Sunday, October 21, 2018 2:30 PM
Clown Prince of Murder (2018Oct21)
I know—that title sounds like an old Angela Lansbury TV episode. But I feel it encapsulates both the horror and the farce of the present scandal. The murder of the journalist Khashoggi is his own fault—he should have known better than to set foot on the sovereign soil of the Saudi embassy.
But it serves to remind us of the Saudi culture—which strains mightily to contort its obsolescence into the 21st century mainstream—and which we turn a blind eye to, in hopes of one-hundred-billion dollars in arms sales.
This Crowny Prince liar starts with “Nope—didn’t happen” and ends, today, with “Yeah—dead—killed him—not my fault”. In his country, he can get away with that BS—and because our media reports even his lies, he may believe that we swallow it over here, too.
Personally, I can’t help thinking of the ‘Tom Cruise Paradox’: “If the captain gave orders that Santiago wasn’t to be touched—and the captain’s orders were always followed—then, why was Santiago in danger?” You know? I mean, these are the top aides to a guy who has people slaughtered and dismembered if they talk out of turn. Are we really supposed to believe that they acted autonomously? Ridiculous.
And everybody knows—has known—the truth for about a week now—well, since the day after the murder—whenever that was. And we’ve all known this Prince guy was lying—and that Trump was pretending to believe his obvious lie. And Americans aren’t worried about bone-saws. No, we’re just too greedy to let go of that sweet arms-deal money.
And all of it overlooks the questions of: Why any country needs a hunert-billion in arms?—or why the world, as a whole, needs a hunert-billion in arms?—or why the hell the manufacture of a hunert-billion in arms is a staple of the U.S. economy? And I’m sure some geek can spout the party line, about how fear and distrust force mankind to live this way—but I don’t buy it.
The people with the money and power want everything to stay just the way it is. The fact that it is impossible does not faze them. Holding back the tide of time is their main function—it’s how they maintain balance atop the pyramid, by keeping it from shaking too hard.
They smear change as disruption. They praise head-in-the-sand ignorance as security. According to scientists, these entitled farts are going to kill us all in about twenty years—by keeping us from doing what’s necessary, just because it’s too ‘expensive’. As if that word will maintain its meaning, once we all start frying.
And what they really fear is losing their death-grip on the status quo. Imagine the globe on an emergency footing, with all kinds of barriers and costs tossed aside in aid of the present crisis, with massive R&D projects focused on completely ‘non-profit’ aims. Heavens, the economic instability—survival isn’t worth it.
As we consume the natural bounty of the globe, we suppose that our comfort is part of our survival. That was the old way—comfort was the pinnacle. Now we see that health is the true pinnacle—that comfort without challenge leads to boredom and obesity—and is fatal in large doses. That is true for the Earth and for our bodies and for our societies—and we are running out of time to learn that.
But so what? Right? He’s the friggin’ Clown Prince of Sadly Arabia. What is it? MBS? Is that Mucho Bull S**t? I think it may be. Fuck that asshole.
Mr. Khashoggi –soldier of truth–may you rest in peace.