Protesters outside the White House urge President Obama to help Libya. (Photo by messay.com, Creative Commons)

The late Anwar Sadat characterized Muammar Gaddafi as a madman for his reckless, violent behavior. Gaddafi’s government has funded dozens of terror organizations in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The Libyan government incited coups in Egypt and Tunisia, and orchestrated plenty of assassinations. Gaddafi's fomentation of violence has ranged from the Philippines to India. He is also no stranger to extreme anti-Semitic attitudes which have caused the remaining Jews of a minority population in Libya to flee.

Despite enjoying some Western support in recent years, due to outwardly reformed behavior, Libya is hardly a free nation.

The tyrant's time is running out. And he knows it.

The National Post staff ran a column entitled "Gaddafi’s speech: Decoding a tyrant’s words" following a rambling, marathon speech given by the dictator earlier today.

Here's an excerpt:

[...] Col. Gaddafi’s body language suggested he feels stressed, angry and rattled by events, said Mark Bowden, a Toronto-based communications coach and body-language specialist who has trained with world leaders. Col. Gaddafi’s taut, stiff upper lip seen during his speech is associated with anger. His hand motions, such as his repeated drumming of his fist up and down at chest level, suggests passion — not an ecstatic passion or a truthful passion, but an angry passion. “He is showing the signs of stress and anxiety. He is seen rearranging his clothes and coming up off his toes, slightly unbalanced, suggesting he is very unsettled,” Mr. Bowden said. Col. Gaddafi’s fumbling gestures also suggest he was ill-prepared and the speech was largely unscripted....

Read it all here.