State Dep't: working hard to ensure no country views us as aggressive imperialists

Mona Charen writes a great hit piece on the State Department's "bridge building" magazine called "Hi." The magazine is published in English and Arabic and is published "with the hope of building bridges of greater understanding among our cultures." That sounds all fine and dandy, but when there is an article that goes like this, I have some questions:

Real men moisturize. In fact, some of them, like Michael Gustman, a 25-year-old public relations account executive from Boca Raton, Fla., even have separate moisturizers for the face and body. Facial pores can clog with too heavy a salve, it seems.

He gets manicures. He gets pedicures. He gets facials. He gets his hair done every two weeks. He accessorizes. He puts effort into getting ready for a date. He loves cooking complex dishes. He's a refined, evolved, sensitive guy.
In a word, he's a metrosexual.

Are you kidding me? Describing the current aesthetic practices of a narcassistic metrosexual is going to build bridges?

Mona puts it best when she writes "is this the way to 'build bridges' between the Arab world and ourselves? Does the State Department believe that Arab males . . . are going to be impressed with a vision of America in which males are feminized "exfoliated," smooth-skinned eunuchs?"

Seriouly folks, of all they ways we want the Arab world to view us, this is the image the State Departments wishes to present?

Common, you might as well characterize the entire male population of the U.S. as limp-haired blond Carsons, from the show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Wouldn't that be faaaabulouuss?

Howard Dean thinks so.