The Most Beautiful of Them All

Some commentators just can't quite make their minds which is the most beautiful black tulip ever.

On Thursday November 5 one hundred Ayaan black tulip bulbs were planted in the gardens of the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum. The tulip is named after politician and author, Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

The naming of the flower took officially place in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Attended by Ayaan herself, a single bulb was planted in the grounds of the Met.

This is where inevitably, the postmodern bane of political correctness kicks in. 

The Rijksmuseum's director, William Pijbes, also present in New York took the opportunity to assert that open, vital societies - like the one of the Dutch Golden Era (17th Century) - cannot exist without the introduction of foreign elements. (What Pijbes and his ilk really advocate is the elimination of national identity).

Pijbes also proudly emphasized that the Rijksmuseum is a house in which independent spirits can flourish. (Yeah, repeating multicultural truisms is the mark of the autonomous mind!).

The Ayaan black tulip is a long dream come true for tulip growers. Various black tulips have hit the market, but according to grower Lydia Boots the Ayaan is the most beautiful black tulip ever.

In September 2006 Ayaan Hirsi Ali became a Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

Over the last decade or so Ayaan established her credentials as a well known Islam critic, specifically when it comes to the fate of women in Islam (see video). 

In 2004 she co-produced the film "Submission" with Theo van Gogh. He was beastly slaughtered on an Amsterdam street by radical Muslim, Mohammed Boyeri one year later. His assassination was commemorated just last Monday, November 2.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali when serving as a Libertarian MP, after relentless death threats and constant political bickering, finally fled the Netherlands and settled in Washington.

She deserves every honor of having this politically correct feat of horticulture named after her, but Ayaan's beauty and valor are simply incomparable to anything they could ever produce.