Laura Bush Dons Hijab, Will Opprobrium Follow?

Yesterday, while, on tour in the Middle East raising breast cancer awareness (as well as working to "[restore] Washington's image in the region"), FLOTUS Laura Bush put on a traditional hijab given to her by Saudi doctor Samia al-Amudi.

Naturally, you might be wondering if you should brace yourselves for a coming torrent of outrage! After all, when Nancy Pelosi did the exact same thing back in April, the slings and arrows flew hot and heavy!

Mitt Romney, in the New York Post: "Her going to a state which is, without question, a sponsor of terror, and having her picture taken with Assad and being seen in a head scarf and so forth is sending the wrong signal to the people of Syria and to the people of the Middle East." [Note: Pelosi didn't wear the headscarf during her meeting with Assad.]

Investor's Business Daily: "Anyone who thinks Nancy Pelosi showing up wearing a scarf around her head visiting a mosque...won't even make janitor in the foreign service."

Hot Air: "It pains the left too, I'm sure, to see the most powerful woman in America having to yield, however slightly, to a misogynistic culture's expectations..."

Instapundit: "FEMINIST IN AMERICA, subservient in Syria."

Syrian Reform Party: "No one will ever know how many women took the Hijab on after seeing Pelosi wearing it. The damage Speaker Pelosi is causing with her visit to Syria will be felt for many years to come."

Clipmarks: "Pelosi just reversed the work of the Syrian civil society and those who aspire for women's freedom in the Muslim countries many years back with her visual statement. Her lack of experience of the Middle East is showing."

The New Editor: "This picture disgusts me. What message is Nancy Pelosi trying to send?"

But don't worry! Remember: Wearing a hijab is okay when Laura Bush does it. It's okay when Condoleezza Rice does it, too!

RELATED:
Islamofashion [HuffPo]

Comments

[Grannysue]

Hey Laura why don't you do your country a favor, put that thing on Jr. and send him huntin with Cheney.

[Asim]

Ignorance about ME and Islam can be appaling:Hijab is no more than a statement of modesty and piety-and not at all a sign of repression;just because others dress differently or do not dress "like us" does not mean repression-it's just different,that is all.

Mary the mother of Jesu,a saintly woman,revered by the Quran with a special chapter didcated to her and specifically in her name-she is the only female to be addressed by name in the entire Quran of 114 chapters-she put on a Hijab as a statement of piety-not out of repression or as a political statement.Hijab has taken much more attentin than it deserves because of Islamophopia and Islam bashing esepcially post 911.

[drumz]

And if they're caught not wearing them then what? It is way more than different dress. It is all about suppression and if you can't see that then I feel for you.

[Asim]

drumz,
so U are telling me that my sister and daughter are forced to wear Hijab and are repressed-in that case I rest my case.

[avicenna]

I think it is a combination of appalling ignorance and xenophobia (coupled with a dose of propaganda from Western media to support the notion that "Muslim" people are not only backwards - but don't deserve to have the same token of cultural respect as those who swallow Western "values") that perpetuates the myth that the head scarf is symbol of repression for women in Islam. The wearing of the head scarf actually stemmed from women of upper class families who wore a covering to command respect and differentiate from the "common" folks. It then became ingrained in Middle Eastern culture as a general symbol of respect. Many Muslim women have gone back to the traditional ways now as a defiant response to the deliberate smearing campaign that is currently underway against the Islamic way of life.
Laura Bush doesn't have to go a culture where she doesn't feel comfortable - but if she does, it is only diplomatic to at least publicly acknolwedge and respect the cultural dress code - more to endear Americans as being worldly then for "bowing to suppression". Sikh men wear turbans - and they aren't considered repressed, and women who go to the temple cover their heads as well. You know how it goes - when in Rome....

[Dap]

Seems pretty par for the Bu$h family course...

They have been terrorising our Country for years now. What's a little head scarf matter?

[claytongrayum]

NeoCons hate the middle east, unless its the oil or money- They hate the society.

[conservativeoriginalist]

Which "right wing" is referred to here? The Bible thumpers? The party's lemmings? The conservatives?

