Monday, July 23, 2007

During tonight's Democratic debate, there was this question:
"QUESTION: Hello, my name is John McAlpin (ph). I'm a proud serving member of the United States military. I'm serving overseas. This question is to Senator Hillary Clinton. The Arab states, Muslim nations, believe it's women as being second-class citizens. If you're president of the United States, how do you feel that you would even be taken seriously by these states in any kind of talks, negotiations, or any other diplomatic relations? I feel that is a legitimate question." It seems that this person gets his knowledge of world affairs from Die Hard movies. He does not seem to know that while the US has never ever had a female president, there have been three heads of state in Muslim countries in contemporary times: Turkey, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (and I am not counting the historic "forgotten queens of Islam"--read the book by that title by Fatima Mernissi.)