After many months, I visited Tysons Corner Mall. Two things caught my eye:
- The presence of Chinese. A store called Zen sells Chinese kitsch, nothing Zen about it. I was "shadowed" by a Chinese saleslady everywhere I went. Other Chinese were staffing a booth and handing out brochures for a Chinese dance troupe performance at Kennedy Center: one wonders how they paid for floor space at Tysons Corner Mall. It's not difficult to have hard feelings about Chinese, when China holds most of the U.S. national debt. Barack Obama rightly raised the issue of borrowing from the Chinese to pay the Saudis during his campaign, but turned around to genuflect (not merely bow) to the Saudi King once he became President (I could say a lot more about BO, but it's not germane to the post).
- The presence of Muslims in traditional dress. CAIR's annual "civil rights" report notwithstanding, these people went about their business without fear of reprisal. The U.S. born Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who has ties to both the Ft Hood murderer Malik Nidal Hasan and BVD bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, preached in Northern Virginia. As I looked at the Muslims shopping at Tysons Corner Mall, I couldn't help but wonder how many of these people provided cover for Anwar al-Awlaki.
