Terrorist the new Communist

It seems like nothing will inspire hate in much of conservative America's psyche than to call someone a terrorist. Much like during like the anti-communist era of the 40's and 50's, America is out for blood. Will we have the Cheney trials to correspond with the McCarthy hearings? Not likely, this modern judgment is taking place within the media circus ring.

I'm sure everyone has heard of the Dunkin Donuts -- Rachael Ray incident by now. If you have been hiding under a rock for the last month or so, here's the gist. Rachael Ray, America's sweetheart cooking show hostess, posed for an ad for Dunkin Donuts wearing a scarf loosely draped around her neck. It seems the scarf reminded some conservative whack-jobs of a Muslim kaffiyeh. The kaffiyeh has been around probably since Jesus and is used for sun, wind, and sand protection. In fact the British army will often wear kaffiyeh in desert areas (although they use a different name). Yasser Arafat turned the kaffiyeh into a symbol of Palestinian liberation when he wore it in deliberate contrast to the more urban fez. Black and white keffiyehs are generally used to symbolize the Fatah party. In fact, many Israeli jews sympathetic with the Palestinians used to wear a kaffiyeh as a symbol of solidarity. Here is the picture of Rachael Ray
http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/29/news/companies/dunkin_donuts.ap/index.htm?cnn=yes

I think she's wearing what amounts to a scarf. If she were holding a machine gun in her hand as opposed to a cup of coffee--I could understand the misinterpretation, but as it is I think we're taking symbolism a little too far.

The other recent terrorist symbol involved Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. After sealing his nomination as the Democratic Party candidate, Barack and Michelle had the nerve to show their happiness with a "terrorist fist-jab". This accusation is even more laughable than the first. Terrorist fist jab? Since when did Al Qaeda adopt this modified "high-five" as a symbol of their hatred for Americans? In fact I can only imagine that the "fist-bump" is a fairly American gesture probably started by basketball players or rappers.

Lets face it, we're on the hunt for "terrorists". Since we can't seem to find actual terrorist leaders, I guess we'll just invent them. Will Rachael Ray and Michelle Obama share a cell in Guantanamo?