The British version of Rashumon?

1. What Straw said

Mr Straw, the leader of the Commons, insisted he did not want to be "prescriptive" of Muslim women's dress, but said the increasing trend towards covering facial features was "bound to make better, positive relations between the two communities more difficult".

2. What Galloway heard

"Who does Jack Straw think he is to tell his female constituents that he would prefer they disrobe before they meet him," says Respect MP George Galloway. "For that is what this amounts to. It is a male politician telling women to wear less. When put like that, there's no one who would be considered part of the civilised political spectrum who would have anything but contempt for Straw.

The gap between the two versions is so big that Rashumon has nothing on the distortion abilities of the Hon. MP of RESPECT.

3. My version

Jack Straw, an astute politico, says something quite innocent when looked upon in its context. Of course, being quite astute, Straw may have not even planned to say something that will fall on fertile political soil - it just happened naturally.

Comes that despicable clown GG and makes a travesty of the whole two-bit issue, trying to capitalize on someone's error (if it were one, which I doubt) and regain some ground he lost with his Muslim electorate. Of course, that picture above put him in some major excrement with this electorate, and he is feverishly looking for a straw (pun intended) to pull him out.

The result is, however, pitiful...

What do you say, my dear impartial reader?

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