U.S. State Department Defends Raif Badawi Just Before He is Lashed 50 Times for “Insulting Islam”

It doesn’t look like there’s much we can do now. Raif Badawi, the Saudi Arabian blogger, will receive the first batch of his 1,000 lashes today. All for the “crime” of running a progressive website that called for, among other things, religious tolerance and women’s rights.

Yesterday, the U.S. State Department issued a statement in defense of Badawi:

We are greatly concerned by reports that human rights activist Raif Badawi will start facing the inhumane punishment of a 1,000 lashes, in additio...