War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.
George Orwell imagined a world in which there were no contradictions or hypocrisies because the party did not permit them. In fact, the party said such things don’t exist.
This is has been a victorious week for the truth in American culture. A line was drawn, and it held. Serious people took collective action, and defended 84 years of ethics, values, standards and the public’s trust from a small group of incandescently cynical executives who don’t understand journalism, fairness or integrity.
The Washington Post has maintained the contrivance on its masthead that declares dramatically that “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” It doesn’t. It does in daylight, usually from neglect, sometimes with a $500 million yacht sailing by, with a Murdoch publisher at the helm, who was implicated in a phone hacking scandal.
What is up is down, and what is down is up. Red can be blue, and blue can be red. There are no more winners and losers, particularly for elections. All that matters is believing hard enough. Right?
Where does this all lead?
A few days ago, one of Saudi Arabia’s paid agents, Fox News analyst Ari Fleischer demanded vengeance against NBC News because the network’s journalists refused to appear on air with a serial liar, who refused to concede a presidential election, while leading the world’s third oldest political party:
Surely, it is worth observing that Fleischer had never expressed indignation over the massive conspiracy of lies aimed at the foundation of the country: free and fair elections. His ire and venom is directed at the individuals who won’t tolerate the lie, as opposed to those who spread it. The moral confusion is hardly surprising, given the absence of any compass within the Saudi agent.
What a contemptible thing to be for as an American citizen, particularly one who served as White House press secretary on 9/11/01. What type of American willingly serves a regime who chopped up a Washington Post columnist with children who were American citizens? What type of American would gladly serve the interests of a regime that lashes women imprisoned for driving?
Here is what a woman looks like who has been freshly lashed 50 times. A Saudi Arabian court punished Najla Wafa with 500 lashes for a business disagreement with her former partner, a Saudi princess.
In 1995, First Lady Hillary Clinton spoke at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, and said the following:
If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights, once and for all.
Yesterday, the United Nations announced an abomination. According to Semafor:
Saudi Arabia was on Wednesday appointed chair of the United Nations’ top forum for women’s rights and gender equality, a controversial designation for a nation known for its discrimination against women. Human Rights Watch said the election showed a “shocking disregard for women’s rights everywhere.”
Women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia have repeatedly been jailed for speaking out, and Saudi women have only been allowed to drive since 2018 and live alone without a male guardian since 2021. The country’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has framed these reforms — and other milestones, like the nation’s debut at the Miss Universe pageant — as steps toward equality, though human rights organizations have pointed out that the new laws did not eliminate the country’s male guardianship system and in fact codified some pieces of it.
Democracy requires the ability to discern fact from fiction. It requires the ability of truth to defeat an army of lies, and it requires a fidelity to humanity.
Washington, DC, is awash in Saudi agents whoring for cash. They are everywhere from think tanks to PR firms to defense contractors. They serve a rotten nation, and a worse leader. Don’t believe the hype about this repressive regime being rehabilitated one keyboard stroke at a time.
Here is the truth about Saudi Arabia: this is the country that gave Jared Kushner $2 billion within six months of him leaving the White House.
Remember as you read this: a woman is imprisoned for tweeting. She is being beaten for tweeting, and Ari Fleischer wants you to know that Ronna McDaniel is a victim. He wants you to believe that nothing matters, and nothing is real.
Journalism is about truth. It is about reality. It is why what happened at NBC News is such a big deal. A world without journalism means these women have no hope.
We don’t live in that world, fortunately. The truth is hard to bottle up and hide away. Below is the story of Saudi Arabia. There is a reason Trump loves it so very much. It is as corrupt as he is, and even more abusive towards women:
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Woman Imprisoned for Women’s Rights Tweets: Manahel al-Otaibi
On 16 November 2022, Saudi authorities arrested 29-year-old Manahel al-Otaibi. She has been forcibly disappeared since November 2023. She was charged with violating the Anti-Cyber Crime Law due to her tweets in support of women’s rights as well as posting photos of herself at the mall without an abaya (a traditional loose-fitting long-sleeved robe) on Snapchat. Her case has been referred from the Criminal Court in Riyadh to the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC), set up to try terrorism-related crimes. The SCC is notorious for carrying out grossly unfair trials and handing out harsh sentences, including the death penalty, for individuals peacefully expressing themselves online. Saudi authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Manahel al-Otaibi and drop the charges against her.
