Terrorists and Dunkin' Donuts

Just when I think Americans can’t be any dumber, along comes a story about how Rachael Ray has upset a handful of morons by posing in a Dunkin’ Donut ad wearing a black and white scarf. Apparently the scarf reminded some Right-Wing nutjobs of a keffiyeh, the type typically worn by Muslim extremists.
Are you kidding me? How divorced from reality does someone have to be to look at a Dunkin’ Donuts ad and see something that, as per the conservative blog Little Green Footballs, “casually promote the symbol of Palestinian terrorism and the intifada, the keffiyeh, via Rachael Ray”? Later that day, conservative blogger Michelle Malkin chimed in,  calling the scarf “jihadi chic.”
You can imagine the response from Dunkin’ Donuts. They immediately caved and pulled the ad. Gods forbid that we should offend any of the Right-Wing nutjob wackos who can look at an ad of a popular American celebrity holding a cup of coffee and somehow see something promoting Palestinian jihad.
Well, Dunkin’ Donuts’ response was to be expected. They’re a corporation. They want to make money. They don’t want controversy. If even a handful of people are offended by anything in an ad anywhere, it doesn’t make sense from a corporate standpoint to stand behind the advertising. You don’t get people’s money by pissing them off.
A few days later, on May 28, Ms. Malkin published a column praising Dunkin’ Donuts for removing the ad, stating that Ms. Ray “posed for one of the company’s ads in what appeared to be a black-and-white keffiyeh.” She added, “The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad.”
Have I mentioned that this was a Dunkin’ Donuts ad?
If you’ve ever needed any proof about just how divorced from reality Right-Wing conservatives are, this is a nice example. It’s scary to think that these are the same people who will be voting for a Presidential candidate late on this year. It’s no wonder a moron in West Virginia could say of Barack Obama, “I don’t like the Hussein thing.  I’ve had enough of Hussein.” People are being fed a constant stream of lies from the Right and especially from Fox News, and they don’t know right from wrong, black from white anymore. And if their misinformation outlets say that Rachael Ray and Dunkin’ Donuts is promoting terrorism, these poor people just don’t know any better.
I fear for my country.