TigerHawk

Sunday, May 08, 2011

The attack on Lara Logan

By TigerHawk at 5/08/2011 10:34:00 PM

No matter what the relativists might say, some cultures are more hideous than others.

On February 11, a mob of putatively ordinary Egyptian men celebrating their own country's revolution thought it entirely ordinary and proper to assault CBS news correspondent Lara Logan. She was saved, in the end, by faceless, enrobed Egyptian women. The video is riveting, shocking, and rather surprisingly takes note that this attack was very much part of Egyptian culture. Which is, if you think about it, disgusting.

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13 Comments:

By Ignoramus, at Sun May 08, 11:50:00 PM:

I couldn't watch the video with sound so I'm still baffled as to what actually happened. She got groped ... really groped ... but not raped. Am I wrong?

Firstly, isn't this an old story?

And this happened in a crazy town at a crazy time, and its news? Oh yeah, she's a reporter. I'm not defending what happened to her, but reporters even get killed all the time covering extreme war events.

Doesn't 60 Minutes have something better to cover?

By TigerHawk, at Sun May 08, 11:52:00 PM:

You probably need the sound. The violation was rather severe, not just "really groped."

By Anonymous, at Mon May 09, 12:40:00 AM:

I think you are taking liberties in suggesting that this attack is very much part of the Egyptian culture. The sexual harassment of women is widespread in many cultures - women are routinely cat called at, pinched, fondled, etc. in parts of Italy, too, and many other male-dominated cultures. This was a mob attack and singular in many ways for many reasons. There are gang rapes on college campuses in this country, too.

By Anonymous, at Mon May 09, 12:44:00 AM:

I think you are taking liberties in suggesting that this attack is very much part of the Egyptian culture.

It isn't. Gang raping kuffar women is part of Islamic culture.

By Andrew Hofer, at Mon May 09, 08:18:00 AM:

Happened to several women at the Puerto Rican Day Parade some years back. I dunno about this.

By TigerHawk, at Mon May 09, 08:34:00 AM:

Well, nobody suggests that Arab culture is the only context in which this can occur. But did it happen at any of the supposedly "violent" and misogynist Tea Party demonstrations?

I suspect the real common thread involves large concentrations of young men with ego issues.

By Muddy Waters, at Mon May 09, 10:20:00 AM:

Am I the only one who gets Viagra ads in the video?
That's an unfortunate marketing mistake.

By Dawnfire82, at Mon May 09, 12:43:00 PM:

"I think you are taking liberties in suggesting that this attack is very much part of the Egyptian culture."

Really? Visit it. Or read a tour guide; they've been warning foreigners to dress in accordance with local custom or risk sexual assault for decades now. You know that whole 'dress like a slut get treated like a slut' thing that feminists are always screaming at shadows about in the West? That's more or less the law, there.

"The sexual harassment of women is widespread in many cultures - women are routinely cat called at, pinched, fondled, etc. in parts of Italy, too, and many other male-dominated cultures."

So, cat calls and pinches = public sexual attacks like the one Ms. Logan suffered? Really? And you arrive at this conclusion by watering that down to 'sexual harassment?' I suppose you assign equivalent culpability to us and al-Qaeda as well, by watering terrorist attacks down to 'assaults,' and come on, assaults happen all the time!

"This was a mob attack and singular in many ways for many reasons."

Why don't you enlighten us, if you're so knowledgeable about Egyptian sexual assaults? Perhaps differentiate it from other instances of Muslim mob assault on western women in places as far away as Oslo and London?

"There are gang rapes on college campuses in this country, too."

Right. Routinely, in public, and unashamedly in front of news cameras. Oh, and they're not prosecuted as crimes, because the foreign whores had it coming to them.

This knee-jerk moral equivalence is so much lame bullshit, and your attempts reveal your ignorance of Arab Muslim culture which is, in fact and in many, many ways, barbaric.

For instance, in most Arab countries a Christian woman would not be able to bring charges against a Muslim man; she is incompetent to testify in court against him (I don't think this rule is written into the laws in Egypt, which does apply different laws depending on if a person is Muslim or not, but in practice such cases are usually not prosecuted). And even if she were Muslim too, there would also have to be at least 4 witnesses supporting her charge; tough to find in the best of circumstances. Christians and, God forbid, Jews are lesser human beings who pay special taxes, are denied basic legal rights, are not allowed to be armed, and may be enslaved (and yes, they still practice de facto slavery, especially in the Arabian Peninsula; some Saudi immigrants were just convicted of slavery here in the US a few years ago). Such is the glory of Shari'a.

Cultural relativism is moral poison, and you've drunk deeply, Anonymous.

By RPD, at Mon May 09, 05:02:00 PM:

While the details might seem salacious at first glance, I think it is critical to hear them to understand the true savagery of this assault. Like Ingnoramus above, initial reports made it sound like "really groped" was the extent of it.
I applaud Lara Logan having the toughness to talk it through.

By Anonymous, at Mon May 09, 11:05:00 PM:

Dawnfire: That is not cultural relativism - I don't think gang rapes on college campuses are good (or culturally understandable), either. I just don't think misogyny is unique to Islamic culture. If the US were judged by certain segments of fraternity culture, polygamous sects, and specific bachelor parties . . .

By Ignoramus, at Tue May 10, 07:06:00 AM:

OK, I went back and listened to the whole thing. What happened to Lara Logan wasn’t just a bad groping, and was actually worse than most rapes as her life was threatened. It was horrific.

But I don’t know what conclusions to draw from it. Help me out.

Are Egyptians barbaric and misogynist?

Are Islamic mobs capable of sudden brutal attacks on Westerners? Especially on blonde shiksas?

Should we think twice about sending female reporters into potential harm’s way?

Is the subtle point of this segment being aired now – as opposed to weeks ago after it happened – to say that *they’re* barbaric, not *us* ?

Is there a coincidence that it was on the same 60 Minutes program where Obama spoke about his hit on Osama?

Was CBS shilling for Obama by agreeing to do a “soft shoe” program in exchange for an exclusive?

Should CBS have asked Obama about the legality of issuing a “shoot on sight” order?

Should CBS have asked whether the planned-for timing of the hit would have had Obama “celebrating” it at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, but for bad weather?