In the midst of the political punditry that we are drowning in, I continue to flail in the blog bog. During my daily stroll of news sites, I came across a blog headline that read, Sarah Rocks! on Politico.com. The simple, pubescent cheer seemed comedic to me because it held the entire zeitgeist of this Presidential race in those two words. Rather than doing the dirty work of independent research, people latch on to tag lines and catch phrases.
Well, the Sarch Rocks! headline drew me in and I wanted more. To my surprise, it was written by a Filipino American woman named Michelle Malkin. There are many who know of Malkin from her books, blogs and TV appearances but she only came onto my radar today and I couldn't help but talk about what significance she has in terms of our political climate, the current state of American media, and the conflict of being a neo-conservative person of color.
On her blog, she describes herself as “a mother, wife, blogger, conservative syndicated columnist, author, and Fox News Channel contributor.” I couldn’t believe my eyes as I perused her uber-conservative blog. How can a woman of color be so…well, backward?
Then more interesting points came up with Malkin. She wrote a book titled, In Defense of Internment: The Case for ‘Racial Profiling’ in World War II and the War on Terror, which caused Hawaii-based publication, Midweek, to drop her syndicated column. Midweek editor, Don Chapman said that Malkin’s book justifies the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII so having her in Midweek is detrimental to the company.
Besides applauding racial profiling, Malkin uses her wit and pen to chastise companies such as Dunkin Donuts. I remember hearing about Dunkin Donuts dropping one of their commercials because spokesperson Rachel Ray wore a scarf that resembled a keffiyeh -- a scarf traditionally used by Arab men -- which caused some Americans to drop their beloved jelly-filled fried goodness because it was tainted with terror. Malkin was the first to write about the commercial and in her entry she accused Ray of wearing hate couture. A fashion term that is up there with derelict a la Mugatu from Zoolander. Ludicrous? Yes. Hilarious? Why, of course.
I mean I understand that conservatives and liberals alike have to be almost cartoon-like when it comes to forming and expressing their opinions in order to make audible sounds in the white noise of the blogsphere. But Malkin is an experienced journalist who had syndicated columns in prestigious publications such as The Los Angeles Times. There’s no reason for her to be this outrageous and inflammatory. She’s a columnist so she’s paid to write with a slant but her slant has become a bridge to nowhere...nowhere enlightening, that is.
There are many other Malkin gems that make me so confused. All of which prompts me to ask the following: How does a child of immigrants become a staunch supporter of anti-immigration legislation? How does a brown person fully wrap herself in Anglo ideals, like the radicalization of non-white cultures? How does a Filipino American proudly let go of her roots and ignore the complexity of her identity?
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