Battleangel

From cheerleading the Muslim Brotherhood to the American Enterprise Institute. So maybe that is not a major step in reality since both have been integral parts of America’s grand strategy. Inspirational flip-flopping frankly. I must say I am humbled by her hate-mongering and invective, no matter where she opportunistically stands for the moment, it eclipses even my own efforts in the field of uncivil discourse. A chip on her shoulder for sure.

Metafilter - Ayaan Hirsi Ali (née Magan) has already been mentioned in several times in Metafilter. Whether you consider her a couragous campaigner for women’s rights and against Islamofascism, or a crass opportunist, there’s no denying that she’s some character. However, it now seems that her Becky-Sharp-ish rise to fame and power also left a similar trail of embittered ex-friends and lies that has ended up landing her in serious trouble with fellow right-winger (also previously mentioned in Metafilter) Rita Verdonk, Dutch Immigration Minister.

Before feeling too sorry for Ayaan, consider that she’s moving to Washington DC, where she’s landed a job at the American Enterprise Institute. I’m sure she’ll fit right in…

Seldom has someone been so effective in missing the point. Instead of making a sensible case for the modernization of selective parts of Islam, Ayaan has become a vanguard for ‘Islamophobia’ (or more to the point, racism, since ‘Islamophobia’ misses the point as well) in Europe in general. She has also effectively alienated many women from the political left in favor of right-wing sympathies (building on the multiculturalism vs. feminism argument). As such, I can see how the job application for the American Enterprise Institute sort of wrote itself. They were a match made in heaven. The only problem is that I fear the AEI may actually believe its own nonsense, and conclude that Ayaan is somehow representative for African Muslim Women. Or indeed any of those three categories. I don’t think anyone who works for elite think tanks could possibly be representative for anything. But I bet they think so as they dream up new ways to shape the world in their image, not so unlike some radical Islamists we know.