11/22/18: While most Americans spend the holiday dumping gravy over their mashed potatoes and stuffing, some are trying to choke down Trump’s explanation for how he intends to address the Saudi murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
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On this
Thanksgiving Day, Trump is thankful for himself.
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According to multiple news organizations, the C.I.A. has concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing. An intercepted phone call is said to provide one link. A brother of the prince contacts Khashoggi and tells him to go to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
A hit squad lies in wait.
According to one U.S. official, the C.I.A. has little doubt the Crown Prince had a hand in the planning. “The accepted position is that there is no way this happened without him being aware or involved.”
A newspaper with close ties to the Turkish government also reports that a recording from a C.I.A. wiretap captures the Crown Prince ordering agents to get rid of Khashoggi as soon as possible.
Historians will try to distill the Trump Doctrine.
So, what will Trump do? Khashoggi was a permanent resident of the United States and has children who are U.S. citizens.
Historians will likely hark back to this and similar moments and try to distill the “Trump Doctrine.” They will place this president in historical perspective, and if our nation is still free, they will cringe.
Unless others stand up to Trump, unless institutions like an independent judiciary hold, this will be the moment America begins stumbling into authoritarianism. The history books will record that under our current president the nation ceased to be a beacon of hope for the rest of the world. America – flaws and all – will have abdicated its role as a defender of democracy and democratic institutions, a bulwark against injustice and the model for a society based on the rule of law. The United States, under Trump, will stand with Russia and Putin, with the Philippines and Rodrigo Duterte, with Saudi Arabia and Mohammed bin Salman.
The U.S. will oppose a free press and support the murderers.
Under the “Trump Doctrine,” the essence of our foreign policy
will be this: America is on the make. Profit trumps all. It’s the philosophy
that gave us Trump University, brought to the world stage.
The president decides to issue a statement outlining the new Trump Doctrine. Clearly, he wrote it himself, complete with his trademark exclamation points. It’s imbecilic from first to last. We provide it in full:
The world is a very dangerous place!
The country of Iran, as an
example, is responsible for a bloody proxy war against Saudi Arabia in Yemen,
trying to destabilize Iraq’s fragile attempt at democracy, supporting the
terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon, propping up dictator Bashar Assad in Syria
(who has killed millions of his own citizens), and much more. Likewise, the
Iranians have killed many Americans and other innocent people throughout the
Middle East. Iran states openly, and with great force, “Death to America!” and
“Death to Israel!” Iran is considered “the world’s leading sponsor of terror.”
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia
would gladly withdraw from Yemen if the Iranians would agree to leave. They
would immediately provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia has agreed to spend billions of dollars in leading
the fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism.
After my heavily negotiated trip
to Saudi Arabia last year, the Kingdom agreed to spend and invest $450 billion
in the United States. This is a record amount of money. It will create hundreds
of thousands of jobs, tremendous economic development, and much additional
wealth for the United States. Of the $450 billion, $110 billion will be spent
on the purchase of military equipment from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon
and many other great U.S. defense contractors. If we foolishly cancel these
contracts, Russia and China would be the enormous beneficiaries - and very
happy to acquire all of this newfound business. It would be a wonderful gift to
them directly from the United States!
The crime against Jamal
Khashoggi was a terrible one, and one that our country does not condone. Indeed,
we have taken strong action against those already known to have participated in
the murder. After great independent research, we now know many details of this
horrible crime. We have already sanctioned 17 Saudis known to have been
involved in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi, and the disposal of his body.
Representatives of Saudi Arabia say that Jamal Khashoggi was an “enemy of the state” and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, but my decision is in no way based on that – this is an unacceptable and horrible crime. King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution of the murder [emphasis added throughout] of Mr. Khashoggi. Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!
(My
god, the C.I.A. says he did. You’re the president; you must make up your mind.)
That being said, we
may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi.
In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have
been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran. The United States
intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests
of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region. It is our
paramount goal to fully eliminate the threat of terrorism throughout the world!
I understand there are members
of Congress who, for political or other reasons, would like to go in a
different direction - and they are free to do so. I will consider whatever
ideas are presented to me, but only if they are consistent with the absolute
security and safety of America. After the United States, Saudi Arabia is the
largest oil producing nation in the world. They have worked closely with us and
have been very responsive to my requests to keeping oil prices at reasonable
levels – so important for the world. As President of the United States I intend
to ensure that, in a very dangerous world, America is pursuing its national
interests and vigorously contesting countries that wish to do us harm. Very
simply it is called America First!
Sen. Rand Paul, to cite just one example, is horrified by the president’s feckless response. “I’m pretty sure this statement is Saudi Arabia First, not America First,” he says.
(The
blogger is reminded of the time Trump said he believed Putin, not U.S. intelligence.)
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IN KEEPING WITH A Thanksgiving tradition, the president takes time out of his day to speak with service members around the world. During a teleconference with the troops Trump makes a fool of himself again.
Rather than stick with the basics: thank them for their service, ask how they’re doing spending the holiday away from home, tell them he knows their families must miss them, Trump turns to his favorite subject.
Himself.
Fighting to keep unemployment low and stocks high.
“We’re doing well at home. The economy is doing really great. When you come back, you are going to see with the jobs and companies coming back into our country and the stock market just hit a record high,” Trump tells our men and women wearing the uniform overseas.
He’s plunked down at Mar-a-Lago and reading from a prepared script because he’s not really interested in what the troops might say. He’s only interested in talking about how great he is. “Unemployment is the lowest it’s been in 17 years,” he adds. “So you’re fighting for something real, you’re fighting for something good.”
Did this idiot just tell our soldiers, sailors, Marines, and air crews they’re risking their lives to bring down unemployment?
Good god.
Reporters watching the president work the phones, eventually have a chance to ask Mr. Trump a few questions. Who does he blame for the Khashoggi killing?
He actually replies, “Maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a vicious place.”
If that doesn’t sound moronic enough, he adds: “So I hate the crime and I hate what is done and I hate the cover-up. And I will tell you this, the Crown Prince hates it more than I do.”
You really can’t make this dumb shit up; but reporters ask the president, who is celebrating with his family at his ritzy private club, what he’s thankful for on this day.
It’s probably the easiest question in the world to answer without sounding like a complete ass.
The president blows it.
He says he’s thankful for his “great family [which is fine] and for having made a tremendous difference in this country [which is Trump bragging about himself, which for Trump is almost a fulltime job]. “I made a tremendous difference in this country,” he continues. “This country is so much stronger now than it was when I took office and you wouldn’t believe it and when you see it, we’ve gotten so much stronger people don’t even believe it.”
On this Thanksgiving Day, Trump is thankful for himself.
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Jamal Khashoggi. |
BLOGGER’S NOTE (4/1/19): Under Saudi law, if a criminal will pay “blood money,” acceptable to a victim’s family, that criminal’s punishment is forgiven. Khashoggi’s two sons and two daughters realize they will never get full justice; and accept monthly five-figure payments, and homes in Jiddah, worth $4 million each. Only one of the children plans to live in Saudi Arabia.
The other three will sell their homes.
Saudi Arabia is hoping to buy silence on the world stage – and since no one is going to hold the Crown Prince accountable, they have little real choice.
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