In the advert television chef Rachael Ray is wearing a scarf that is said to look like a traditional Arab keffiyeh.Michelle Malkin, an ultra-conservative blogger, author, and previous guest host of The O'Reilly Factor, said the scarf is "a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos."
This is not new ground for Malkin. In 2006 she went after Ricky Martin and Howard Dean for wearing terrorist keffiyeys.
You may remember that Malkin wrote a book in 2004 that defended the internment of Japanese in WWII, and racial profiling in Bush's so called 'war on terror'.
If you don't, you did not miss much.
In late September 2007 Geraldo Rivera told the Boston Globe that:
"Michelle Malkin is the most vile, hateful commentator I've ever met in my life ... She actually believes that neighbors should start snitching out neighbors, and we should be deporting people. It’s good she’s in D.C. and I’m in NY. I’d spit on her if I saw her."Geraldo apologized for his comment.
I understand the disgust that Geraldo feels for Milkin. She is indeed "vile" in her beliefs about immigrants (her parents are Filipino immigrants) and migrant workers in the US, in particular.
But as ridiculous as her comment about Rachel Ray's scarf may appear to folks living outside the US, it has found support in the land of the "free and the brave".
Dunkin' Donuts said the scarf was:
"(S)elected by Rachael Ray's stylist and that no symbolism was intended. But given the possibility of misperception the commercial was no longer being used."Americans can now go back to eating, freely and bravely, as many Dunkin' Donuts as they want without having to worry about Rachel Ray and her terrorist scarf.
Milkin is pleased with the responsible action Dunkin' Donuts took.
She wrote that:
"Fashion statements may seem insignificant, but when they lead to the mainstreaming of violence - unintentionally or not - they matter."What vigilant genius hey? (Did you know there is a website called "Michelle Malkin is an Idiot"?)
I guess Michelle Malkin stood up for the empire and its love for donuts. She also put all us keffiyeh wearing terrorists in our place.
Damn, and I like a glazed one every now and then too. But not from Dunkin' Donuts.
My favourite donut place in the US is called Sesame Donuts. It is located on SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway in Portland (Oregon) and it is owned and run by a couple of really cool Arab brothers.
If you stop by please tell them I said Hi. They will remember me for sure! :0)
Image Credit 1 and Image Credit 2
10 comments:
ARE THEY F***ING KIDDING US!!! OMG - the level of intolerance and witch hunting is just unbelievable.
I'd like to put Malkin into some 4-pt leather restraints and force Dunkin Donuts into various orifices (sorry Ridwan, I won't feel offended if you delete this)!
Never could stand Rachel Ray, but maybe I'll support her now. And DEFINITELY buy a few DD's (even though they suck) on this trip to Portland.
Be well, Brother
Shusli
I am absolutely not offended my sista Shusli.
I am no fan of Rachel Ray. And I don't think she acted to defend her scarf or its association.
She is about selling after all.
Be safe travelling to Portland.
Peace to you too,
Ridwan
Well....guess I'll be freezing on my bike on my next winter ride - can't wear a scarf any more. (Just so that people don't pick up on the fact that I'm actually on my way to behead sombody.) While I'm at it, I best contact Michael Jackson to get some skin lightening treatment and shave my 'tache - that way I can carry on my terror activities without arousing suspicion.
btw - has Malkin had herself and her immigrant family deported yet?
Yeah you want to be careful broer. Maybe we should hang a sign around our necks that pledge loyalty to the empire and its mindset.
Kind of like the Chinese, Thai, etc, restaurants that displayed huge US flags after 9/11 (just in case beef broccoli was deemed subversive or terroristic).
Malkin, who was born in the US immediately after her immigrant parents got there, is against giving the US born children of immigrants and migrants automatic citizenship.
She, of course, exempts herself.
This kind of nonsense finds a warm reception among many conservative Americans (and others).
These folks assume an automatic right to what Columbus
'discovered'.
They barely pay attention to the historical condition of Indians.
All settler societies are myopic and selfish in this regard.
In my many American years I frequently came across folks like Malkin, ok maybe not so crass.
They reminded me of those Greek, Portuguese, and east European, immigrants in SAfrica who arrived in the 70s but were hardly shy to join in the racist utopia with their English and Afrikaner compatriots.
Do you remember Wolmaranstad?
In the mid-80s we were kicked out of a general shop (cafe) in Wolmaranstad because we were not white.
The owners were just off the boat from Portugal but stared us down with that familiar apartheid gaze that still pops up from time to time in post-apartheid Mazansi.
Don't forget the Wimpy in Wolmaranstad. They would not serve anyone but whites.
Blacks, coloureds, and Indians, had to go around to the side where there was a window in the wall.
