TRUMP'S EMBRACE OF SAUDI ARABIA IS BOTH A "LICENSE TO KILL" AND A STEP BACKWARD FOR THE HUMAN CONDITION

By now, most have heard about what happened to Jamal Khashoggi, a "prominent Saudi dissident journalist who wrote for the Washington Post." He was murdered in a "gruesome" fashion after arriving at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Turkey ...

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For many, what happened to Jamal Khashoggi is not surprising given Saudi Arabia's reputation for treating those who disagree with their policies ...

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What's surprising is how vociferously Donald Trump is defending and standing by the Saudi regime in spite of evidence that strongly suggests the Saudi's were involved in, or had advance knowledge of, Jamal Khashoggi's murder ... 

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What this tells us about Trump and his desire to place profits above the First Amendment rights of journalists goes beyond a simple reference to "The Art of the Deal" ...

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Rather, Donald Trump's wink and a nod to Saudi Arabia has effectively, as conservative Max Boot put it, given every despot "a license to kill" around the world. It's also a first step in putting a chilling effect on our free press, and the First Amendment in America ...

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The worst part is what Trump's position towards Saudi Arabia tells our press how they can expect to be treated by authoritarian states (with Trump's acquiesence) around the world, and how far Trump is willing to go to send a message to those he considers to be part of his mythical "fake news" ...

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Then there's the damage Trump is doing to both America's image as a shining city on a hill, and to the broader "enlightened" movement that took the world away from a generation of desperation and despair ...

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Let me make this real simple. This is how democracies die in history.

- Mark