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from the clueless-people-praising-authoritarianism dept.
Common Dreams reports
Speaking to CNBC on Monday [May 22], [Commerce Secretary Wilbur] Ross, who accompanied Trump on the weekend trip to Riyadh, said he found it "fascinating" that he did not see "a single hint of a protester anywhere there during the whole time we were there. Not one guy with a bad placard".
[...] Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in the Center for Middle East Policy, told CNBC afterwards that Saudi Arabia is among the "most repressive" of free speech in the Middle East, adding: "Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy which forbids any political protest or any manifestation of dissent. It is also a police state that beheads opponents."
In Why Were the Saudi Streets So Quiet?, also via Common Dreams, Medea Benjamin adds:
Protest is illegal in the kingdom. It's also against the law to "distort the reputation of the kingdom" or "break allegiance with the ruler". A 2014 anti-terrorism law treats virtually all free expression as acts of terrorism, including "calling for atheist thought"; "contacting groups or individuals opposed to the Kingdom"; and "seeking to disrupt national unity" by calling for protests. People who dare dissent are publicly flogged, tortured in prison, and sometimes publicly beheaded.
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(Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday May 29 2017, @05:38AM (12 children)
Yes, brutal dictatorship is fascinating. Torture and beheading not so much.
Let's just hope there's no ideological contagion.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday May 29 2017, @05:42AM (4 children)
Putin and Duterte. Now he's a fan of the Saudis.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 29 2017, @05:49AM (2 children)
Obviously the people there like it, otherwise they would protest against it, right?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 29 2017, @05:51AM (1 child)
Personally I've always found it hard to protest without my head. Got any tips?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 29 2017, @08:24AM
Activate your core. That works for everything.
(Score: 3, Informative) by butthurt on Monday May 29 2017, @05:11PM
-- https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-04-18/trump-unlike-europe-congratulates-erdogan-on-referendum-win [bloomberg.com]
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/04/17/trump-congratulates-turkeys-erdogan-on-disputed-referendum-win.html [foxnews.com]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 29 2017, @05:50AM (3 children)
> Let's just hope there's no ideological contagion.
Contagion in which direction?
Trump loves dictators and strongmen, and he hates liberal democracies.
There is even something called dictator chic [politico.com] and Trump epitomizes it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 29 2017, @06:22AM (2 children)
Hey, Nazis have great uniform, all the bad guys do!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 29 2017, @06:56AM
http://images.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=anime+nazi [google.com]
(Score: 2) by gidds on Wednesday May 31 2017, @12:24PM
That's fascion [abitoffryandlaurie.co.uk]...
[sig redacted]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by davester666 on Monday May 29 2017, @09:18AM (1 child)
I think once Mr. Tiny Hands was elected, he was surprised to find out he still needed other people not under his control to agree with him to accomplish things.
(Score: 1) by John Miller on Wednesday May 31 2017, @01:45PM
Millions of illegals and dead people voted fraudulently in the election. The majority of real Americans voted for Donald J. Trump. The majority of real Americans are very happy with what President Trump is doing to make America great again.
I know him and I can tell you his hands are not so short. Those hands can hit a golf ball 285 yards. Nobody has ever hit his hands. He has never heard of this. If they are small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there is no problem. I guarantee you.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday May 29 2017, @10:38AM
You beat me to it. I was going to use a title including the word "dunce". The fool has been sitting in the dunce's corner all of his life, if he doesn't understand that the House of Saud rules it's country with an iron fist, and plenty of swords, axes, hatches, or even kitchen knives. A professional takes the head off his victim in one swing of the sword, or axe. An amateur will use the kitchen knife, and slowly saw his way through.