A scarf under every bed

In the years of the Cold War, America went through a period of paranoia. McCarthy was certain that anyone could be, possibly everyone was, secretly a communist spy trying to turn the hearts of the American people against Capitalism. At the time, those in the public eye were careful not to offend the conservative America, for fear of being put on "The Black List". The list would almost ensure total career failure. But career failure was often the least concern. The rumour of communist support was enough to try a person for treason. Being tried for treason, carried a death sentence. The Rosenbergs (pictured below) fell victim of this and were executed.

It was only a few years ago in high school we mocked the McCarthy era. "How could everyone be so paranoid that they allowed rumour to dictate life and death?" we asked. In my young mind i was certain that we had moved beyond this. I felt confident that America would not fall foul of this thinking again.

It appears, i have misjudged. Yet again, America has fallen foul of paranoia. Look at the picture below. This is a snapshot of an advertisement that was pulled off the air for supporting terrorism. Can you spot the terrorist support?


If you can't. Don't feel bad. The scarf around her neck apparently looks too similar to ones that Yasser Arafat wore and are "a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos". This advertisement of a woman walking to work shows support for terrorism by simply displaying the scarf.

The advertisement has been pulled. "Thank God!" i hear you all say, "If it hadn't been, we might have thought that Dunkin' Donuts was sending a suicide bomber out with a cup of coffee"