All Americans should be outraged when somebody representing this country goes elsewhere and conforms to local customs, just as visiting dignitaries do not play American when they visit. The guest is in the right.

[THEUNHEARDVOICE]

God bless the Dixie Chick's

[Jo]

Indeed, we should all be outraged "when somebody representing this country goes elsewhere and conforms to local customs"!! After all, we want our representatives to be rude, disrespectful, ill-mannered and dismissive of their hosts and host country. Such boorish behavior does so much to advance international diplomacy! And you're right again when you say that "visiting dignitaries do not play American when they visit." Those foreign, unAmerican-acting dignitaries are just shameless! How dare they not be rude and disrespectful and ill-mannered and dismissive!?!
"The guest is in the right" -- just remember that when your guest lets her dog eat at your Thanksgiving Day dinner table, and then lets the animal urinate on the table leg because it's too cold and damp to expect little Pookums to go outside to do his business! The guest is always right, after all!
Really, conservativeoriginalist, I pity the poor fool who makes the mistake of inviting you into their home! And, please, whatever you do, DO NOT visit a foreign country. Our tattered national reputation cannot withstand even one more arrogant and "ugly American" trampling about.

[conservativeoriginalist]

"After all, we want our representatives to be rude, disrespectful, ill-mannered and dismissive of their hosts and host country."

I guess you expect our hosts to be rude, disrespectful, ill-mannered, and dismissive of their guests.

"Such boorish behavior does so much to advance international diplomacy!"

Does that mean our hospitality exhibits the inherent boorishness and unadvanced nature of many of our diplomatic guests?

"Those foreign, unAmerican-acting dignitaries are just shameless!"

Wait, so you want Americans to act non-American when elsewhere, but have no problem when visitors expect us to acquiesce to their customs when they play guest?

Respect is a two-way street; the problem is, we are going the wrong way on both sides.

ONE standard will do just fine.

Either the guest is inherently right and should be honored to the point that the host conforms, or the guest conforms to the host's customs. We do both, most others do neither. I ask for nothing more than consistency, something liberals seem to condone with their push to make everybody equal to the lowest common denominator.

"whatever you do, DO NOT visit a foreign country."

I've visited more countries than you can name during my service as a Marine.

[Retrofuturistic]

What an opportunity First Stepford had, and what a statement she could have made, if only she had refused to put it on....

[Trevor51181]

Very true. I don't see Pelosi for being wrong for wearing it, but Mrs. Bush refusing the wear it would have said volumes.


Honestly, the vast majority of people here would have probably skewered her for not being sensitive to other cultures.

[tomsfork]

Typical Bush bait-and-switch tactic: Veto health care for poor children in THIS country, then prove he really is a "compassionate conservative" by sending the 1stLadyBot to someone else's country to talk about health care for poor children in THAT country.

[VictorLudorum]

Rx UVIEL....at a drug store near you!

[BlueLogic]

Laura Bu$h is such a Stepford/Femmebot. She must have had the "special" lithium batteries put in her power compartment for this long overseas trip. Poor thing should stay out of the rain tho, lest she short-circuits.

[Trevor51181]

Is that really necessary? Is this an attempt at humor, or are you trying to flex your wit muscles?

[drumz]

Yes it is. She is a zero just like hubby.

[rusino]

The left tolerates nothing and no one that does not agree with their agenda.

[Rand]

Really? I'm glad the right is SO tolerant and has never called those who disagree with the CT Cowboy unAmerican, traitors, surrender monkeys, etc

Because, if they had ever done things like that, you'd be a raving asshole!

Oh, wait!

[godlessclif]

The Left agenda? You mean the Bill of Rights?

[nefertiti]

godlessclif
Most muslim women wear multi colored hijab in north africa , in mauritania , morocco Algeria egypt syria etc... the majority of muslims found in Indonesia and malaysia wear WHITE hijab . only in saudi and Iran it is black (and in yemen and some in in Gulf ) but the Majority of Muslims are really in Indonesia where they wear white . in morocco they wear pink , purple , burgundy , all sorts depends and have matching hand bags and shoes too. in Mauritania , chad niger it is very multi colored but never black .

