Is Libya Next?

Not much time tonight, so just a quick observation of media dhimmitude....

When compared to the attitudes of American men, those of the governing authorities of Saudi Arabia get a pass from The Independent.

Consider this story (via Matt Drudge) about the benighted Saudis arresting twenty after raiding a suspected gay wedding. (Not that there's anything right with raiding a confirmed one!)

The detainees, who were among some 400 men attending "the wedding party of two men" on Tuesday, had been "emulating women," the Al-Watan paper said.

...

Homosexuality is illegal in conservative Saudi Arabia, which metes out strict punishments based on sharia, or Islamic law. [bold added]

Mighty white of 'em to inform us that sharia is "Islamic law". I wish they'd go even more into what, exactly, that entails. (Makes me think of a Richard Feynman quote about the difference between knowing what a bird is called and knowing what it is....) On top of that, is it just me or does that last paragraph not sound admiring, like when American leftists describe liberal Republicans as "mavericks"?

And too bad the staff of The Independent seem to think that sharia is less of a threat (or at least less immoral) than the attitudes of American men towards homosexuality.

The study, which appears in an upcoming issue of Pyschology [sic] Of Men And Masculinity suggests that Italian men, while still endorsing the playboy stereotype, are substantially less homophobic and sexist than their American counterparts. [bold added]

The Moslems, who jail suspected homosexuals (and, if I recall correctly, execute confirmed ones) are "conservatives" while American men, who are merely uncomfortable about homosexuality, are "homophobic".

Why isn't The Independent as eager to damn Islamic law -- under which homosexuals suffer real consequences at the hands of the state -- as it is to damn American men who, if many of us aren't comfortable about homosexuality, at least aren't pushing to round up all the gay men into jail cells?

And then, on a lighter note: Which Islamic state is going to be first to put its money where its mouth is by invading Libya in order to depose Moammar Qaddafi, who is certainly guilty of "emulating women", at least in terms of dress?

-- CAV