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The Saudi Rule

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Clarissa

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Why are both Obama and Trump so subservient to the Saudis? Ten years ago, OK, there was no choice. The Saudis held the control over the world economy in their pockets because theu could manipulate oil prices. But there’s been a fracking revolution in the US. Things have changed but the US presidents act as though it never happened. 

When will the Saudi rule over the US finally end? The Saudis are very distasteful. I’m tired of seeing American presidents grovel at their feet when our culture is clearly superior to theirs. 

28 responses to “The Saudi Rule”

  1. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    Saudi oil is easier and less expensive to get out of the ground than US fracking oil, technically and politically. AFAIK the Saudis aren’t fucking up their immediate environs to obtain crude oil.

    Didn’t OPEC drop oil prices for a couple of years to kill US fracking?

    As for Trump, better ask what Rex Tillerson thinks. Trump is empty headed enough that gratuitous flattery and kickbacks work.

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  2. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    The Saudis are very distasteful. I’m tired of seeing American presidents grovel at their feet when our culture is clearly superior to theirs.

    They have all the money of an advanced civilization with wealth, but none of mores. They have the consumerism, but nothing else. They are the answer to the question, “What if religious fundamentalists in a theocracy had gobs of money and control over a key resource?”

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    1. danmillerinpanama Avatar
      danmillerinpanama

      How was President Trump “subservient to the Saudis”? By shaking the king’s hand rather than bowing to him (after the King walked, limping on his cane, to Airforce One to greet him? By referring to “Islamic” terrorism? By having the First Lady and Ivanka wear no head coverings? Ditto the translators accompanying him? By praising the Saudi initiative to halt all terrorist funding (the Saudis have done their share of that)? By making the first recognized flight directly from Riyadh to Israel?

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      1. Stringer Bell Avatar
        Stringer Bell

        “By shaking the king’s hand rather than bowing to him”

        He fucking curtsied, panamahat.

        “By having the First Lady and Ivanka wear no head coverings?”

        Remember when people like you were outraged when Michelle Obama also didn’t wear a head covering?

        “By praising the Saudi initiative to halt all terrorist funding ”

        LOL. Now this is real subservience. Genuflecting in front of people who funded 9/11. Your president himself said so. But then he only has the courage to say shit in rallies. Face to face, he slinks away like a coward. Every time. (See his meeting with Mexico’s president about the wall).

        Didn’t know the alt-right was such a fan of Saudi Arabia. Just shameless.

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        1. danmillerinpanama Avatar
          danmillerinpanama

          “He fucking curtsied, panamahat.” You must have seen a different video of Trump’s arrival than I did.

          Perhaps you will be kind enough to provide a link to the video you saw.

          “Remember when people like you were outraged when Michelle Obama also didn’t wear a head covering?” Nope.

          ““By praising the Saudi initiative to halt all terrorist funding.” Please see my comment on that.

          “Didn’t know the alt-right was such a fan of Saudi Arabia. Just shameless.” I am no fan of Saudi Arabia and have written about its abysmal human rights record in general as well as its equally bad record on the rights of women, despite (or perhaps because of) which it leads the UN commission on the rights of women.

          Politics focuses on the art of the possible, not the impossible. Saudi Arabia may (or may not) shift on the rights of its subjects, but that’s an internal matter over which we have no control and in which we have little say. Saudi Arabia will remain an Islamic and to large extent Islamist state. The best we can do is try to nudge them in a better direction.

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        2. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          “But then he only has the courage to say shit in rallies. Face to face, he slinks away like a coward. Every time.”

          • Very true.

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      2. Clarissa Avatar
        Clarissa

        “By having the First Lady and Ivanka wear no head coverings”

        • I was very positively impressed by that, too.

        “How was President Trump “subservient to the Saudis”?”

        • The speech he gave praising the king to the skies was downright fawning.

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      3. Avatar
        Anonymous

        Didn’t bow?

        https://heavyeditorial.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/gettyimages-685748744-e1495306756252.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=780&strip=all


        https://polldaddy.com/js/rating/rating.js

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  3. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    “But there’s been a fracking revolution in the US. Things have changed but the US presidents act as though it never happened. ”

    There’s another thing besides oil. Finance. Because SA has no industry on its own, these motherfuckers have to park their oil money somewhere. Those hundreds of billions of dollars are welcome in US banks, as they provide liquidity (and a lot of $$ in fees) to them. Remember a few months ago when a US court approved the case against SA by the families of 9/11 victims to go forward? SA was so outraged that they literally said they’ll pull out their $$ from the US. Made big news. I say, call their bluff. Where else will they invest? They’ve got nothing.

