October 18, 2018
The details of Jamal Khashoggi’s grisly assassination are beyond shocking. Turkish officials claim that the Saudi death squad who intercepted him at the Consulate employed particularly sadistic methods. They cut off Khashoggi’s fingers, possibly while he was still alive, and then continued to dismember him, cutting off his head. The forensic pathologist imported for the occasion advised the killers to play music while they tortured Khashoggi to “ease the tension,” (Source: “Audio Offers Gruesome Details of Jamal Khashoggi Killing, Turkish Officials Say,” by David S. Kirkpatrick and Carlotta Gail, The New York Times, 10/17/18). Given the fact that four of the members of this hit squad have ties to Mohammad Ben Salman, there can be no doubt that Khashoggi was murdered at his behest.
Sit with those details for a minute. Now imagine that you were going into the consulate of a cosmopolitan city a few days before your birthday to get documents you need to get married. Perhaps you were jubilant, thinking of Halice Cengiz and the future you’re planning together. Perhaps you were idly musing about your birthday, blissfully unaware of the surprise party that Halice had planned. Now imagine being jolted from that reverie by a ruthlessly efficient death squad, who were sent, not to interrogate you, but to permanently silence you, to use their gruesome methods as a warning shot to Saudi activists around the world that they are never safe.
In light of all that, consider Trump’s reaction when asked if he had tasked the FBI with investigating Khashoggi’s death. His initial response was to note that Khashoggi was not an American citizen. When a journalist pressed him and pointed out that Khashoggi was a legal U.S. resident and a columnist for one of the country’s preeminent newspapers, Trump reacted like the petulant monster that he is and refused to give a direct answer. To the contrary, Trump has spent the last several days equivocating and looking to help the Saudis literally get away with murder.
As an excuse, Trump touted an alleged $110 billion dollar arms deal with the Saudis as a reason not to impose sanctions if evidence shows that Mohammad Ben Salman ordered the murder. Even if it were appropriate to put a price tag on a human life, that figure was a lie (Source: “Trump’s $110 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia: still fake,” by Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post, 10/11/18). It was nonetheless echoed by doddering snake oil salesman, televangelist Pat Robertson, who urged people not to condemn the Saudis for the horrific murder, lest we jeopardize, “$100 billion worth of arms sales,” (Source: “Prominent evangelical leader on Khashoggi crisis: let’s not risk $100 billion worth of arms sales,” by Tara Isabelle Burton, Vox.com, 10/17/18).
Meanwhile, as we gape in horror at the sight of our country abandoning even the pretense of any concern for human rights on the world stage, vampiric antediluvian, Mitch McConnell blamed the whopping 17% increase in the deficit in the past year on Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare, rather than on the $1.5 trillion tax cut rammed through by Republicans. The naked avarice and cynicism on display is breathtaking.
Someone needs to tell these MAGA hat wearing morons: Trump and the Republicans may hate us, but they don’t give a f–k about you. They will happily step over your dismembered body in the street, if it stands between them and a dollar.
#VOTETHEMOUT
#Bluewave2018