Some neocons have assumed that Western willingness to don bikinis is a cultural edge that protects the West from being captured by the siren call of jihad. Hedonistic Westerners are innoculated from becoming suicide bombers. Of course, these assumptions overlook very real complications of various Muslim cultures, one example being Lebanese worldliness, and willingness to don bikinis if the moment is right. Academics like Daniel Pipes appear to be genuinely shocked that their complacent assumptions regarding Muslims have been so rudely stripped away by a single young woman. Serves them right! In any event, I'm with Jay Leno (see below):
Newly-crowned Miss USA Rima Fakih is the pride of her native village, with residents saying the Lebanese-American not only brought honor to southern Lebanon but also offered a different image of Shiite Muslims often stereotyped as radicals.
Meanwhile, some bloggers who have been accused of anti-Arabic sentiment have been attacking Fakih since her win.
..."We are so often described as terrorists and killers, but we Shiites love life and beauty -- and mainly the beauty of the soul, which is what is so special about Rima," said the veiled 62-year-old, who speaks English and French fluently.
...Srifa falls in an area largely controlled by Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which is blacklisted as a terrorist group by Washington.
...Rima Fakih, who may represent the United States in the Miss Universe pageant later this year, emigrated from Srifa to the United States when she was seven years old.
She attended a Catholic school in New York until 2003, when her family moved to Michigan.
She went on to earn a college degree in economics from the University of Michigan and was a resident of Dearborn, which is home to a large Arab-American community, prior to her crowning as Miss USA.
..."Rima called me from the podium after her win in tears of happiness to tell me she was elected Miss USA," said the 35-year-old. "Our father, who was there with her, kept saying she was an honor for south Lebanon.
"We are both Lebanese and American. In the United States no one asks us if we are Sunni or Shiite Muslims, we are all under the US law," she added.
"In our home, there is none of the fanaticism that exists in some Lebanese households."
Despite her dark, cascading waves and toned body, the new Miss USA has come under fire by right-wing bloggers, who have dubbed her a "terrorist in a bikini."
"Don't let her lack of a headscarf and her donning a bikini in public fool you. Miss Michigan USA, Rimah (sic) Fakih is a Muslim activist and propagandist extraordinaire," wrote conservative political commentator Debbie Schlussel in her blog.
"It's a sad day in America but a very predictable one, given the politically correct, Islamo-pandering climate in which we're mired," wrote Schlussel, who slammed Fakih as a "Hezbollah-supporting Shiite Muslim."
...Comedian Jay Leno led his monologue with Fakih's story Monday night, addressing her achievement as the first Miss USA winner to publicly identify herself as Arab American.
"That goes to show you, in America we don't care what your faith is, we don't care what your politics are," Leno joked. "If you look smoking hot in a bikini, we will embrace you."
...At the Washington Post, David Weigel reports that Daniel Pipes -- "a former State Department staffer, former member of the United States Institute of Peace (holding a recess appointment after being filibustered by Democrats), and former adviser to Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign" -- believes that the judges tapped Fakih due to "affirmative action."
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