Bob Franken: The Saudi D.C. swamp

Imagine that: It’s getting so it’s difficult to get away with being slime in the Washington “swamp” these days — or at the very least, much tougher to paper it over by placing a fake-believe veneer of money from the most noxious sources. For generations, we have allowed so many of our most prominent operators to perfume over the stench of their ill-gained prosperity as they have represented the interests here of some of the planet’s most rotten individuals and their brutal tyrannies. Finally, the facade is being torn down, and those who have gotten away so long with getting rich from human misery are being exposed. The results are painful for them. Thanks to the independent counsel foraging in the Trumpster, for instance, all the Donald Trump campaign operatives’ cynical wheeling and dealing on behalf of the Russians and their sympathizers has finally gotten them in trouble. Not only does Paul Manafort face jail time, along with his associates, but a reckoning is coming to other firms who chose to ignore the foul odor of his murderous clients to work with him, for whatever blood money he would share with them.

Now we have the Saudis and the likelihood that they have clumsily gone too far with their barbarity. They made the single most fatal mistake when they allegedly decided to rub out the wrong dissident whose barbs were hitting too close to the tyrant’s ego. In this case, the troublemaker was a journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. Not only that, but he expressed his disagreements as a contributor to The Washington Post. The Post, as a paper of record, has an inordinately huge impact. The normal hit job couldn’t be glossed over like it usually could be.

The ruthless repression of the Saudi regime has certainly not been a secret. But for decades, the country’s absolute rulers made sure to provide all the oil we needed and saw to it that billions of dollars were paid to those skulking around the influence community in D.C. But the Khashoggi hit job was too much for even the most jaded Washington nihilist. Suddenly, those bankers, lobbyists and PR firms that had long groveled for favors from Saudis dropped them like a stone. Their quick calculation was that they needed to duck and cover for a while.

The Washington swamp is really just a huge pond where the scum goes all the way down. Donald Trump could be given some credit for calling it what it is, except, in spite of his promise to “drain” it, he has flooded it with more contaminants. Every day, he and his henchmen come up with another way to add to our political pollution.

At least they don’t pretend to be anything but a crass act. The latest treat from them is word that Trump’s chief of staff John Kelly and national security adviser John Bolton held a high-level catfight outside the Oval Office litter box, loudly squalling profanities at each other in earshot of our leader. And who could have possibly imagined that he and stripper-porn star Stormy Daniels would publicly exchange vitriolic tweets, years after he allegedly got it on with her. He now has called her “Horseface,” and she tweeted back with her own nickname, “Tiny,” obviously referring to his manhood. At least he hasn’t had her killed. That we know of. As for our other glitterati dazzling in Washington society, they’ll find ways to replace all that money from Saudi Arabia that pays for their kids’ private schools and their first-class travel. They’ll need to for a while, until the storm (the Saudi one, not the stripper one) blows over.

And it will. The special-interest snakes will soon slither out of their lairs, where they sought cover, and they’ll soon take more bites out of the rotten apples. It’s too tasty to let a little expedient conscience get in the way.

— Bob Franken

More in Opinion

Rep. Sarah Vance, candidate for State House District 6, participates in a candidate forum hosted by the Peninsula Clarion and KBBI 890 AM at the Homer Public Library in Homer, Alaska, on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Point of View: Vance out of touch in plea to ‘make more babies’

In order to, as she states, “make more babies,” women have to be healthy and supported.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks during a press conference March 16, 2024, at the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: A budget that chooses the right policies and priorities

Alaska is a land of unmatched potential and opportunity. It always has… Continue reading

Gov. Mike Dunleavy explains details of his proposed state budget for next year during a press conference Dec. 12, 2014, at the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Governor fails at leadership in his proposed budget

It looks like he is sticking with the irresponsible approach

Former Gov. Frank Murkowski speaks on a range of subjects during an interview with the Juneau Empire in May 2019. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Opinion: A viable option: A railroad extension from the North Slope

It is very difficult for this former banker to contemplate amortizing an $11 billion project with over less than half a million Alaska ratepayers

Therese Lewandowski. (Photo provided)
Point of View: Inflation, hmmm

Before it’s too late and our history gets taken away from us, everyone should start studying it

A state plow truck clears snow from the Kenai Spur Highway on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Use of the brine shows disregard for our community

It is very frustrating that the salt brine is used on the Kenai Peninsula often when it is not needed

A cherished "jolly Santa head" ornament from the Baisden Christmas tree. (Photo provided)
Opinion: Reflections of holidays past

Our family tradition has been to put up our Christmas tree post-Thanksgiving giving a clear separation of the holidays

Screenshot. (https://dps.alaska.gov/ast/vpso/home)
Opinion: Strengthening Alaska’s public safety: Recent growth in the VPSO program

The number of VPSOs working in our remote communities has grown to 79

Soldotna City Council member Linda Farnsworth-Hutchings participates in the Peninsula Clarion and KDLL candidate forum series, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, at the Soldotna Public Library in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: I’m a Soldotna Republican and will vote No on 2

Open primaries and ranked choice voting offer a way to put power back into the hands of voters, where it belongs

Nick Begich III campaign materials sit on tables ahead of a May 16, 2022, GOP debate held in Juneau. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: North to a Brighter Future

The policies championed by the Biden/Harris Administration and their allies in Congress have made it harder for us to live the Alaskan way of life

Shrubs grow outside of the Kenai Courthouse on Monday, July 3, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Vote yes to retain Judge Zeman and all judges on your ballot

Alaska’s state judges should never be chosen or rejected based on partisan political agendas

A vintage Underwood typewriter sits on a table on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at the Homer News in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Point of View: District 6 needs to return to representation before Vance

Since Vance’s election she has closely aligned herself with the far-right representatives from Mat-Su and Gov. Mike Dunleavy