There is a kind of courage that I as a man will never know.
And that courage is a woman who has been violently and brutally raped, refusing to stay silent.
A woman going on national television, like CBS News correspondent Lara Logan did Sunday night, and talking about how two months ago, hundreds of Egyptians tore her clothes off, beat her with sticks and flagpoles, and then raped her.
It is a kind of bravery I cannot fathom. The horror that Logan must feel every time she thinks back to that awful incident in Tahrir Square. The violation, the anger that every rape victim must feel is unspeakable.
Logan was so poised, so composed on “60 Minutes” Sunday night. I was blown away how she was able to speak about this in such measured tones, and that she spoke out in the hopes of helping others who have been victimized.
Rape is a disgusting, despicable plague on our society, and every time a victim speaks out, maybe it makes more and more women a little bit more empowered to come forward as well.
I heard a statistic last week that saddened me: It said that 95 percent of rapes on college campuses go unreported.
Thank you, Lara Logan, for being so brave in discussing your ordeal. (Watch the “60 Minutes” story here).
**I think the White House Correspondents Dinner is a terrible idea; journalists and politicians mingling and talking about how wonderful they both are; objectivity goes out the window.
But Seth Meyers absolutely killed as the emcee this year; you must watch his speech. He pokes fun at Barack Obama, the New York Times, and Joe Biden. But his best stuff came about Donald Trump, who sits stone-faced while Meyers destroys him. The Trump stuff starts at the 12-minute mark. And here’s a link to Obama’s speech; he had some pretty good zingers about Trump, too.)
**I blinked a few times when the news came across my Twitter feed (and let’s face it, Twitter has supplanted everything else as far as breaking news goes).
Osama bin Laden. Dead.
After almost 10 years of America looking for this bastard, to see that he actually, truly is really dead is pretty stunning.
Couple quick thoughts on the rare breaking news White House press conference on a Sunday night (and how great is it that the new bumped Donald Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” off the air? Karma baby, karma.)
– Does bin Laden’s death change the war on terror? Probably not that much. We don’t know how much influence bin Laden had anymore.
But symbolically, man oh man, this is huge. To finally after nearly 10 years see the man responsible for 9/11 taken out has to bring at least a little bit of relief to 9/11 victims’ relatives and friends.
– Think about how many people have looked for this man. How many times he was almost killed, and got away. Think about how gratifying it must be for the thousands of military personnel who came so close to capturing him.
– The scenes of Americans in D.C., and New York at Ground Zero, celebrating, singing the national anthem Sunday night gave me goosebumps. It’s like a 21st century V-J Day for this generation.
And now, in my mind the best musical tribute that came out of 9/11. Remember the victims today, whatever else you do.
