WATB of the Week: Kathleen Parker

Did you see the latest inanity spewed forth by WaPo syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker? This week, Parker whined about the supposed slamming of her BFF Laura Bush following the First Robot's donning of a Muslim head scarf during a visit to Saudi Arabia.

Check this out:

Unlike most who have commented, I was there. The controversial photo shows Mrs. Bush donning a black headscarf decorated with the iconic pink bows signifying breast cancer awareness. It was the only time Mrs. Bush covered her head during the trip, and the episode lasted perhaps a minute.

The scarf was a gift to Mrs. Bush from a dozen Saudi women who shared their experiences fighting breast cancer with the first lady. The morning meeting was touching and intimate, the sort of bonding experience that opens hearts and minds in diplomatically useful ways.

Upon receiving the gift, Mrs. Bush did what any decent, well-mannered person would do. She demonstrated her appreciation by placing the scarf on her head. In Saudi Arabia, it was a sweet, wordless gesture of friendship and mutual respect.

Yet to read and hear remarks over the past few days, you'd think Mrs. Bush had organized a pilgrimage to the stoning fields.

Oh, puke. Look, Kathy, if you love Laura that much, why don't you just marry her? Or just, you know, rearrange her circuitry?

It gets better:

On Monday, a column posted on The Jerusalem Post's Web site carried the headline, "Our World: Laura Bush's embrace of tyranny." Huh? Columnist Caroline Glick wrote that Mrs. Bush's donning of the scarf and her visit in general were symbolically "deeply disturbing."

Ms. Glick's point, reiterated elsewhere throughout the blogosphere, was that Mrs. Bush was effectively endorsing the subjugation of Saudi women by wearing the scarf.

And that, my friends, is basically the last you hear of Laurabot's scarf episode, as Parker takes a sharp right turn (what else?) to harp about what a wonderful diplomat Mrs. McStagger was as she traveled to raise awareness about breast cancer, yadda, yadda.

Could it be that Parker subtly sidestepped the scarf issue -- after bringing it up and whining about it -- because it would seem hypocritical? A right-wing columnist hypocritical? Perish the thought ...

But the Right hammered Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for doing the same thing six months (or, if you prefer, one Friedman Unit) ago! HuffPo collects the atrocities.

Now, I can't find a specific example of Parker criticizing Pelosi for the scarf, but since so many of Parker's ideological allies do, it stands to reason that she would have, given the opportunity. And if there's one thing I can't stand, it's hypocrisy. So, Kathy, I'd like to offer you a frosty mug of shut the fuck up. Come back when you think you have the moral high ground again, so I can slap you down once more. It's fun!