Where’s Iman al-Obeidi?

Watching her being dragged away was the most sickening feeling I’ve had in a while. My first instinct was to hope she would die quickly and mercifully, but I’m guessing that’s not the case. I applaud her parents for supporting her when many would see/disown her as “dishonored.” On the contrary.

@Mistress Cynica: I can’t/won’t watch the footage, but the coverage also made me think how great her parents are for publicly supporting her. I handled more than enough asylum cases featuring women who were kicked out of their homes, eventually leaving their countries, after being raped by neighbors or family members. I hope that tells us something about what Libya can really be like, post-Gadhafi.

@Mistress Cynica: I was really impressed by that response too, and the mother saying when she spoke to her daughter by phone that she told her to not withdraw the charges and to be strong.

Gaddhafi (I’ve decided every time I do a Libya post I will spell his name differently) is so fucking nuts, I don’t doubt that he demanded that she be brought to his compound. She’s probably sitting in his living room right now. He’s unpredictable so it’s hard to say whether he’d do something totally fucked up like execute her himself with cameras rolling, or use her as a hostage to negotiate his safety and try to put the NATO forces and Western leaders in the position of explaining why they bombed the compound with this innocent civilian — who personalized the story for millions around the world — in there.

I fear this will not end well.

Haven’t watched any of the videos. Can’t do it and function.

@blogenfreude: I fear you are right, my friend. I cannot let this story go, I apologize in advance if I have a daily update asking where Iman is. That woman haunts me, there’s something about her eyes looking around the hotel cafeteria about halfway through one of the videos, that just pierce me.

@SanFranLefty: Yeah, I can’t watch either, but I appreciate the updates nonetheless.

Update: She’s being sued for slander by her attackers.

*sigh* As if this story isn’t depressing enough, I’m about to pile on with more rape news: the New York Times has done a much-needed do-over of their previous she-had-it-coming coverage of the Texas gang rape story, and some of the new details are horrific and heartbreaking. The girl was raped on at least six occasions over the course of three months. As if it weren’t already a given, the emerging details about both the victim’s family and the assailants paint the picture of such a broken, broken community. It says a lot for how fortunate I am in my own circumstances that I can’t even conceive of what it’s like to live in that town.

@flippin eck: I hate to tell you darling, but there are thousands of communities across the country that are that broken.

I read that article this morning waiting for a plane, nearly burst into tears, and proceeded to devour on the flight this amazing and horribly depressing book that connects the dots on the collapse of low-skill manufacturing in the ’70s, Reagan’s dog whistle rhetoric of the ’80s leading to a militaristic war on black people drugs that was accelerated and worsened by Bill Clinton. By the time the plane landed, I wanted to slit my wrists.

@SanFranLefty, flippin eck: Real life sucks. I avoid it whenever I can.

To that end, I have embraced many escape mechanisms like listening to symphonic music last night while doing some prep work for painting (although I’m listening to Rachel tonight as I paint the entry way), sinking deep into my outdoor activities to the point you’d think I do that for a living (read the new bar bulletin? Ha! The new Shooting Times came in the mail today*) and grooving on my heavy metal. The occasional martini helps, as do funny and weird things I find to amuse myself and brighten my spirits.

* and it took the mailman half an hour to clean out his bag.

@mellbell: JESUS!

@karen marie has her eyes tight shut: I’m with Karen Marie on this one.

@flippin eck: :’-(

@SanFranLefty: Yes. Thank you for taking the hard hits on this and on many other issues. I know it affects you, too.

@redmanlaw: Yeah. Music helps. Real life people help, sometimes. Simple things and complex tasks can distract you, and you can find beauty almost anywhere if you just pay attention.

But then you realize that you have to force yourself to see the ugly, too, and maybe try to do something about it. I dunno…

More from honey badger guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBpNZuChtuM&feature=channel_video_title

@redmanlaw: Hooray!

@redmanlaw: Oh, I like this one! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf1IcdAvbPA&NR=1