Horror show

[elainegrey]

I am not sure why i felt gut punched yesterday when reading the horrifying Turkish allegations against the Saudis. I tend not to have a visceral response to horrific news. I believe that there's something problematic about how the global news cycle can deliver the horrific 24x7, the artificiality of creating a sense of identification with various victims. There's some thread of manipulation going on and i want to resist it.

This isn't to say i ignore the horror: Colombia's ongoing strife, particularly how the peace communities continue to be targeted by the "disbanded" paramilitaries, is a concern. The lives turned upside down by the storms. China and an actress and the Interpol president, the Rohingya, extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, ISIS, the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the list could go on (along with continued looking up of proper spellings).

Somehow this apparent execution of Jamal Khashoggi slipped past my defenses. Was it hearing an interview with him this past weekend, played as part of a news segment about his disappearance? And hearing his fiance? A slight knowing of him before the horror?

Or is this somehow a new level of horror and -- no, don't disparage reptiles by comparison -- abuse of power?

Comments

[randomdreams]

Abuse of power, and an increasing acceptance of that as an accepted part of governing.

[elainegrey]

...from a country not dismissed as a backward dictatorship or entrenched in poverty or civil war.