Bush - saving the world from chauvinists

Ever wonder why the women's rights groups such as NOW aren't more outspoken against the regimes of the Middle East for the way they treat women? Perhaps they know Bush is helping their cause.

Take Iran, for example. Ahmadinejad took time out from his nuclear caterwauling today to issue an edict--women can now attend soccer games! Surely cheers rang out from Tehran all the way to...well, whatever other major city exists in Iran:

Iranian women will be allowed to attend soccer matches for first time since the country's 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran's president said in a decree posted on his Web site Monday.

Islamists, soccer stadiums, women. The last time that trio was in the news heads were falling off. But before we go further, isn't such a decree almost like saying to an American women, "you are now free to attend the Tractor Pull"? Iranian women are probably sick of hubby watching sports anyway, so giving them access to the stadium is about as exciting as getting a new Hoover for Christmas.

Stangely enough, the story makes Ahmadinejad sound like a reformer--almost:

"Some consider women as the source of corruption and this is a very wrong attitude," he said. However, he added women sometimes expressed objectionable views, or what he called "ideas that are not related to Islam.".

Whew. He came close to sounding rational but managed to throw himself back into the abyss at the last second. But before you trash those Middle Easterners as backwards neaderthals, consider this story--"Women don't belong in the dugout":

"Who is the girl in the dugout, with the long hair?" Hernandez said. "What's going on here? You have got to be kidding me. Only player personnel in the dugout." Hernandez found out later in the broadcast that Calabrese was with the Padres training staff. "I won't say that women belong in the kitchen, but they don't belong in the dugout," Hernandez said.

Ouch. Keith is the man--the man on the couch.

The important difference is that Hernandez is not likely to issue a fatwa or start a jihad over this. More likely a figurative version will be launched against him for his stupid remarks, which by the way wouldn't raise an eyebrow in many areas of the world.

We're getting towards a point here, so bear with me. Ahmadinejad's nonsense proves the Iranians have less a clue about how to handle the man versus woman thing than we do. While they continue following their old script, we continue writing notes in the margins of ours.

Maybe that old script was Mohammed's personal insight into how to deal with 'the problem', as much in play in the seventh century as today. The Muslims would say he was devinely guided, maybe, but for a dissenting voice consider checking out this Brigitte Gabriel interview.

We could get all sociological here and try to argue that western societies treat women more equally due to wealth, whereas poorer cultures still need a more patriarchal structure for survival. But that axiom seems to break down when considering some of the rich Middle Eastern countries who simply follow the book.

Lest you think I'm saying this provides a cassus belli for flattening the Middle East and liberating all their women you're wrong--live and let live is a good tenent for the most part. But...

And here's where Bush comes in. He's fighting Bin Laden, who is fighting to bring that paradigm to a neighborhood near you. If victorious it would make the rumored reversal of Roe vs Wade look like a reversed parking ticket by comparison. Look at it like this--Bush is fighting the good fight to keep the islamochauvinists at bay.

Come to think of it, wonder why the environmentalists aren't more outspoken in support of Bush. A world full of Islamochauvinists would probably bring barefooted pregnancies back into fashion. Even if you don't morally oppose such a thing it's unlikely the planet could sustain the growth very long without running out of resources.

So next time you raise a glass, say a toast to Bush. He's trying to save women's rights and the environment.