October 22, 2018

Why Is Khashoggi’s Murder Dominating the News?

First, he was a journalist — one of theirs. Second, anything to damage Trump is the top story.

Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead, the Saudis finally acknowledged after 18 days. After numerous iterations, the “official” story now is that he was inadvertently killed during a fight that broke out in the Saudi consulate in Turkey, and a handful of “rogue” officials have been fired for bearing sole responsibility for Khashoggi’s death. Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman is totally innocent, you see.

Few, if any, actually believe the Saudis story, of course. A 59-year-old journalist spontaneously took on 15 Saudi security agents? Sure thing. Quite the contrary, reports are that he wasn’t just killed but dismembered on the scene. His body has never been produced. Furthermore, as the editors of National Review put it, “Very little happens in Saudi Arabia without bin Salman’s foreknowledge and approval, so the notion that he would be so unaware of his inner circle’s activities regarding one of the regime’s highest-profile international critics is laughable.”

Beyond that quick recap of the story, here are a few things to bear in mind:

First of all, this is what authoritarian regimes do, be they Islamic or otherwise. A free press is anathema to totalitarians. But with Khashoggi, there may be more than meets the eye. He joined the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1970s. He wasn’t an advocate of western-style democracy, instead favoring an Arab Spring-style political Islamic regime. That isn’t to minimize his death; it’s to see clearly who he was.

The American Leftmedia — led by The Washington Post — is running wall-to-wall coverage of his murder primarily because Khashoggi is one of theirs. He’s a journalist, an untouchable saint, and his death thus rattles them to their core.

But have most Americans heard of the the Gwinnett County Georgia police officer killed in the line of duty Saturday? Officer Antwan Toney had just turned 30, and he was an outstanding human being and police officer. Yet this black cop was murdered by two black assailants in the Atlanta area; one killer is in custody. Toney was one of ours — an American citizen serving his country and community honorably. Both of these men’s lives matter, but only one is getting nonstop media coverage.

The strategic reason for that is the media’s hope to pin Khashoggi’s murder — or at least the aftermath — on President Donald Trump. Anything to create the appearance of scandal before the midterms.

Which brings us to our parting thought: In 2012, four Americans, including an ambassador, were killed in a terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton lied about it for weeks solely to preserve Obama’s reelection campaign. The Leftmedia aided them in this deception. So while Trump certainly should have been far stronger in his public condemnation of the Saudis, we suspect he’s using this incident for leverage behind the scenes. Don’t be surprised to see a subtle shift in America’s relationship with the Saudis that will benefit the U.S., all while Trump gives them breathing room publicly. Distasteful? Sure. But sometimes that describes American foreign policy out of necessity.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.