Useful Idiot: When You're Only Half Qualified

A friend sent me this LGF link about Rachael Ray in a Dunkin' Donuts commercial. The bubbly Ms. Ray is swathed in that symbol of Palestinian resistance, the keffiyeh.  A bunch of right wing bloggers are picking this up because of the symbolism, but I would like to point out that there is a different angle to this story, one that is even more compelling than the association of this checkered cloth with the odious Yasser Arafat and thousands of murdering, exploding Arabs.  That would be the aesthetics.  It looks like a vat of rice noodles threw up on her.

In the always-fun comment thread in the LGF post, someone mentions that Florence King wrote about Rachael Ray a while back, and indeed, I found the article entitled "Our Last Nerve."  It is a lovely piece of writing.  The title refers to the bane of modern life: the pervasiveness in the media of people who are truly annoying.  As Ms. King puts it,

Among the intimacies that used to be saved for marriage were the words, "If you do that one more time I'll scream."  Nerve-wracking, however, is not what it used to be.  Our era of over-exposed celebrities has turned us into molar-grinding practitioners of promiscuous irritation aimed at people we don't even know. 

She then give some examples, not only of Ms. Ray's bounty of quirks, tics, and foibles that annoy, but also of the social phenom of creating a group whose common thread is the annoyance with Ms. Ray.  Let's face it: many of us are really annoyed with the fact that mediocrity can acheive celebrity and the big bucks.  That annoyance is the mortar that binds. 

For more information than you'll ever need about RR, please visit The Rachael Ray Sucks Community. 

Comments

[Rachel]

I admit I can't stand her. So I never watch her. I didn't like her the first time I saw how she spells her name. She spells it Rachael.

I hate that!

[Rachel]

I liked that fact that you spelled her name the correct way.

Well it was correct yesterday!

[aelfheld]

I've only seen Rachael Ray once, while in a physician's waiting room, but it was more than a sufficiency.

As for the keffiyeh, you're correct - it's unaesthetic and does nothing for her appearance. A burqa, on the other hand . . .

I suspect Ms. Ray has absolutely no idea what associations are made with her tatty scarf, much like the brainless Cameron Diaz in Peru. Never underestimate the self-absorption of the modern celebrity - they may possess a low animal cunning and the rapacity of a barracuda, but their awareness of the world begins and ends with the latest DNC talking points.

[Robohobo]

The thing is that Michelle Malkin and Charles at LGF both screeched about the scarf. It ain't a kaffiyeh, I know, I own two different ones. It's an ugly scarf. BUT, what I have to say is this:

Now it seems that those of the right have joined the left as members of the perpetually aggrieved community. "Eeek, it's a middle eastern headscarf like Arafat used to wear! Ooooo! She must be a sympathizer!" Or some such. What tools they are. Both run sites that are echo chambers - neither allows open comments - you must register and registration is NEVER open. They both have or are becoming what they protest about - closed minded idealogs.

Tools.