Althouse: Did Saudi television blur Michelle Obama out of the broadcast of Obama's meeting with new Saudi king in Riyadh?

January 28, 2015

Did Saudi television blur Michelle Obama out of the broadcast of Obama's meeting with new Saudi king in Riyadh?

"Several videos posted on Saudis' Facebook pages obscured Michelle Obama's face. They were removed shortly after they were posted," writes Josh Rogin at Bloomberg View.

Well, who knows? Saudi officials say it didn't happen. If it did happen, why did it happen? Was it to erase her presence as a woman or was it because she was wearing somewhat festively patterned blue baggy fabric coverage (instead of plain black baggy fabric coverage) and no headscarf?

55 comments:

Michael K said...: Did they also blur Laura Bush who also wore western clothes and no head scarf?

The adulation of Michelle is leftist press propaganda.; 1/28/15, 9:56 AM
pm317 said...: Did Obama lecture them on their 'war on women?'; 1/28/15, 9:57 AM
rehajm said...: A small furor has erupted over whether a Saudi television station blurred out the image of U.S. first lady Michelle Obama

Is the furor over her being blurred out at all or that they failed to blur her enough?; 1/28/15, 9:59 AM
Anonymous said...: There may be something to this Wahhabism after all.; 1/28/15, 10:00 AM
Chuck said...: Michelle was there strictly on business. She's still looking for #OurGirls.; 1/28/15, 10:09 AM
Big Mike said...: I agree with her decision not to wear a headscarf. The decision not to wear black gets back to her husband's notable disdain for protocol. She didn't have to wear "baggy" clothes; she could have worn a tailored suit or a black dress.

Also, the Saudis saying that the blurring out didn't happen, however that doesn't mean it didn't in fact happen.; 1/28/15, 10:10 AM
JAORE said...: Another area of technology where the Good 'Ol US of A has fallen behind. Dammink.; 1/28/15, 10:11 AM
MathMom said...: Some of the Saudi men wouldn't shake her hand. They are just being Wahabbis.

This is why I am not a feminist. Feminists in the US worry about stupid shit, while women in Saudi Arabia wear bags and are the property of their husbands.

My husband supervised a bunch of Saudi engineers when we lived there. One of them was from a very liberal family, so liberal they arranged for him to see his fiance before the wedding. When he met her he asked her if she had any questions. She said "Do you have a nice house?" He said yes. She said, "OK, I'll marry you." That is all women expect in Saudi Arabia.

Now that Michelle has experienced being a woman where there really are problems, perhaps things will change for Saudi women.; 1/28/15, 10:12 AM
George M. Spencer said...: When I lived there in the 1970s government postal censors would go through each and every copy of each and every magazine using Magic Markers to obscure images of women or just tearing out pages.

What a sick and pitiful place.; 1/28/15, 10:13 AM
traditionalguy said...: Je suis blurry.; 1/28/15, 10:14 AM
Wince said...: Non-alcoholic beer goggles?; 1/28/15, 10:16 AM
Known Unknown said...: Maybe she's innocent like those other people on COPS!; 1/28/15, 10:17 AM
MathMom said...: St. George -

You and I were there at the same time. This TIME Magazine cover had to go through the censors, and she appeared in our Commissary with black magic-marker pants on her legs.; 1/28/15, 10:18 AM
lemondog said...: Michelle O sans headscarf, good for her, however her fashion taste in selecting that blue and white jacket/coat, needs improvement.; 1/28/15, 10:20 AM
MadisonMan said...: How nice that we can talk about this instead of the USA's support for the very anti-western Saudi Government.; 1/28/15, 10:24 AM
pm317 said...: @Big Mike is right. MO should have worn her customary sleeveless, cleavage showing knee length attire just to protest those mfers. I can't understand why all the lefty feminists don't get riled up about things like this.; 1/28/15, 10:25 AM
tim maguire said...: I applaud her decision not to wear a headscarf (cf. contra, Hillary Clinton), but she looks like she just rolled out of bed. What a stupid outfit to wear to a formal occasion.; 1/28/15, 10:26 AM
tim maguire said...: MadisonMan said...How nice that we can talk about this instead of the USA's support for the very anti-western Saudi Government.