[hannitizer]

We certainly don't tolerate invading countries under false pemises and destroying their infrastructure and killing hundreds of thousands of civilians who were called terrorists just because they object to being invaded and killed. Hey rusino, why don't you put your money where your ill-informed mouth is. Are you serving in Iraq? If not, why? You seem so eager to defend Bush the Warmongerer. How would you feel if China invaded the U.S. and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent American children under the guise of "collateral damage". You defend the indefenseable. Go fight this war.... kill some innocents..... blow up irrelevant targets, maim and torture. That's what your defending moron!

[consrevil]

Can she pull it down over her face please?

[Progress]

You have a point. Indeed, Laura in a hajib is NOT a "blessing in disguise." It is still Laura the ditzie ALANON from Texas.

[starrianna]

I THINK WE ARE ALL CONFUSED HERE!

Laura thought she was going to another one of her husband's Satanic Ritual Meetings, and she was reaching for her black hood.

I guess they're all getting tired over there.
***************************************************

[godlessclif]

It is close to Halloween, it is an honest mistake.
The Burkah and the satanic ritual robe are so similar. One has a crescent moon symbol, the other a five pointed star.

[wry]

I think that robe and hood means your boyfriend goes to Yale...or something.

[Rottweiler]

Personally, I prefer my tinfoil chapeau. It's much more advisable, considering the uncertain times we live in.....thanks to the librarian's husband.

[godlessclif]

Just don't wear a cross to Saudi Arabia. Just ask the Swiss. Swiss cheese in Saudi Arabia cannot have the Swiss flag on the label.

[Progress]

Personally, I think she looks like she's on her way to a Franciscan S&M Party at Skull & Bones. Does that outfit have a back entrance?

[NoContest]

Duh....

she is as stupid as her fence pole mate,

chimps of a feather, hajib together

~!#

[Progress]

I think she and Rudy Giuliani would look stunning together at the Christopher Street Spring Cotillion.

[Blutus]

The sun was there
before Islam.

People there tend to
cover up.

The religious horse shit
came later.

Similar to the christers
telling women to keep quiet
and submit to the authority
of their husbands.

But if Hillary had tried this
Rush would be pissing himself.

[AAnon]

Rush like pissing himself. He likes drugs remember.

[godlessclif]

Rush should try Enablex by Novartis.
There are drugs for everything.

[godlessclif]

Why don't women in Islam wear white?

[Progress]

Because it's after Labor Day in Beirut.

[OneWoman]

"The sun was there
before Islam."

And so was the sand and sandstorms... Wearing a scarf and/or long robes over your clothing in that environment is the practical thing to do.

In the Middle East, women are expected to cover their bodies. In the West, we are expected to expose our bodies. Sometimes, I wonder which one is more oppressive...

[Progress]

Oooooh, so that's it. I often wondered if sandblasters were Muslim. They dress the same. And did you ever wonder why painters all wear white? And why train engineers wear those funny little cocksucker hats? And why sailors wear pants that only button up in the back? And they say that Catholic Cardinals started wearing those long flowing robes back in the days when everybody rode horses and the train on the robe was to cover up the horse's ass for modesty and that those long trains STILL cover up a lot of horses asses even today. Can anyone explain the cultural meaning of a jockey strap? Or a bra? Is it like a cultural no-no to allow one's things to jiggle and bobble? And why do women wear makeup? Is it because they are oppressed into covering up something...like how they REALLY look in the morning before the coyotes head for cover. And why can't a man wear Speedos to church or to class or work when it's hot? And ties in the summertime? Get real. Have you ever showed up at a wedding with shoes that need polishing really, really bad? Or like in Mexico where the guys all wear cowboy boots with their tuxs at weddings. What do the Scotts wear undeneith those kilts when they are on vacation in Saudi Arabia? And how often do they wash them? Do they get butt stains on the insides? Why do junior high girls in the US stuff their bras with toilet paper? Why did the President stick a cucumber in his jock when he landed on that carrier for the photo op? Oh, and why did Laura put on that hijab-ra-ka-dab-ra if she wasn't going shopping anyway? Will she wear saffron in Tibet? She probably won't get to go shopping there either. I wonder what Dubya will wear when he's out to the leather bars in Austin with Karl Rove? Will he show his ass like he did in Australia?