Saudi Arabia Sentences Cleric to Crucifixion

[Babel_17]

71. What is different about Saudi Arabia?

North Korea and other nations, and groups, are as bad and arguably much worse.

In my opinion there is a difference in what happens in Saudi Arabia. Those other nations and groups don't receive de facto validation by the United States. Usually the opposite, afaik.

In Europe, they regularly condemn, or at least chide, the USA for our levels of incarceration and our use of the death penalty.

Israel gets protested and even gets boycotted for what is seen as their cruel treatment of Palestinians. Palestinian terrorists, and all murderers in the Middle East, get regularly called out by people of conscience.

The big exposes on Saudi Arabia, where are they? Yes, they aren't idiots and they have the money, influence, and talent, to massage, and just outright control or manipulate, public opinion and perceptions of their government.

But the bottom line is that their oil props up our way of life. Several times our Presidents have gone to the Saudis and gotten them to undermine OPEC, and the Saudi's immediate interests, to "turn the spigot on, full blast". Sometimes it wasn't about OPEC, maybe it was about a war, or threat of war. Or maybe it was about elections. (I'm speculating there)

So, our government, and our media with its ties to government and money, can't be counted on to do much. It's not like Saudi Arabia is Cuba and can be embargoed because .... (uh, hmmm ...)

But imo shaming has always had some power, and over a long time it can do some good.