All the cooking was done by Black folk who would be chased away if they tried to buy food themselves.
That sh*t carried on until the very late 80s.
Now Black folk are reproducing some aspects of that mindset with the violence against migrants.
How much have we travelled broer?
Not much in my opinion. And our new leaders have learned so well from our previous apartheid
'masters'.
And how different is all this sh*t from the mindset of Malkin in the US?
It is a violent mindset that causes great pain for the unfortunate folk she wants to shunt around.
I remember when my friend Eugene spoke to one of my classes in Portland. Eugene is an Indian and he started by welcoming the class to his land.
The students were taken by surprise. Most of them were born in the US and mostly assumed an organic and historical right to be present in America.
It was a good lesson broer. And his point left a lasting impression.
Malkin and her folks would be well advised to do the same.
Be well and safe Tony.
Peace,
Ridwan
According to Wikipedia,(sorry) lol The keffiyeh has been seen as chic among non-Arabs in the West, who may be uninterested in politics, the military, or both. Keffiyehs became popular in the US in the late 1980s, at the start of the First Intifada,when bohemian girls wore keffiyehs as scarves around their necks. In the early 2000s, keffiyehs were very popular among youths in Tokyo who often wore them with camouflage clothing. The trend recurred in the mid-2000s in the United States, Europe,Canada and Australia, when the keffiyeh became popular as a fashion accessory, usually worn as a scarf around the neck in hipster circles. Stores such as Urban Outfitters and TopShop stocked the item. After some controversy, however, Urban Outfitters pulled the item. In spring 2008, keffiyehs in colors like purple and mauve were given away in issues of fashion magazines in Spain and France.
The only controversy I see, is that people are if anything out of ignorance, disrespecting Palestinians by their lack of understanding of what the Keffiyeh really means, or the history of it's use. As the article points out, sometimes people are just trying to be sympathetic or supportive of the Palestinian issue.
I'm sure in light of Dunkin Dounuts and Rachel Ray, the item was simply seen as a chic fashion statement. (not that I see it that way). It is ridiculous to think that Rachel Ray supports terrorism, and further that Palestinians represent terrorism. This, is what people should be concerned about. Lets spend our time trying to think of ways of helping these people, rather than coming down on a self made hard working Italian American from upstate NewYork. (thats just a fact, i'm not a huge fan)
PS. there is a Sesame Doughnut shop in Tigard, Oregon as well. Suppost to be dam good.
Hello Dione. Thanks kindly for your comment here.
I see a lot of Keffiyeh's in and around my neighborhood. It is part of Muslim dress here.
I have seen a few lefties wear what may be constructed as a political keffiyeh. Who cares right?
I am sometimes forced to wear neck tie and jacket and I am not a murderer like Bush.
It is all a matter of perspective. And in this case Malkin is an absolute ass for spreading this kind of nonsense.
I saw on the Sesame Donut website that they have a new outlet in Tigard. Good for them, they are a class act.
Peace Dione,
Ridwan
Well, if anything good comes from this, it will be the fact that there will be one less place in which we will be forced to see Rachel Ray's face. Not saying she's ugly, but goddamn, there is just something so unpleasing about being "forced" to see someones face wherever you turn. Kinda like George Bush.
Many mainstream Americans are willfully stupid because, it makes stupid stuff like this actually seem reasonable. The alleged U.S. education system doesn't do a whole lot to help.
When Shusli and I spoke at Ridwan's class, a whole lotta eyes were opened. When you have an audience that has to listen... Shusli made some great commentary and allies in sisterhood their when she talked of mixed blood, which we both are. It was so sweet to see that, and the most important part of the class, in my opinion. Most of us, myself included, are mutts, as it were, and the faces of the women of Black heritage with light skin as they made contact with someone with a similar story was the greatest part of the whole day, to me. Beautiful things happened!
Then...the mainstream stupidness of the U.S. empire appears. Feirce in its stupidity... But, gladly, more people are starting to wake up to all of this, even those of former willful stupidity. Stupidity is not paying off like it used to in this nation.
By the way, Rachel Ray is not even a trained chef. She just wrote a cookbook and her skills in the kitchen and her good looks have carried her into the mainstream of America with her face used as a sales tool on way too many things.
Thanks for your comment Eugene. Rachel Ray is a big deal here too. Not big like Oprah, but like her in political substance.
I can hear folks say but neither is meant to be political.
Ummmm yeah, right.
Both are about reinforcing the 'commonsense' of the empire. They are the human faces of the very system that stand so heavy.
Larry King is another.
Be well brother,
Ridwan
Embarrassing...shameful...what a sad indication of how mindless the American public has become...
No doubt brother Dade, no doubt.
Peace,
Ridwan
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