Keep those heads
of state covered

Hamid Karzai is an impressive guy -- well-educated, articulate, passionate and brave. As the leader of the provisional government of Afghanistan, he's put a face on a confusing political situation in a faraway land. Not to mention the shiny green Uzbek robes and way cool lambskin hat that he wears over his Armani suits to official functions abroad. So why shouldn't all world leaders wear their nation's traditional garb?

Imagine the presidents of France and Germany wearing sissy little berets and helmets with spikes on top, the prime minister of Great Britain in a bowler, the prime minister of Japan with a shaved, blue-powdered and lacquered-hair head, any number of el presidentes in sombreros, the head of Canada in plaid earmuffs, the prime minster of Australia in a digger hat with one side pinned up, Russians in bearskin caps, African and Muslim dictators in fezzes and turbans, and we all know who'd be wearing the yarmulke.

What about America? The 10-gallon cowboy hat? A baseball cap? An astronaut helmet? A Davy Crockett coonskin cap with the tail still attached? Something with a Nike logo, manufactured overseas?

Burl Burlingame

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