 28 May 2008, The keffiyeh kerfuffle
My syndicated column today examines the keffiyeh kerfuffle with Dunkin’ Donuts and Rachael Ray that I noted on the blog last week. As you’ll recall, I linked to an item by LGF’s Charles Johnson about the scarf she wore in a recent Dunkin’ ad. Keffiyeh chic has been covered on this site and at Hot Air extensively (see here, here, and here). Anti-American fashion designers abroad and at home have mainstreamed and adapted the scarves as generic pro-Palestinian jihad or anti-war statements. Yet many folks out there remain completely oblivious to the apparel’s violent symbolism and anti-Israel overtones. Left-wing bloggers responded with complete scorn, deliberate mischaracterizations of the debate, and then outrage when Dunkin’ Donuts commendably showed sensitivity to the concerns and pulled the ad. The Boston Globe accused me of “yowling.” If you actually read my post and the column below, you’ll see no such thing.It’s interesting how much ire the Left shows when we civilly raise pointed questions about the power of insidious symbols. These are the same folks who have nothing to say when zealots on their side of the ideological aisle go about tearing down crosses and throwing tantrums over the symbols they abhor.
Islam is so evil, so destructive of Western values, that no corporation should be ignorant of that fact. No advertising agency would dare allow a swastika to appear on a container of milk; it's about time they also realized that kaffiyas, crescents, and other symbols of Islam are just as insulting and offensive to thinking Americans.
Here's more detail from the NY Times' blog:
Lede, 29 May 2008, Doughnuts: The Third Rail of American Politics?
A few months after doughnuts became a presidential campaign issue, they stood at the center of a storm created by right-leaning bloggers. This was a story about “donuts and dumb celebrities” who were “mainstreaming terrorism” to make a buck, asserted Little Green Footballs and Michele Malkin. And Atlas Shrugs revised a bell-ringing catchphrase thusly: “TIME TO MAKE THE JIHAD!”
Gallery of the Absurd has some interesting Rachel Ray Donut Recipes.
