Untitled Document
Those goofy right-wing wardrobe police are at it
again, getting goofier by the day. First came the flag-pin flap. The wardrobe cops
insist that no politician should go out in public without sporting this
mandatory piece of bejeweled patriotism. When U.S. Sen. Barack Obama had
the integrity to say that his patriotism goes deeper than a flash of bling
on his lapel, he was immediately pounced upon by rabid talk-show
blatherers, bloggers, and other mad dogs of the kooky right. It’s
un-American not to wear flag jewelry, they yapped. Recently, though, their
yapping turned to yips when Karl Rove appeared on Fox TV — gasp!
— with a naked lapel. So the yappers found another target for their fashion
fanaticism: Rachael Ray. Yes, the perky Food Network celebrity was assailed
by the right wing for promoting Muslim extremism and terrorism. It seems
that Ray appeared in a Dunkin’ Donuts ad, ostensibly to hype the
fast-food chain’s iced coffee. But the ever-vigilant rightists saw
through the coffee, frantically pointing to the scarf that Ray was wearing.
It has a black-and-white pattern and a long white fringe. Aha! shrieked the
yappers — that’s a keffiyeh, the kind of headdress worn by Muslim suicide bombers. Don’t you see? yelped the right-wing chorus
— Ray and Dunkin’ Donuts are not selling coffee; their ad is
signaling symbolic support for the Islamic fiends who hate America! We must
stop anyone from wearing the dreaded scarf, they yelled. Never mind that Ray’s scarf is a paisley design
having nothing to do with terrorism. And never mind that the keffiyeh is worn every day in
the Middle East by teachers, workers, and others having no connection
whatsoever to terrorism — there’s no level of silliness too
extreme for the right-wing monitors of wardrobe correctness.
Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator,
columnist, and author.
This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 2, 2008.
