Silly Little Country

Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Q

Scratch a CBCer, even Jian Ghomeishi, whom I generally find quite a good interviewer, and you know what you find. He twists his knickers into a knot, with his clear commitment to some vague stupid notion of multiculturalism (surely there are nice things about Islam!), and finds her straight classic liberalism difficult to absorb. One can hardly expect any political sophistication from a guy whose career comes from performing as a busker, but an interview that started pretty well goes serious awry.
You can listen to it here as part of the June 8 episode, starting at about 16:45 (though the first part of the show is entertaining).
Just as she was with the wretchedly awful Avi Lewis (also at the time a CBCer, now with Al Jazeera, a minimal move), Ali is gracious, clear, articulate, and gentle with fools. She mostly seems to be interviewed by fools.
He leaves her with a great question - what is good in Islam. She brilliantly asks for some time to think about it. I know I would have to think hard and long myself.

posted by Alan Adamson @ 9:39 AM