Joan Ganz Cooney | 11/03/2009 1:00 pm
Joan Ganz Cooney 'Appalled' at Hillary Clinton's Head Scarf
I have to admit that I was appalled to see Hillary Clinton in a head scarf when she was in Ramallah recently on an official visit. First, I think a U.S. Government official when on government business is genderless, that it is not a woman official or a man official; just an official. Second, the head scarf is a symbol of the subjugation of women and a religious belief, at that. Would she wear a crucifix if she met with the pope? I’m sure she was told she should show respect for the culture but I have to ask why, when the culture supports beliefs that we and certainly Hillary Clinton are repelled by.
Click here to see Hillary Clinton’s picture on the Daily Beast.
- Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
- Could Mammograms Fall Victim to Obamacare? by Liz Peek
- Liz Smith: Sharon Stone, Steve Tyrell, Sarah (You Know Who), Glamour, Lesley Gore – and More!
- LIZ SMITH FLASH! The Kennedy Conspiracy and the Mafia
- Remember shopping pre-Internet? What era/memory in the evolution of shopping do you think of most fondly?
- The Love Goddess: In Sickness and in Health ... But Hold the Sickness
- Let Down and Felt Up? by E.D. Hill
- The World in Vogue (Photos)
- Mr. wOw: Falling in Love Again With 'Marlene'
- Caption This!
- LIZ SMITH FLASH! The Kennedy Conspiracy and the Mafia
- Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
- Liz Smith: Sharon Stone, Steve Tyrell, Sarah (You Know Who), Glamour, Lesley Gore – and More!
- Liz Smith Remembers the 'Good Old Days' of Department Stores
- Could Mammograms Fall Victim to Obamacare? by Liz Peek
- Remember shopping pre-Internet? What era/memory in the evolution of shopping do you think of most fondly?
- Mr. wOw: Falling in Love Again With 'Marlene'
- The Love Goddess: In Sickness and in Health ... But Hold the Sickness
- Caption This!
- Lily Tomlin Is Coming to NYC!
- Could Mammograms Fall Victim to Obamacare? by Liz Peek
- Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
- Let Down and Felt Up? by E.D. Hill
- Caption This!
- Remember shopping pre-Internet? What era/memory in the evolution of shopping do you think of most fondly?
- LIZ SMITH FLASH! The Kennedy Conspiracy and the Mafia
- Mr. wOw: Falling in Love Again With 'Marlene'
- The Love Goddess: In Sickness and in Health ... But Hold the Sickness
- Liz Smith: Sharon Stone, Steve Tyrell, Sarah (You Know Who), Glamour, Lesley Gore – and More!
- The World in Vogue (Photos)
wOw Features
Reader Voices
Caption This!
Dear Margo: When Dad/Gramps Just Ain't Interested
180 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
Respect for the "other" can go a long way in healing old wounds. So I suppose she erred on the side of caution.
Susan Gabriel
Why should America pay respect to something that we as a Nation stand firmly against? How does that "heal old wounds"?
It doesn’t do anything of the such, but it does send a message to the women of that Nation that they can not depend on others to pay more than lip service to their plight.
Nothing you’ve written here indicates you have any idea how these things are perceived by women in Ramallah.
What exactly is America firmly against? Dialogue? Communication? Negotiation?
Nothing you have written indicates that you any idea of what the head covering represents.
What does matter is that our representatives actually, represent America and American values. I will ignore that last, facetious sentence as it serves no real purpose here. Most posters understand that America does not demand that women cover their heads while in the company of men.
As a muslim woman who has lived many years in America and in the Middle East I have a pretty good idea about what the head covering represents.
American values are about CHOICE. If Hillary CHOOSE to show respect in this way- her call. She was in the position to do an overall assessment of the specific situation. There is nothing to suggest this was demanded of her.
Sandy, you have your views and other have another view. Many that have lived as a Muslim in the Middle East do not see a head covering as a choice. That is the point here.
Hilliary should represent the American choice to NOT wear a head covering. To even pretend that wearing head covering by an American women is a sign of choice is disingenous.
Hillary Clinton’s headwear is a symptom of the wrongheaded way the Administration is treating the conflicts of the Middle East and even parts of Asia. Most of these countries and their leaders do not play by our rules, do not abide by the Geneva convention, and some of their leaders in fact seek to change the rules to their rules. A situation like this is so radically different from, say, diplomacy with a European country that it needs a different approach. This is something that neither Obama nor Clinton nor the State Department seem equipped to address.
Huh?! The US is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions and has been since 1882. The US honors its treaties. The rules are not simply going to change because you want to undermine them.
For anyone looking for more disturbing takes on Hillary Clinton, Ed Morrissey on Hot Air has pointed to a really bad gaffe she made on a Middle East issue recently. Several posters, and I agree with them, thought that her less-than-good relationship with Obama is behind some of her disappointing performance. I think she is a very smart and determined woman, but a lot of her takes on foreign policy do not reflect a good understanding of the facts.
F Fox…here it goes now…all of the Gitmo and torture BS…but you have it right, again.
Hilliary has been marginalized and put in check-mate by Obama. She is not excactly impressive in this postition.
1. If a country is not a signatory to the Geneva Conventions, it need not abide by them.
2. The US - I am very ashamed to say - has NOT done well in abiding by the Conventions in Iraq or Afghanistan, and we ARE a signatory. Abu Ghraib. Guantanamo. Rendition. Barring Red Cross visits to prisoners. That’s not the America I know, and it’s not how the Army trained me, either.
3. Other countries are not required to play by our rules. And the Constitution does not apply outside our own borders. Many Americans have actually been surprised by this: Yes, other countries have their own laws.
4. So you say it needs a different approach. What are you proposing? That we march on into Ramallah however we dang well please, because, by golly, we’re AMERICAN, and we can? That we just tell ‘em they’ll play by OUR rules, or else?