Media quoted criticism of Pelosi for wearing headscarf in Middle
 
Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:08:03 -0400


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<p><b>Media quoted criticism of Pelosi for wearing headscarf in Middle East
without noting that Rice, Laura Bush have also done so </b></p>
<p><a href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200704050012?src=item200704050012">http://mediamatters.org/items/200704050012</a></p>

<p>News reports in the Associated Press and
the <i>New York Post,</i> and an
editorial in <i>Investor&#39;s Business
Daily,</i> quoted Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticizing House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) by
saying that "being seen in a
head scarf and so forth is sending the wrong signal to the people of Syria and
to the people of the Middle East," without noting that Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and first lady Laura Bush have both done the same when
visiting the Middle East. </p>

<p>An April 5 <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=item200704050012&http://www.nypost.com/seven/04052007/news/nationalnews/peloopsi_as_pelosi_syriasly_bungles_mission_nationalnews_ian_bishop_________post_correspondent.htm?page=0">article</a> in the <i>New York Post</i>
asserted, "From the campaign trail in Iowa, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney
slammed Pelosi&#39;s diplomatic excursion," before offering Romney&#39;s
quote:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>"I
just don&#39;t know what got into her head, to be completely honest with you,"
he said.</p>

<p>"Her
going to a state which is, without question, a sponsor of terror, and having
her picture taken with Assad and being seen in a head scarf and so forth is
sending the wrong signal to the people of Syria and to the people of the Middle
East."</p></blockquote>

<p>An April 4 AP <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=item200704050012&http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-candidates-iraq,0,1059404.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines">report</a> similarly noted
Romney&#39;s criticism without offering any context. Neither that report nor
the <i>Post</i> article made it clear in
the text that Pelosi wore the scarf during a visit to the tomb of John the
Baptist inside the Umayyad mosque in Damascus
and not in her meeting with with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.
Romney&#39;s quote could be read to suggest that Pelosi wore the scarf during
that meeting. A <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=item200704050012&http://www.nypost.com/seven/04052007/photos/news006.jpg">photo</a> accompanying the <i>Post</i> article shows clearly that
Pelosi&#39;s head was not covered when she met with Assad.</p>

<p>Additionally, an <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=item200704050012&http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=260579380911027">editorial</a> in the April
5 edition of <i>Investor&#39;s Business Daily</i>
asserted, "Anyone who thinks Nancy Pelosi showing up wearing a scarf
around her head visiting a mosque" will lead to peace negotiations
"won&#39;t even make janitor in the foreign service." The editorial
continued, "Speaking of that scarf, one waggish Canadian commentator
remarked that &#39;given the maple leaf-studded head scarf she donned before
entering a Syrian mosque yesterday, American House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could
have been an ambassador for Canada,&#39; " adding that Pelosi
"represented the dovish foreign policy of the land of the maple leaf a
lot more than that of a post-9/11 America leading a global war on
terror."</p>

<p>By contrast, an April 5 <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=item200704050012&http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-pelosi5apr05,1,3739379.story?coll=la-news-a_section&amp;ctrack=1&amp;cset=true">article</a> in the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> noted that the
conservative "Family Research Council <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=item200704050012&http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WU07D03&amp;v=PRINT">disapproved</a> of Pelosi for consenting to
the Islamic custom of covering her head during a visit to a mosque," and
added, "The group said doing so &#39;is usually seen as a sign of
submission in the Muslim world.&#39; " But the article went on to note
that "U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and First Lady Laura Bush
are among many high-profile women who do the same when in the Mideast."</p>

<p>

As early as <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=item200704050012&http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2007/04/03/20070403_183834.htm">6:38 p.m.</a> ET on April
3, Internet gossip Matt Drudge had a picture of Pelosi wearing the scarf on the
front page of his Drudge Report website. That picture moved to the top story as
early as <a href="http://mediamatters.org/rd?src=item200704050012&http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2007/04/03/20070403_191252.htm">7:12 p.m.</a></p><table width="100%" style="background: #e8e8e8; 
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