November 1, 2007 -- Oh, what a dilemma for Sen. Clinton.

On the one hand are those polls showing that even a majority of local Democrats - not to mention an overwhelming 72 percent of all New Yorkers - are dead-set against Gov. Spitzer's plan to hand out driver's licenses to illegal aliens.

On the other hand are all those Democratic special-interest groups she needs to court - the hard left, immigration activists, Hispanics - who think illegals are entitled to regular licenses, with no restrictions whatsoever.

And then there's her strongest White House rival, Barack Obama: He endorses the Spitzer plan wholeheartedly.

What's an overly cautious presidential candidate to do?

If you're Hillary Clinton, there's only one possible course of action: waffle, double-talk - and desperately try to change the subject.

Which is precisely what she did in Tuesday night's Democratic debate when pressed on the issue - as the other candidates were quick to gleefully point out.

And what one of her spokesmen did shortly afterward when he tried to explain her debate remarks.

And what Hillary herself did again yesterday, after nearly 24 hours of turmoil - when her campaign released a statement intended to "clarify" her position.

It read: "Sen. Clinton supports governors like Gov. Spitzer who believe they need such a measure to deal with the crisis caused by this administration's failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform."

Which means she stands - where, exactly?

Does she support the Spitzer plan?

Or does she oppose it?

Your guess is as good as anyone else's.

Most of the other Democratic candidates didn't have a problem taking sides: Obama is for it; Chris Dodd is against it.

But Hillary? She just won't say, one way or the other.

As Rudy Giuliani noted yesterday: "This is not one of those difficult issues of war and peace and diplomacy that she usually often hides behind to have two or three different positions. This one you either know the answer to this, it's yes or no, and then we can debate it."

No wonder the folks at 9/11 Families for a Secure America have publicly offered a $1,000 cash prize to "any American who can get a straight answer out of Sen. Hillary Clinton on whether or not she supports" driver's licenses for illegal aliens, as proposed by Gov. Spitzer.

They can rest easy: We suspect they won't have to pay out the money anytime soon.

If ever.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11012007/postopinion/editorials/license_to_waffle__951662.htm

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia's Muslim men are suffering sleepless nights and cannot pray properly because their thoughts are distracted by a growing number of women who wear sexy clothes in public, a prominent cleric said.

Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, the spiritual leader of the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, said he wanted to speak about the "emotional abuse" that men face because it is seldom discussed, the party reported on its Web site Wednesday.

"We always [hear about] the abuse of children and wives in households, which is easily perceived by the eye, but the emotional abuse of men cannot be seen," Nik Abdul Aziz said. "Our prayers become unfocused and our sleep is often disturbed."

Nik Abdul Aziz has made controversial comments about women in the past, including that women should stop wearing lipstick and perfume to lower the risk of being raped. Women's groups have slammed his statements, saying Islam teaches both men and women to be responsible for modesty. They say comments like these encourage rapes because it puts the onus on women.

Nik Abdul Aziz's fundamentalist party has about 800,000 members. He is also the chief minister of northeastern Kelantan, the only one of Malaysia's 13 states that is not ruled by the moderate National Front governing coalition.

His party's Web site published an illustration Wednesday of how women should dress — in long, flowing headscarves covering their hair and chests and "baggy and loose" long-sleeved, floor-length dresses.

Most women from Malaysia's Malay Muslim majority wear a modest form of Islamic clothing, though younger women in cities sometimes wear body-hugging dresses or tight T-shirts and jeans.

In Kelantan, the Islamic party has fined Muslim women for not wearing headscarves in workplaces and implemented separate check-out lines for men and women in supermarkets.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,306658,00.html


What was that you were saying about individual freedom and Islam, Googs?

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia —

"We always [hear about] the abuse of children and wives in households, which is easily perceived by the eye, but the emotional abuse of men cannot be seen," Nik Abdul Aziz said. "Our prayers become unfocused and our sleep is often disturbed."

Nik Abdul Aziz has made controversial comments about women in the past, including that women should stop wearing lipstick and perfume to lower the risk of being raped.

Awwwww. My heart goes out to those terribly distraught Muslim men - with their unfocused prayres and disturbed sleep. Whoever wrote the article makes them sound like a group of 13 year old boys just now discovering women. Give them a bit more time & they'll sound like a parody of these 2 clowns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beavis_and_Butt-head).

:woohoo:

Most of the Muslim girls at my school wear very modest clothing, but it is still good looking and fashionable. They generally wear loose jeans and a loose long sleeved top with a head scarf. I don't see anyone forcing them to dress like that here, yet they still do. Perhaps it's because that's what they believe is right.