I was curious how you could be king of a country that
beheads people, doesn’t let women drive and regularly
flogs people and be remembered as a “
reformer” when you die. Could it have something to do with all that oil and the regional stability thing, perhaps?
After Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah died, world leaders beat a path to his door to honor his memory. (Metaphorically beat, not actual flogging like you would perform on a blogger.) I’ve just barely scratched the surface here but I think it might be a bit of a stretch to call Abdullah a “reformer.” (Just include the world’s biggest asterisk if you insist on using the reformer label.)
Besides women not being allowed to drive, beheadings continuing apace and regular floggings, it should be noted that King Abdullah apparently held four of his daughters under house arrest, um, indefinitely. Let’s just keep in mind who this guy really was before we go sugar-coating him as a great model for the Middle East. As usual, you can find more links to news stories behind the cartoon here.
Little Suzie Newsykins:
All hail the late, great, dearly departed, high-highness of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah!
He’s the reason for the season . . . of paying respects in Riyadh.
Bet you never knew he was such a wise benevolent reformer (who happened to sit on the world’s second-largest oil supply).
Thanks to his excellency-ness, girls in Saudi Arabia are treated like royalty and never have to drive!
Girls are never ever lonely— since we always get to be escorted by a male if we leave the house.
And picking out clothes is way easier!
It’s like we’re pets— but much better!
Girls in Saudi Arabia are so liberated, even the head of the IMF praised King Abdullah’s girl-power cred!
Under his reign, Saudi Arabia is like the Magic Kingdom— right down to the princesses still locked in the tower!
And who says women in Saudi Arabia aren’t entitled to the same rights and privileges as men! [chop-whack]
They wouldn’t let women do that in the United States!
So here’s to King Abdullah, the wonderful girl-power reformer of Saudi Arabia—
Thanks for the royal memories!
[chop-whack]