Muammar Qaddafi himself is still on the loose, but it seems clear that he has lost his grip on power now that some joker is running around wearing his special hat:
The reporter (on the left, in the helmet) is clearly pleased that she got this interview, and she should be, partly because the man speaks English quite well but mainly because he is wearing Qaddafi's hat.
This man, reportedly a rebel fighter, tells Sky News he took the hat from Qaddafi's own bedroom during the looting of the dictator's compound, to which rebel forces gained entry on Tuesday. The hat does appear to be one of Qaddafi's trademark military parade hats (right), mostly white but with elaborate gold braid around the sides and on the brim. Either that, or the guy broke into the Tripoli Hard Rock and looted the Michael Jackson display.
"Tell me how you got the hat," she says. It wasn't that hard, he replies, honestly. He just went into Qaddafi's room and took it. Not the most heroic of war stories, but who cares when you've got Qaddafi's hat? The man did relate his feelings upon realizing he was in Qaddafi's own bedroom: "I was like, oh my God, I'm in Qaddafi's room. Oh. My. God!" From the way he says it you'd think he found Justin Bieber in there, although he found the next best thing, namely Qaddafi's hat.
Obviously, he also took the opportunity to liberate some of Qaddafi's other bling, including a big gold chain and what appears to be a golden scepter. The scepter in particular not only symbolizes the fall of Qaddafi but also reminds us that he was a complete lunatic.
Qaddafi also had a personal golf cart that he presumably used to get around the compound, although sadly it wasn't made out of gold. But again, "had" is in the past tense. This clip shows other rebels towing away Qaddafi's golf cart, firing into the air, honking car horns and shouting "Allahu akbar!" in triumph.
Given a choice, of course you'd rather have the hat, but this is still something to be proud of.