A Saudi student at Leeds University who had returned home to the kingdom for a holiday has been sentenced to 34 years in prison for having a Twitter account and for following and retweeting dissidents and activists.
The sentencing by Saudi’s special terrorist court was handed down weeks after the US president Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia, which human rights activists had warned could embolden the kingdom to escalate its crackdown on dissidents and other pro-democracy activists.
The case also marks the latest example of how the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has targeted Twitter users in his campaign of repression, while simultaneously controlling a major indirect stake in the US social media company through Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Salma al-Shehab, 34, a mother of two young children, was initially sentenced to serve three years in prison for the “crime” of using an internet website to “cause public unrest and destabilise civil and national security”. But an appeals court on Monday handed down the new sentence – 34 years in prison followed by a 34-year travel ban – after a public prosecutor asked the court to consider other alleged crimes.
According to a translation of the court records, which were seen by the Guardian, the new charges include the allegation that Shehab was “assisting those who seek to cause public unrest and destabilise civil and national security by following their Twitter accounts” and by re-tweeting their tweets.
Freedom. It matters.
Hillary Clinton does not get the respect she deserves because she is a woman. Her fortitude was apparent during the many Benghazi hearings. Unlike the cupcakes on the Republican side of the aisle who would not respond to a lawful subpoena by the January 6th Committee. I am ashamed of myself for believing the lies and propaganda spread about Mrs. Clinton on Fox News before the 2016 election and in a moment of stupidity pulled the lever for Trump. I am not sure if James Comey meddling would made a difference in my decision but that's life. However, what I do know is Hillary is a fierce woman who stood up to Putin and stood up to Trump. She has more courage in her little finger than Trump has in his whole body. Her stance on women's rights and human rights will keep her name on the lips of the free world long after she leaves us. She is assured her position is on the correct side of history of our great country. Unlike Trump who's name will go down in infamy for his anti-democratic, un-american, corrupt, self serving ways.
“What a contemptible thing to be for an American citizen, particularly one who served as White House press secretary on 9/11/01. What type of American willingly serves a regime who chopped up a Washington Post columnist with children who were American citizens? What type of American would gladly serve the interests of a regime that lashes women imprisoned for driving?”
There is a lot to unpack here Steve, but to answer your question, the type of man who would work for a regime that chops up a man (American or not) into pieces, tortured and imprisons women for asking for the right to drive, is a despicable man without a moral compass.
Then again, as Bush’s press secretary on 9/11, he’s used to lying to the American public. First, by propagating the lie that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11. That the government wasn’t spying illegally on Americans, and telling us that the Iraqi invasion was justified to bring democracy to the Middle East; as Operation Iraqi Liberation or OIL (acronym) suggested.
Ali Fleisher reminds me of Baghdad Bob, a man so clueless or perhaps not; knowing he’s lying all along to appease his masters. Although, since Ali has no credibility, he’s more or less a poor man’s version of Side Show Bob, from the Simpson’s; a clown so irrelevant, that he’s no more than an afterthought, yet devious to the core, and dangerous if left to his own devices.
Hence Ari’s vengeance against NBC:
“A few days ago, one of Saudi Arabia’s paid agents, Fox News analyst Ari Fleischer demanded vengeance against NBC News because the network’s journalists refused to appear on air with a serial liar, who refused to concede a presidential election, while leading the world’s third oldest political party.”
There is no moral confusion Steve. Ari is everything you expect him to be. A morally bankrupt gun for hire, who for the right price will work for Russian Oligarchs aligned with Putin, or Kim Yong-Un for the matter.
Ari, Trump, McDaniel and the rest of the MAGA clown car are exactly who they tell they are, and we shouldn’t be shocked at all. They’re all cut from the same cloth; worshipping the all mighty dollar, and the power and trappings that comes with it.
Nothing else matters…:)