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The controversy: Rachel Raw did a Dunkin Donuts commercial wearing what she calls paisley scarf. Michelle Malkin and Fox News forced DD to take off the commercial because they thought that Ray was a terror sympathiser.

Senator McCain’s daughter Meghan McCain wearing a kafiyeh?

Rachel Ray says this is just a paisly scarf, but Dunkin Donuts pulled the ad.

It is a sad day in the USA when a small minority can dictate to America and American citizens what they can wear or not wear. Isn’t this what we are fighting for…the freedom…the freedom to wear or not to wear anything…

You can see some nice photos of Meghan McCain waring a real keffiyeh at http://gawker.com/5003288/mccain-daughter-dons-islamic-terror-scarf

The accompanying text:

“An email tipster discovered John McCain’s family blog has been infiltrated at the deepest level by enemies of America. Meghan McCain, daughter of the Republican presidential candidate, is really into the keffiyeh, scarf of Middle Eastern Precious Freedoms Haters, and even wears it on the so-called Straight Talk Express, and also in the presence of her apparent sympathizer mom Cindy McCain! Republicans of course will murder McCain for this horrifying development, because they are fashion whores who know the keffiyeh is so over. Two more shots of Meghan “Mullah” McCain after the jump.”

There is a LOT of bad fashion out there, I mean c’mon! A simple scarf that is probably made in China. Now Urban Outfitters will probably pull their scarf . 

It is a strange day in corporate America when cameltoes are acceptable, crotch shots are saught after, but a piece of cloth around the neck which simply resembles an Arab scarf is not acceptable to a section of the public.

What does wearing something that is worn among a population where a small percentage of the population does horrible things make the person wearing sympathize with the population’s vilest people? I am a white American male. If I like to wear my ball cap sideways because I thought someone looked “hip” when they wore it, would it make me sympathize with all things bad it may (or not) symbolized? Let’s ground ourselves here.

Michelle Malkin, of “It was OK to intern Japanese Americans” fame (”The Case for internemnt”) however, made a big issue out of it and remains unhumbled by her mistake and still demands to knowwhere Ray got her paisley scarf.Michelle Malkin needs to get a life. So what RR wore a certain type of scarf. Yeah maybe it looked like something a terrorists would wear who knows.Maybe RR should have wore something else. Everyday people wear something offfensive to someone. Michelle Malkin needs to use that energy for a cause that actually means something. Anybody wanting to make such a big issue over a petty thing like that needs to get a life.

The keffiyeh represents a two thousand year old Arab custom. Many anti-Palestinian Philangists, and anti-Arafat Druze wear it. Many Jews and Christians also wear it in the Arab world. It is the innocuous equivalent of a cowboy hat or a P-cap. For some it is secular symbol of Palestinian nationalism. Just because you wear it doesn’t mean you espouse violence, or that only that you take the Palestinian side in the conflict.

I do wish that Rachel would say where she got the scarf, and that a ton of women would go out and buy one rather than just laugh at Michelle Malkin’s bizarre attack. I would like to buy one for Michelle, but she shouldn’t let me be the one to put it around her neck because I might get carried away like she did.

Game over, common sense has lost. I think the blog at blog.charlescronn.com says it best. Hella funny!

 Please sign a petition to tell Dunkin Donuts we don’t believe Rachel Ray’s scarf is a terrorist symboland that we’re disappointed in their decision to pull their ad and capitulate to the hysterical fringe of the right-wing blogosphere: http://www.eztrackz.com/tracking.aspx?id=85106

In the meantime let me divert your attention to the following thought.
In the words of Sigmund Freud, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar”

Yeah, that and sometimes a scarf is just a scarf.

I am no great fan of Rachel Ray, but I cannot just let this stand.

Somehow I get the nagging feeling that Rachel Ray is not a terrorist sympathizer and she will not be showing anyone how to build a roadside bomb in 30 minutes or less anytime less…

I have never seen so much brouhaha over absolutely nothing.
Is this what it has come to, we have so little real things to care about that we start creating controversies over essentially nothing.

Or maybe all of the people that are up in arms about this are not looking hard enough, there are so many things that deserve the attention this so called controversy is getting.

First, I think Rachel Ray should flip all of these people the bird and tell them to literally get a life and something real to care about.

Second, Dunkin Donuts should never have caved, offering up the same opinion Rachel should have displayed

How in the hell did some obvious airhead with too much time on their hands get so much attention anyway? WHY IN THE F&$K ARE PEOPEL EVEN LISTING TO HER?? Holy shit, sometimes I think everyone is taking crazy pills!!

Peace out, I am going to Dunkin Donuts to get an iced coffee. It’s a little chilly outside, maybe I will wear a scarf…

Charles C http://blog.charlescronn.com/

(NECN) – Rachael Ray was just trying to sell iced coffee but instead, her commercial brewed up a controversy. Is that a kaffiyeh around Ray’s neck? A kaffiyeh is a traditional scarf and headdress worn by Arab men, but has also been considered an emblem of Palestinian independence and Islamic radicalism.Fox News commentator Michelle Malkin looked at the ad and saw, not a scarf, but a kafeeya…and thought of Osama Bin Laden…and Yasser Arafat. In her syndicated column, she said, “as regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant and not-so-ignorant fashion designers, celebrities and left-wing icons.”

The sentiment was echoed by WTKK radio talk show host Jay Severin.

“No one save an ignoramus wears this without intending to make a statement. And that statement, is in some way insinuating of sympathy with Palestinian terrorists and with Jihad.”

Dunkin Donuts promptly pulled the ad.

David: “I think it’s somewhat ironic that from the political constituencies that generally decry political correctness we have an instance of political correctness.”

Bentley College Sociology Professor Gary David has spent over a decade studying the issue of Arab American identity.

“Clothing from all over the world is worn by Americans as we have global commerce and culture. And the idea that any one item is going to be particularly offensive to any one constituency shouldn’t necessarily prohibit the wearing of that garment.”

Dunkin Donut’s executives say this was just a paisley scarf, not a kafeeyah.

“Absolutely no symbolism was intended,” wrote Dunkin brand Vice President Margie Myers, “however, given the possibility of misperception, as of this past weekend, we are no longer using the commercial.”

“I think it’s largely an issue of intent, and here it’s clearly not an intent. It wasn’t even a kaafeeya, so Dunkin Donuts really should be careful to consider all the constituencies of people they might be offending by cancelling the ad.”

Jay Saverin disagrees: How would a cowboy hat go over in a Muslim country?