Rachael Ray's keffiyeh commercial goes MIA.

Over the weekend New York Governor David Patterson pardoned rapper Slick Rick who was at risk of being deported for prior convictions of attempted murder and weapons charges.

Per The Times:

In issuing the pardon, Mr. Paterson cited Mr. Walters’s clean record during his prison term as well as his community volunteer work and antiviolence counseling of young people. Mr. Walters, the governor said, “has been living without incident in the community for more than 10 years.”

And with only a guest vocal on a Montell Jordan single from the Nutty Professor soundtrack going for him upon release and law enforcement the way it is now in New York, that can't be easy.

After reading of Slick Rick's good fortune we read this week about MIA's visa soon expiring and how her upcoming shows in the area may be her last for some time. Since 9/11 it's been a nightmare for British musicians with checkered criminal pasts hoping to tour the US: The Happy Mondays, Amy Winehouse, Babyshambles... Most of these incidents relate to drug convictions, but MIA doesn't even have that going against her. Just that whole, "her dad was a terrorist" thing.

From a recent interview:

The 30-year-old British/Sri Lankan singer, who released the smash sophomore album Kala last year, will be leaving her New York City apartment when her one-year work visa expires in June.

M.I.A.'s father was once a soldier in the Sri Lankan terrorist organization Tamil Tigers, hence the problems with U.S. immigration officials, who previously denied her entry in 2006.

"I figured I might as well do a few more shows in America before I may not be allowed back in or ever get a chance to come back again," she says. "It's nice to tour around America and do every gig like it's your last gig.

"I might have to move to Canada," she adds. "I'm thinking of moving to Montreal in June when I leave my apartment. Basically at the moment I can choose between Montreal and London. My mum's like, 'I want you here!' I haven't seen her in, like, forever, so I have to choose between my mum and Montreal."

Somehow we imagined our country's been signaling change for the better however and just because someone dresses up their Cassette Playa with a keffiyeh, it's not a crime. And maybe a Democratic President would take a second look at some of the immigration laws affecting artists coming into the country. After all, Cassette Playa seems more criminal a fashion offense than a keffiyeh, which actually serves a function and is as common a piece of clothing in Palestine as jeans are in America. Reappropriating fashion isn't a bad thing.

Monocle magazine recently profiled former Israeli Air Force officer and designer Nili Lotan's keffiyah dress which she describes as "related to conflict." After all, sometimes you have to embrace culture and not deride it. Specifically because a keffiyah has never done anything to anyone but keep them dry. In an interview last year, Lotan described her collection, shown in the video below:

"I'm sick of drawing flowers, circles and stripes, and decided to look for graphic shapes that would express my experiences," says Lotan, explaining the rationale behind her new collection, which will be presented in January 2007. "This is not about a protest, but rather an expression of what I feel. I want to stimulate women to think. What's happening around the world today bothers me. What's happening in Israel and the Middle East bothers me even more. I was in Israel for a week during the war in Lebanon, and I am very worried. Still, I thought up the idea for dresses with gun prints beforehand."

Lotan realizes that her collection may not interest fashionistas from Park Avenue.

"I don't think that these are prints that many women will want to wear," she admits. "I don't think many women will want to express their political opinions via their clothes. Even so, I believe there will be some who will buy [my collection] because it will give them a unique power. There are even some who think it is very sexy."

Of course rather than embracing foreigners and their aesthetics, maybe our country's just going batshit insane. Take for example, Michelle Malkin. Please. Michelle Malkin rallied the conservative blogosphere behind a protest of Dunkin' Donuts for running a commercial that shows Rachael Ray, in a keffiyeh. Malkin asks:

"Is Ray’s blunder worth boycotting DD over? I’ll be interested to hear the company’s take. At this point, I’m going to give the management the benefit of the doubt. They have braved boycott threats and attacks over their lonely, principled stance against illegal immigration. Given their pro-rule of law, America first position, I highly doubt the executive offices are filled with moonbats who endorse Ray’s keffiyeh chic."

Well Dunkin' Donuts caved. But instead of apologizing to Malkin, or assumed-to-be boycott-contemplative customers, Dunkin' Donuts should apologize to their employees. We don't know who serves Malkin her coffee in the morning, but every local Dunkin' Donuts we visit is staffed with Arab-American employees. And why should they feel ashamed of who they are, their heritage, and for whom they work? Whether or not Ray was wearing a keffiyeh, it could have been a nice tribute to the employees who brew the coffee for so many conservative bloggers who apparently secretly loathe and suspect them. Instead, they have to face the animosity of customers and employers. Of course, if Rachael Ray wanted to make amends, if she's headed to the Beard Awards in a few weeks, we know whose dress she could wear.

Nili Lotan's current collection can be found online at Kate Boutique, Shopbop and Madison LA.