Last week, a national treasure was condemned and, in the name of political correctness, modified beyond recognition. I am, of course, referring to the USA Basketball Team’s cheerleaders.
In a “nod to Muslim law,” the cheerleaders, a source of hope and joy for millions around the world, were forced to cover up during a FIBA World Championship game in Turkey between the US and Iran.
AP reports: “[the] dancers were ordered to cover up for their performances during the game. Islam prohibits women from exposing their skin in public, and Iranian officials had turned their backs when the dancers performed in earlier games.”
Let us not offend the sensitivities of the ever PC Iranian officials.
Ladies, grab your sweat suits.
During the game, the American basketball team placed new international sanctions on Iranian rebounds, time of possession and shots from the paint, crushing the Iranian team in an 88-51 reverse fatwā. If only more international differences could be settled by Lamar Odom.
However, we lost the cultural competition. By forcing our dancers to cover up, we bowed to Iran’s intolerant, barbaric quasi-theocracy in exchange for a pittance of respect from a country that openly confers in the stoning, whipping and violent suppression of its own people.
In the long thread of history, no country has championed political correctness more than ours. America willingly, and ever more consistently, sacrifices common sense and cultural robustness for that lukewarm feeling of “societal enlightenment.”
The problem is, the rest of the world is not as generous as we are. America is always giving, bending, and changing for others. We see this every day. We reject further natural resource development and drilling, accept new VAT tax proposals, adopt G20 restrictions, promise cap-and-trade legislation, don’t build border fences, expand trade deficits, take humanitarian critiques from all sides, and allow Islamic centers to be built in offensive locations.
Let the girls dance in Turkey in the same clothes they wear in Miami Beach. Let the Iranian officials turn their backs. It would not be the first time they turned away from the freedoms of expression that make our country great. We should stop covering them up.
Benny is a 23-year-old political activist from California, via Iowa. Former Chairman of the Iowa Federation of College Republicans and YAF activist, he has worked for the RNC, CRNC, Heritage Foundation, and Family Research Council and currently works for an arms manufacturer and defense contractor in Switzerland. Benny loves his pipe tobacco, God, and Family, but not necessarily in that order.