Perhaps Neil Young Needs to Look a Little Closer

In his new song, "Looking for Leader," Neil Young surmises that our country needs a leader and he openly believes he/she is walking amongst us, but just hasn't stepped forward yet. We've had great leaders in our history that have stepped forward during trying times - George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and many others.

But in the 21st Century, in a globalized community, maybe the great leader Neil Young seeks isn't supposed to be American at all. The only crises in America today are the self made ones. Within our borders and amongst reasonable people, there isn't much disagreement. We all believe in fiscal responsibility, we all believe we need better, more fair immigration policies, we all believe in equality of opportunity, and we all believe in eradicating terrorism. How we go about these things, yes, there are differences of opinion, and these differences are often exploited to political advantage, often separating us and differentiating us more than we really are.

But it is clear to me the Muslim world is in crisis and because of the globalized nature of the 21st Century, that crisis has already spilled onto our shores. It is not America that is in dire need of a leader - it is the Muslim world that needs leaders. And there is one, if anyone cares to pay attention, her name is Ayaan Hirsi Ali, she is a Muslim and is a member of Dutch Parliment.

She is the closest thing to Martin Luther King of today, she talks about massive cultural subjugation of women in Islam. But she does not stop there. The crisis in Islam isn't just about how women are treated, but how all "unbelievers" are treated - how they are begrudgingly tolerated, but not believed to be true equals in any way. And it is this backwards, intolerant point of view that has given rise to the radical islamicists - those who attacked NYC and Washington on 9/11 and those who murdered Theo Van Gogh, those who bombed the trains in Madrid and the subways of London, the nightclubs in Bali, and on down to the people who fight in Chechnya, Palestine, and Kashmir.

We have a leader right in front of our eyes - a world leader - a young woman who knows because she's been there and is out there speaking a truth so clear and so obvious, it is threatening to all...not just radical muslims, but to all of those too cowardly to see it for themselves. It is arrogant to think what America and the world need is an American leader. That is precisely not the point. What the world needs is Ayaan Hirsi Ali, we need to protect her and listen to her and to follow her lead.