By Mike Nizza
INSERT DESCRIPTIONAn important issue, at least to Homer Simpson. (Image: Fox)
Social security is no longer the undisputed third rail of American politics. Israel, race and religion and the draft all earned the title in May, leaving readers bewildered and journalists struggling to keep their dark metaphors straight. For the sake of clarity, shall we rotate the title on a weekly basis? We’ll kick it off with an unusual — yet completely plausible — nominee: the doughnut.
A few months after doughnuts became a presidential campaign issue, they stood at the center of a storm created by right-leaning bloggers. This was a story about “donuts and dumb celebrities” who were “mainstreaming terrorism” to make a buck, asserted Little Green Footballs and Michelle Malkin. And Atlas Shrugs revised a bell-ringing catchphrase thusly: “TIME TO MAKE THE JIHAD!”
Suddenly, Dunkin’ Donuts was accused of promoting terrorism, thanks to the wardrobe choices of Rachael Ray, its celebrity spokesman, during an online advertisement. According to the bloggers, she had decided to embrace “hate couture” by wearing a keffiyeh, a scarf popular in the Arab world and preferred by Yasir Arafat and other Palestinian militants during their rise in the West Bank and Gaza.
“The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad,” Michelle Malkin wrote in her nationally syndicated column. “The Keffiyeh Kerfuffle,” as she called it, might warrant a boycott. Other bloggers agreed.
INSERT DESCRIPTIONIn an online advertisement, Rachael Ray was wearing a paisley scarf, not a keffiyeh. (Image: Dunkin’ Donuts via Associated Press)
On Tuesday, Dunkin’ Donuts announced that it was dropping the advertisement. But they also made clear that this was all a big misunderstanding. “Rachael Ray is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design,” the company said in a statement, according to The Boston Globe. “Absolutely no symbolism was intended.”
Moreover, Rachael Ray’s role was minimized — the controversial scarf “was selected by her stylist.” Her critics seemed ready to forget the whole thing, returning her to the warm environs of her kitchen-based television empire. But one critic remains for other reasons, and he has a sharp tongue. Anthony Bourdain, the celebrity chef and food writer, compares her Dunkin’ Donuts gig to “endorsing crack for kids.” And he’s warned against her “strange and terrible powers.”
In a piece published months before this incident, he advised the enemies of Ms. Ray: “Complain all you want. It’s like railing against the pounding surf. She only grows stronger and more powerful.” The blogosphere wasn’t listening.
While the bloggers that raised the fuss applauded the move, their opponents on the left frowned, shrugged and mocked the decision. “Americans Have Been Saved From Terrorist Scarves,” read one headline. And a spokeswoman for the Arab American Anti-Defamation League called Dunkin’s decision “unreasonable.”
Alas, the two sides in this debate seemed unlikely to find common ground. The right is outraged, the left is dumbfounded. Here’s an idea: chalk it up to a crime of passion — for doughnuts.
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America’s love for doughnuts is hard to overestimate, having originated in North America at least as far back as the mid-19th century. Artifacts from one chain, Krispy Kreme, sit in the Smithsonian. A competitor, Dunkin’ Donuts, spread their goods from Quincy, Mass., to 7,000 stores worldwide. And Thomas Keller, who is credited with helping lead a revival of American cuisine in recent years, cites doughnuts as one of the inspirations for the French Laundry, often called the best restaurant in the country.
Amid the protests against a garment that they likened to a KKK hood, the right-leaning bloggers voiced much affection for Dunkin’ — the “venerable old fried dough seller” — and its best known product. Even Ms. Malkin admitted on the way to the firestorm: “Their Munchkins are heaven.”
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