So, A Man Goes into a Saudi Consulate and...

[Mark D]

He should have pulled out his LPs and gone to the "America" section. Forewarned is forearmed.

This might be my favorite P-F post of all time. Sublime.

[TAZ]

From what I’m reading, there is a lot more to the story. Here is an article that seems to bring a lot of clarity for what Khashoggi was and why he was killed.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/10/...mobster-state/

According to this article, he was more of a political player than journalist, advocating for political Islamism through quasi democratic means (only other Islamists get to vote). While he had befriended OBL in the late 80s and 90s, he was really working for the Saudi royal family trying to bring OBL back into the royal family’s fold. He was never a militant, cut all ties to OBL in the run up to 9/11, and spoke out against militancy as counterproductive to political Islamism. He was employed by the former Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Turki, who inexplicably resigned 10 days before 9/11. So, there was plenty of reason to fear that he might leverage dirt on the royal family’s involvement in 9/11. What really threatened Prince Suliman was Khashoggi’s popularity and establishment of a new political party in the US called Democracy for the Arab World Now to support political Islamism via elections throughout the region - a direct challenge to the Prince’s secular approach. So, they clipped him, plain and simple.

There is always more to the story. Kind of like an iceberg. He sounds more like a guy running OBL and openly cutting ties to CYA before the poop hits the impeller. But then I’ve read too many Clancy books.

Either way. Not our citizen. Not our territory. Not our circus. Let the Turks piss in the Saudis corn flakes if they have the balls.

[GuanoLoco]

Does that mean we can get Obama to stop trying to take credit for the booming economy???? Or is it just in this one case that it’s ok to play the leadership card?

Saudi Arabia is a mess that has been created by generations of so called “leaders”. Unfortunately, we still need them to be our pretend friends. You can thank the morons in “leadership” who refuse to do anything to make the USA become and remain energy independent for that awesome little tidbit.

Trumps mistake was to react to this mess to begin with. His statement should have been a simple not our citizen, not our territory and therefore not our circus. Let the Turks take care of the mess that was created in their backyard. Simple. Sadly, he fell for this stupid political trap.

You will have to explain the “trap” to me.

The only trap I see is the one he dug with his mouth just before jumping in.

[GuanoLoco]

I get a big kick out of this, please continue to whine about your president. My favorite part is when you pretend that anyone takes issue with his accurate characterization of the lugenpresse, or when you insinuate that you teach your children to look up to politicians. Don't worry, Mueller will drop the hammer any day now and then everyone will know about the kompromat and the emoluments violations. You will be vindicated.

Do you have a point?

I don’t need Mueller to prove anything - DJT’s words and actions tell me all I need to know.

Perhaps I should adjust my expectations of (any) POTUS to better match yours.

[Hambo]

Did I ever tell you that you're my hero?

I never would have guessed you could channel Bette Midler.

[CG12]

Do you have a point?

I don’t need Mueller to prove anything - DJT’s words and actions tell me all I need to know.

Perhaps I should adjust my expectations of (any) POTUS to better match yours.

Good point, I was so much happier when the smooth-talking politicians of yesteryear were throwing away the treasure of America to enrich foreign countries. Granting amnesty to 3 million illegal aliens, invading Iraq, and selling our critical resources to Communist countries- these are the types of high-caliber political actions that I'm willing to overlook- just so long as nobody can call our leaders racist, hateful, or stupid! The reason why listening to people like you rant and rave is entertaining is because despite the fact that Donald Trump took on the entire political establishment, including nearly every media outlet, two of the most well-connected, entrenched political dynasties, and the highest, most corrupt levels of the DOJ and still managed to trounce them and win the presidency, you still believe he is an utter buffoon. Parroting the talking points of the dying media outlets and political class isn't righteous outrage at a crass, stupid leader. It's being co-opted to serve their interests. There are good, reasonable people who take issue with Trump because he is controversial, which is understandable, but to moan and groan constantly about, "he said THIS", "I can't believe he said THAT" is just stupid when the policies and work of his administration are objectively good for Americans in a way that hasn't been seen in a long time.

[Stephanie B]

Literally everything is Trump’s fault at this point

SuperChicken Rule: He knew that was part of the job when he took it.

[TAZ]

You will have to explain the “trap” to me.

The only trap I see is the one he dug with his mouth just before jumping in.

Some non citizen got killed in the Saudi consulate in Turkey. The media threw a fit that one of their own was murdered. Trump should have stated not our circus. Instead he was retarded and chose to comment in any other way. Basically the media tossed a ball in the dirt and he decided to swing. Stupid move.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Just finished my bran muffin so - that's a good point. The USA has had a tendency to shoot its mouth off depending on tribal predilections for years. One tribe will have hissy fits over human rights violations and draw lines in the sand. The other praises monsters because a weak man hero worships the dictators he wishes he could be.

Tribal adherents use selective information processing and motivated reasoning to support their choice of idiot chieftain. This thread is an interesting projective test. The position that dealing with monsters who promote a hateful religion across the world, probably helped conduct the greatest terrorist act in history, oppress women and minorities, etc. is OK because it boosts their personal company bonus is an interesting one and not really acceptable. That's slightly different from a realism point of view of protecting the USA. We did ally with Stalin for those reasons. I can appreciate the realism viewpoint but not the personal bonus motivation.

Several USA companies have interesting business histories before WWII if you get my drift. The market has no ethics - according to some business behavior analysts. Not my cup of tea.

As far as Trump not shutting up and his mental landscape - I pass on that for the moment. I did eat a bran muffin.

Saw snow yesterday!!!

[GuanoLoco]

Good point, I was so much happier when the smooth-talking politicians of yesteryear were throwing away the treasure of America to enrich foreign countries. Granting amnesty to 3 million illegal aliens, invading Iraq, and selling our critical resources to Communist countries- these are the types of high-caliber political actions that I'm willing to overlook- just so long as nobody can call our leaders racist, hateful, or stupid! The reason why listening to people like you rant and rave is entertaining is because despite the fact that Donald Trump took on the entire political establishment, including nearly every media outlet, two of the most well-connected, entrenched political dynasties, and the highest, most corrupt levels of the DOJ and still managed to trounce them and win the presidency, you still believe he is an utter buffoon. Parroting the talking points of the dying media outlets and political class isn't righteous outrage at a crass, stupid leader. It's being co-opted to serve their interests. There are good, reasonable people who take issue with Trump because he is controversial, which is understandable, but to moan and groan constantly about, "he said THIS", "I can't believe he said THAT" is just stupid when the policies and work of his administration are objectively good for Americans in a way that hasn't been seen in a long time.

Nice rant.

Maybe if Trump didn't insist on incessantly lying, attacking others, enriching himself, supporting Putin/Kim/Crown Prince Bone Saw and undermining anyone and anything he sees as a threat (e.g. DOJ and our Intelligence Community), I might feel differently. Actually that is a short list - I could go on and on and on and on. In my world, how a person behaves and what a person does actually matters, even if he is "NotHillary". I don't give him a pass on any of this, not to him or any other politician.

I don't think he has accomplished much of anything other than appointing a couple of conservative Supreme Court justices and blowing out the deficit/debt with a massive corporate/1% Stimulus package, failing to cut spending on, well, anything. Although, if you've been paying attention to the markets, you will notice a rather distinct failure to endorse his chaotic trade policies.

This latest episode with Khashoggi is just another example of inappropriate behavior, specifically 'shoot-from-the-hip' communications where his instinct is to deny and stall in a blatantly obvious and misguided attempt to protect the hand that feeds him.