I don't know about you, but I'm able to do both. I expect for most people, it's not an either or choice.; 1/28/15, 10:28 AM
Quaestor said...: I dislike Michelle Obama. Her politics are abominable. Her influence over what school children are allowed to eat is disgusting. Her tastes are beneath plebeian... and yet... Three cheers for the First Lady!; 1/28/15, 10:29 AM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: Another U.S. president bedeviled by a blue dress.; 1/28/15, 10:35 AM
wendybar said...: I thought the Obamas were all about protocol?? Funny, how they can pick and choose what protocol to follow!!; 1/28/15, 10:39 AM
Quaestor said...: How nice that we can talk about this instead of the USA's support for the very anti-western Saudi Government.

Anyone who uses the adjective very in this context hasn't been paying attention.; 1/28/15, 10:40 AM
Anonymous said...: Perhaps they are prejudiced against black people. Angela Merkel has meet with the Saudi King on several occasions while wearing her normal attire. Wonder how they covered that meeting - since she was not a "wife" to be shuffled to the side but the actual leader.; 1/28/15, 10:40 AM
Danno said...: Just don't try to bring your Bible into Saudi Arabia.; 1/28/15, 10:41 AM
Rumpletweezer said...: The US oil boom has the potential to diminish the influence of Saudi Arabia in the Middle East and the World. Too bad nobody in the current administration seems to care about that.; 1/28/15, 10:44 AM
Clyde said...: It took six years, but one of the Obamas finally did something I approve of. Kudos!; 1/28/15, 10:47 AM
Fernandinande said...: Even though the Saudis did it, blurring Mrs. President is probably a good idea.; 1/28/15, 10:54 AM
TMink said...: "If it did happen, why did it happen?"

It happened because Allah cannot help his own followers use self-control to avoid sinful thoughts about those wascaly women. Allah is not a powerful god. He needs to be protected from criticism and his male followers need to be protected from the sight of women.

An I concur in support of the First Lady refusing to cover herself. Well done mam.

Trey; 1/28/15, 10:55 AM
pm317 said...: Just don't try to bring your Bible into Saudi Arabia.

Yeah, I wonder if Obama lectured them on religious tolerance like he did Modi. Obama is a coward who bullies people who are too civilized and polite to retaliate.; 1/28/15, 10:57 AM
pm317 said...: @Fernandinande

LOL.. thread winner!; 1/28/15, 10:58 AM
William said...: Michelle's combative attitude never looked better. Good for her........If you think Saudi royalty are the craziest bastards in the Middle East, then you haven't been paying attention. Not that they're not crazy bastards.; 1/28/15, 11:08 AM
Unknown said...: maybe is was aesthetics; 1/28/15, 11:11 AM
Todd said...: Don't know why she did not cover herself and there is MUCH to oppose about the first family but I must give props when earned and here props were earned by the First Lady.; 1/28/15, 11:21 AM
George M. Spencer said...: Re: the above comments on Saudis and racism.

The slaves in Saudi were typically black, often from Sudan (legal there until 1964), and, yes, Saudis, are xenophobic in general. They are loathed throughout the Arab world for their haughtiness. It grates on other Arabs, particularly those who inherited civilizations thousands of years old, like the Egyptians. As recently as 1940, most Saudis lived like Stone Age barbarians wandering the deserts. They still think that way.; 1/28/15, 11:30 AM
Unknown said...: If it happened, I suspect the reason is a thumb in the eye of President Obama, whose pretense of being a friend to the Middle East is not fooling anyone over there.

An American might see Obama's apology tour, speech in Cairo, outreach to Iran, and tough talk on Israel as a significant foreign policy shift. However, to the average person in the Middle East, they still see the U.S. as the evil supporter of Israel, and imperialist bully.

By blurring Michelle, they are showing that Barack Obama is just as hated as any other U.S. president.

For the record, I agree with the First Lady's choice not to wear a head scarf. Good for her. However, even in the U.S., we wear black to funerals.; 1/28/15, 11:34 AM
MayBee said...: She so obviously did not want to be there.; 1/28/15, 11:46 AM
Anonymous said...: They are loathed throughout the Arab world for their haughtiness. It grates on other Arabs, particularly those who inherited civilizations thousands of years old, like the Egyptians.
--------------------------

and like the Persians (Iranians); 1/28/15, 11:46 AM
David said...: Better that than coloring her white.; 1/28/15, 12:29 PM
Revenant said...: Black is the color of mourning. For a Saudi king's funeral, I'd recommend something festive.