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  4. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    Imagine criticizing human rights in Iran, standing on the podium next to a dictator whose country has smartphone apps for citizens to report gay people on social media to the government.

    I also fail to understand why US has to take sides in this sunni-shia conflict in the middle east. Iran just re-elected a moderate leader, and the US responds by giving $300 Billion in arms to the most radical, evil regime in the ME. Yay, peace efforts!

    I won’t excuse Obama for this, too. He watched and helped the Saudis as they destroyed Yemen, and starved their population.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      “I won’t excuse Obama for this, too. He watched and helped the Saudis as they destroyed Yemen, and starved their population.”

      • Absolutely. This was the greatest disgrace of his terms in office. Disgusting is what I say.

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  5. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    I’m just going to keep posting here.

    For all our talk about how money has influenced our elections and domestic policy, we’ve ignored how easy it has become for money to influence foreign policy as well. For half a million dollars in bribes from Turkey, General Michael Flynn fucking changed his military strategy against ISIS. Am I the only person who thinks this is a serious problem?

    Saudi Arabia funds tons of ‘think-tanks’ in DC, and for chump change, they get to enjoy the support of policy makers.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      “For half a million dollars in bribes from Turkey, General Michael Flynn fucking changed his military strategy against ISIS. Am I the only person who thinks this is a serious problem?”

      • Flynn would whore himself out to every tin-pot dictator on the planet. What a whore.

      “Saudi Arabia funds tons of ‘think-tanks’ in DC, and for chump change, they get to enjoy the support of policy makers.”

      • That’s truly pathetic because these think tanks are dumb anyway. When did they ever produce anything really worthwhile. We are experiencing enormous, planetary-scale transformations, and what have they said of value about it all?

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  6. Stringer Bell Avatar
    Stringer Bell

    “Perhaps you will be kind enough to provide a link to the video you saw.”

    Look at this chump.

    https://twitter.com/cbouzy/status/865972066100678656

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    1. danmillerinpanama Avatar
      danmillerinpanama

      President Trump lowered his head a bit so that the king could place the ribbon attached to an award over his head. Should he have asked the king to go fetch a stepladder? You can, I suppose, characterize it any way you want.

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    2. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      Oh, man, he did curtsy. 🙂 🙂

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    3. Shakti Avatar
      Shakti

      This isn’t really notable except that Trump tends to turn greetings and photo-ops with others into crude and obvious dominance displays, so when he doesn’t do that, it’s glaring.

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      1. Clarissa Avatar
        Clarissa

        And besides, wasn’t Trump himself one of the people who dumped on Michelle Obama for not covering her head on a visit to SA?

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  7. Stringer bell Avatar
    Stringer bell

    “I was very positively impressed by that, too.”

    SA doesn’t require head scarfs to be worn by visiting leaders or their families. It’s just not a thing. I’m surprised the media makes a big deal out of it every time.

    https://thinkprogress.org/photos-female-leaders-besides-michelle-obama-who-didnt-wear-a-headscarf-in-saudi-arabia-cfbaf14015a0

    Guess who wanted Michelle Obama to cover up when she visited. For dumb panamahat to pretend like Melania Trump really broke tradition, is well, to be expected.

    https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/560839957426999297

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      “SA doesn’t require head scarfs to be worn by visiting leaders or their families. It’s just not a thing. I’m surprised the media makes a big deal out of it every time.”

      • Russians keep covering up like dummies. They depend on the Saudis completely, though.

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      1. Shakti Avatar
        Shakti

        I thought the Russians had vast natural reserves of oil?

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          That’s precisely why. Their whole budget, literally, is the oil. If the Saudis drop the world oil prices, the Russian economy sinks. Which is exactly what happened in 2013, for instance. Obama asked the Saudis to drop the oil prices, and the Russian economy went into a tailspin. So the Russians were forced to put the brakes on their invasion of Ukraine. And couldn’t invade anybody else for the time being.

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      2. anon Avatar
        anon

        Yeah… I’m pretty sure no first lady has covered their head starting with Laura Bush (wife of Bush Sr.). So while I’m glad they don’t cover their heads, it’s definitely not a thing worthy of high praise anymore.

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        1. Clarissa Avatar
          Clarissa

          Oh, I think it absolutely is. If something wasn’t done in the past offers no immunity from it happening in the future.

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  8. n8chz Avatar
    n8chz

    https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/Saudi_Israelia

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      I’m glad you are back, n8chz.

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  9. Shakti Avatar
    Shakti

    https://twitter.com/mattmfm/status/866976916435324932

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      It also can be titled “The differences between a twitterer and a facebooker.”

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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