Friday, June 05, 2009

Talk Like an Egyptian

There are critiques all over the intertubes today about President Obama's speech in Cairo. I'd only make two points, myself:


I'm really tired of the moral equivalence trope, especially the odious comparisons of the systematic attempt to exterminate Jews to the current experience of the Palestinians in places like Gaza. If you had people within your midst who were willing to kill you at a moment's notice, chances are pretty good that you'd react the way the Israeli government has acted over the years. Self-defense is rational. The behavior of the Palestinian Authority, not so much.

To set up my second point, I happened upon this critique from the portside offered by Peter Daou over at HuffPo. It pretty much speaks for itself. At one point in his speech, Obama talked about American efforts to ensure that women have the right to wear the hijab. Daou ain't buyin' what Obama is selling here:

With women being stoned, raped, abused, battered, mutilated, and slaughtered on a daily basis across the globe, violence that is so often perpetrated in the name of religion, the most our president can speak about is protecting their right to wear the hijab? I would have been much more heartened if the preponderance of the speech had been about how in the 21st century, we CANNOT tolerate the pervasive abuse of our mothers and sisters and daughters.

Me too. The issue isn't whether or not Muslim women have the right to wear the hijab. The real issue is self-determination for women. And men, too. And in places like Cairo, Egypt, those rights aren't currently on offer.

7 comments:

Gino said...

or the part where he said he was outlawing torture in the USA.

never mentioning that maybe they should do the same.

in arab countries, torture and beatings are the rule for suspects.
not the exception.
(my good freind's father was cheif of police in amman,jordan. he's told me all about it)

Kermit said...

I'm sure Great Leader has no problem with women being forced to wear Hijab. The Burkha? That may interfere with her abortion, and for this reason he would condemn it.

Right Hook said...

Since when was torture legal in the US? Maybe BHO should start by outlawing jay walking and see how it goes before making other vapid decrees from on high.

my name is Amanda said...

You guys are right. No moral equivalence tropes! Everyone should just behave like white Christian Euro-descendants purport to behave, and that's that.

Also, REALLY?! Not one good thing from his speech, huh? Boy, Barack HUSSEIN Obama is just consistently dropping the ball now, isn't he?! I can hardly say I'm surprised, given the fact that he's an evil leftist Democrat (as we all are, in the Dem party).

Hey, ya'll aren't the only ones who can swing out the hyperboles.

Mr. D said...

Not sure what post you read, Amanda. But it doesn't appear to have been mine.

You'll have to show me where I said Obama was evil. Go ahead, take your time.

my name is Amanda said...

I'm sorry if my comment was offensive; I was responding to the tone of the comments. I read the post. None of it included anything referring to abortions or the torture issue.

Mr. D said...

Not offended, Amanda. Just trying to clarify.