17 October 2018

NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH ... .




At 9 a.m. Monday morning this week, Pinks and I were having breakfast while scanning the NYTImes. "Wow," Pinks offered, "this Saudi thing is a mess. Looks like for sure the Crown Prince killed this guy."

This seer responded, "Not to worry. For sure they killed this guy, but the Prince will come up with some bullshit claim that a lower level Saudi asshole developed the brilliant idea of secretly killing Khashoggi, cutting him up, and departing the country with the body parts in their luggage. The Prince will claim he knew nothing, and after a few days will "discover" the culprit and order the beheading of the hapless security official who was following orders but now needed to sacrifice his life for the Crown, and the thing will blow over."

One hour later, the NYTimes "Breaking News" flash appeared on my inbox. Surprise, surprise: Trump says he spoke to the Crown Prince who emphatically and vigorously denied he knew anything about it. Trump added that it may have been "rogue killers" who offed Khashoggi. He added, "I don't want to put words in their mouths. It's just my opinion."

A familiar pattern.  Once upon a time, Trump recounted that he asked Putin about the allegation that the Russians hacked the Democrats' email server, and Putin "emphatically and vigorously denied it.  He was very strong in his denial." Trump then added, "Who knows, the hacker may have been "some 300-pound teenager from New Jersey."

Well, the Saudis are coming around to a variation of the rogue 300-pound teenager. First, they said, "Well, we did want to bring Khashoggi back here to ask him some questions." Unsaid, but understood, is the fact that the United States all but invented the process of kidnapping people for the purpose of interrogating them. We called it "rendition."

But sending fifteen security guys to the consulate in Turkey, one of them an accomplished forensic pathologist who specialized in autopsies and who brought along his favorite bone saw, sort of makes the "we-just-wanted-to-ask-him-a-few-questions" claim a bit thin, n'est ce pas?

The Crown Prince has run out of options. Some poor schmuck who was proud of the fact that he was a loyal servant to His Royal Highness will have to be killed. My guess: he will confess while his head is still attached, and his wife later will get a winning ticket to the Saudi version of Power Ball and a driver's license so she can get around in her new Mercedes Benz.

Question: Will Trump, the week before November 6, discover the identity of that 300-pound teenager from New Jersey?

I gotta get this posted before the NYTimes scoops me again!

A bientot.