That being said, I doubt the Obamas were trying to make a statement.; 1/28/15, 12:33 PM
Revenant said...: It grates on other Arabs, particularly those who inherited civilizations thousands of years old, like the Egyptians.

"Inherited" is a very euphemistic way of describing how they wound up in charge of Egypt.; 1/28/15, 12:34 PM
David said...: Clyde said...
It took six years, but one of the Obamas finally did something I approve of. Kudos!

She is the wife of our chief of state. If you do not want to respect their customs, don't go. Have a bad head cold. It is not clear to me what the protocol was for this, but if this was insulting to them, it should not have been done.; 1/28/15, 12:34 PM
Revenant said...: if this was insulting to them, it should not have been done

Why not? They're scum.; 1/28/15, 12:45 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: Did Saudi television blur Michelle Obama out of the broadcast of Obama's meeting with new Saudi king in Riyadh?....If it did happen, why did it happen?

It happened because in some respects Saudi culture is far more advanced than ours.; 1/28/15, 12:58 PM
George M. Spencer said...: I recall some years ago the Queen of England was declared an Honorary Man by the Saudis or one of the Gulf sheikdoms to circumvent one of their primitive customs.; 1/28/15, 1:24 PM
Michael K said...: "Too bad nobody in the current administration seems to care about that."

Oh they care. They care enough to work almost as hard as Putin to stop fracking and oil production, plus the XL pipeline, of course.; 1/28/15, 1:33 PM
furious_a said...: Condoleezza travelled with the American delegation and didn't cover her head, either.

OTOH, You go, Girls. OTOH, their country, their culture.; 1/28/15, 1:37 PM
Marc in Eugene said...: It was until until recently the diplomatic protocol that elected female heads of state, and female spouses, dressed in black and wore a veil when they were received by the Roman Pontiff. I don't understand being rude in such formal situations in order to make a political point, disagree about substantial matters all you like.; 1/28/15, 1:41 PM
Known Unknown said...: Not that I would want to subject us to the sight of it, but she should've worn a Monokini.; 1/28/15, 2:09 PM
Titus said...: My hubby's friend is the interpreter between Obama and the Prime Minister of India-she goes everywhere with the PM.

How fab is that?; 1/28/15, 2:53 PM
Swifty Quick said...: Michelle doesn't seem to have the affinity for all things Islamic that her husband has. She just went up in my estimation.; 1/28/15, 2:54 PM
BarrySanders20 said...: For the first time in my adult life I am proud of Michelle Obama.

My robot is proud too.; 1/28/15, 3:08 PM
Todd said...: BarrySanders20 said...
For the first time in my adult life I am proud of Michelle Obama.

My robot is proud too.

1/28/15, 3:08 PM

Is it? Is it really? Or was it just programmed that way?; 1/28/15, 3:15 PM
David said...: Revenant said...
if this was insulting to them, it should not have been done

Why not? They're scum.

They are also a crucial trade partner, a military ally, an opponent of a nuclear Iran, the home of Mecca and Medina, a large nation bordering on vital trade routes and perhaps an important base if we are ever in a war with Iran. All reasons to make nice.; 1/28/15, 3:48 PM
Revenant said...: They are also a crucial trade partner, a military ally, an opponent of a nuclear Iran, the home of Mecca and Medina, a large nation bordering on vital trade routes and perhaps an important base if we are ever in a war with Iran. All reasons to make nice.

Saudi Arabia is worse than Iran, and should be considered an enemy in the war against Islamic terror by any rational measure.

That we consider them an ally is extremely embarrassing. They certainly are nothing of the kind -- we occasionally go out of our way to help *them*, but it is all one-sided.; 1/28/15, 5:24 PM
pm317 said...: Agree with @Revenant. Saudis are exporters of the kind of Islam that is at the root of all problems today and they fund all those madrasas and mosques.; 1/28/15, 8:28 PM