This is particularly ghoulish -- the Saudi Arabia government is planning to sever the spinal cord of a man who was convicted of paralyzing a former friend when he was 14 years old. We know that public executions, amputations, and other such punishments are par for the course for this Islamist regime. But this act is particularly barbaric. It relies on a sick and twisted misuse of the Golden Rule as well as a similar misuse of the Quran.
None of this would be possible without the help of billions of your taxpayer dollars. We have funded Saudi Arabia even more than we have Israel, in the name of stopping communism and in the name of stopping "terrorism." And once the Corporate Military Industrial Complex has no more use for these people, they will yank the rug out from under them just like we did with Noriega of Panama, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, and Osama Bin Laden of 9/11 infamy.
It is interesting how our politicians can be obsessed with the Middle East while ignoring Middle America, ignoring the fact that much of our job growth in the past few years has been temporary or minimum wage jobs, even for college graduates. I guess it is easier to try and solve someone else's problems than it is to solve our own. Simultaneously, the Corporate Military Industrial Complex is beating the drums of war against Iran, Syria, and North Korea. It is obvious that the Neocons have been desensitized to such barbaric acts as breaking peoples' spines because the corporate gravy train to the Middle East keeps right on coming.
Given the massive budget cuts that are taking place in Washington these days, I'm sure politicians are looking for plenty of things to cut. Herewith mine -- phase out all military aid to countries that do not respect basic human rights. The consequences of not doing so are dangerous in the long term -- it is only a matter of time, whether 10 or 100 years down the road, when these dictators with whom we have nothing in common will be tempted to use our own weapons against us.