Rima Fakih and a cloister of nuns, sisters under the skin?

"Rima Fakih is Gorgeous; That is All," The Anchoress — aka Elizabeth Scalia — titled her definitive and richly-linked take on the swirl of frothy and sometimes frothing-at-the mouth commentary that followed in the wake of the crowning of Muslim beauty Miss Michigan as Miss USA last night. AP photo.

"The contrast between images of the Catholic American women [below] and the Muslim American woman [above] of your previous post leaves me speechless" we twittered The Anchoress this afternoon, referencing her two latest blogposts. "Write about it!," she twittered back. "I hadn't thought of it, and must dash out to volunteer at hospital."

"A Plethora of Nun Pictures," was the title of Scalia's post immediately following the one about Rima Fakih's triumph (top photo). Here the photographer catches a moment in the "solemn professions" of a group of Benedectines of Mary, "really great pictures giving a good sense of the meaning of community and sisterhood."

What does a scantily-clad beauty queen of Lebanese descent have to do with a cloister of fresh-faced nuns habited from head to toe? It has something to do with the promise of the First Amendment's establishment clause, together with the Nineteenth Amendment that granted us the right to vote in this land of opportunity where a woman is free to pursue her own vision of her best and truest self. We used to call this Shining City Upon a Hill a "melting pot," a term in disfavor now among politically correct elites and their fellow travelers in the media who would impose a stultifying identity politics of grievance upon the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Fortunately, the Michigan community of Arab immigrants where Miss USA 2010 grew up never got the memo, according to this CNN report:

"For once, we're talking about beauty and not terror," said Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab-American News, in Dearborn, Michigan, who knows Fakih and her family.

He and about 150 other Arab-Americans watched the pageant unfold on a 100-inch television screen at La Pita Restaurant in Dearborn, which was packed with her friends …

"This sends a signal that we're part and parcel of this great country … this is a part of being American. The American dream is still alive and kicking. Nobody can tell us that a Muslim cannot make it. Yes, we can make it."

The Anchoress quips, "Who needs 'smart' diplomacy? Bring on the pretty girls!"

Update: Dan Drezner has the last word:

A Very Important Post about …beauty pageant controversies

Update II: "My own response has been reduced to sputtering incoherence," confesses Rick Moran, fed up with "many on the right who have exploded in anger and cries of 'dhimmitude' because a Muslim woman was named Miss USA." So there.

Update III: Michelle Malkin's "Buzzworthy" links!

Update IV: Instalanche! Thank you, Professor Althouse.

Crossposted at Liberty Pundits and Cloven Not Crested.

Comments

[betw]

The Miss USA, formerly Miss Michigan is from here in my hometown Dearborn, Michigan.

She is a muslim, although, apparently doesn’t wear the traditional hijab and related clothing. Furthermore, she and her family are immigrants from Lebanon. She grew up in Queens, New York and only recently moved to Dearborn a few years ago.

Isn’t it great to have a Miss USA, who for all practical purposes really isn’t a Michigander, much less an American? Kind of like a president who isn’t an….yadda, yadda, yadda.

[Sissy Willis]

betw: Not at all. What could be more American than a person whose forebears emigrated from foreign shores to this Shining City and made it their home, moving from one place to another in the manner of so many of our fellow citizens as opportunity knocks.

[goomp]

As my friend Evelyn, who happens to be Black, says, "peel off the skin and we are all the same underneath."

[Steve]

Great Post!

We added you to our blogroll on Common Cents.

[tim maguire]

Color me unimpressed with Moran's post. He found one example of an "explosion of anger" and, in an apparent attempt to pad his essay, tossed in Michelle Malkin, who is unhappy with the choice, but unhappy for perfectly decent reasons.

That hardly adds up to "so many on the right".

Maybe he should spend a little less time trying to prove his independent bona fides and a little more time thinking about whether his evidence supports the point he is trying to make.

[Bill]

I was suspicious about her victory based on the photo above. However, once I saw the bikini picture at the top of Mr. Drezner's article. I'm convinced that she won fair and square.

[EM]

Who cares if she's Lebanese, her sexual preference is her own business.

[Subotai Bahadur]

From my limited point of view, I do not see any indication of a Dhimmi conspiracy. I do note that the tenets of PC probably gave her a boost in the voting, however. Judges voting for her got to prove how PC and "tolerant" they were, and I am sure they had in the back of their minds the concept of making Republican heads explode.

However, the act of entering a series of beauty contests to get to the Miss USA pageant, and her reported past pole dancing makes it pretty sure that she is not a hard core Wahabist or Shia.

Similarly, one can make a reasonable working assumption that Miss Oklahoma's willingness to tolerate Arizona trying to defend the border and indeed her verbal support of the idea that States have a role in government; almost surely cost her the crown and made her first runner-up. If, and I say most firmly only IF, the pole dancing reports end up as something scandalous and Miss Fakih ends up losing her crown, Miss Oklahoma gets it; which will make Leftist heads explode!

There is a risk. Miss Fakih is going to attract the hostile attentions of the very real Wahabists and Shia Jihadi's in our country. Both for "traitorously" assimilating, and for "sinful" activity. She is at risk, and I would not be surprised to see attempts on her life by her co-religionists. Which, I am sure the Left will somehow blame on Conservatives. She is a brave young lady and is facing a very real danger.

To the very limited degree that I pay any attention at all to beauty contests, I have absolutely no ill will for Rima Fakih. I hope that either the attacks do not come, or that she survives them. I do admit that I have positive feelings for the first runner up; because Miss Oklahoma refused to be intimidated by Political Correctness, and that is always a good thing.

Subotai Bahadur

[submandave]

Maybe Mr. Moran and I read different conservative blogs, but the only "explosions" related to this I've seen from "the right" are those normally associated with men viewing hot nubile women. If her ethnicity or religion is mentioned at all it has generally been along the lines of "this is the sort of moderate Muslim we should be promoting." His use of "dhimitude" in this regard speaks volumes of the ignorance he has concerning the exact topic on which he trys to address.

As to my initial question, though, I find it far mroe likely that Mr. Moran has his agenda and conclusions finely prepared and meerly Googles to find anything he can loosely tie into his overall thesis.

[Gayle Miller]

She is absolutely gorgeous. In addition, she is as dumb as a box of rocks! Her response to the "question" asked of her was as asinine as any response to any question I've ever heard. Why is it that people from supposedly religious backgrounds are all too willing to toss off any semblance of modesty when it comes to somehow putting herself out there in public for a financial profit. Or have you not seen her pole-dancing pictures?

Miss Colorado was the clear winner but she blew it by a response that started out with her support of State's rights! Can't have someone as Miss U.S.A. who respects and wants us to adhere to the U.S. Constitution, now can we?

Why anyone would take seriously any so-called beauty contest that has Johnny Weir (in a gold headband no less) as a judge this year and had Perez Hilton as a judge last year, is beyond me.

I'm sorry Sissy - I watched part of the pageant out of sheer boredom while Buddy the Cat was figuring out how to open the dishwasher without opposable thumbs (he succeeded) and was underwhelmed beyond belief! And considering the state of the Michigan economy, I was actually hoping she would win!

[Teresa]

I didn't see any of the pageant. Of course I haven't watched for years and years. However, she is a beautiful woman and isn't that what a beauty pageant is about? Of course there is always talk of unfairness no matter who wins.

For her sake I hope she is left alone by those who would see her punished for daring to go near a beauty pageant much less win one. I was happy to hear there were Muslims from her city who were cheering her on - now that's the American spirit!