The Authoritarians Are on Parade, All Over the World

By Charles Pierce, Esquire

09 October 18

The unthinkable is becoming the normal—even in the European Union.

ometimes, the news from disparate places combines to present us with a very unsettling whole. In such moments, we should resort to a tried-and-true old tabloid columnist's trick.

Item: The head of Interpol disappears in China and then reappears with what looks very much like a forced statement of resignation. From CNN:

In a terse one line statement Sunday evening, China's ruling Communist Party admitted Meng Hongwei, who also holds the position of vice minister of public security in China, was "under investigation by the National Supervision Commission for alleged violations of laws." Chinese authorities had previously remained tight-lipped about the whereabouts of Meng, following his sudden disappearance last month after he flew from France to China. Sunday's statement did not specifically say that Meng had been arrested, or that he remains in China. However, previous suspects who have been described as "under investigation" by the National Supervisory Commission -- the country's top anti-corruption agency -- have often reappeared in the custody of the government at a later date.

Meng's disappearance was first reported to authorities by his wife, Grace, who went to police in Lyon on Thursday, according to the French Interior Ministry. She told police that she last heard from him 10 days prior and had received threats on social media and by telephone, according to the statement. Speaking to reporters at a hotel in Lyon, France, Grace said that that her last contact with her husband came via a WhatsApp text message with a knife emoji and the instructions, "Wait for my call."

That is not auspicious.

Item: And, while most of this comes from the wild kingdom of the British press, it is reported that the pilot of a helicopter in which a Russian bureaucrat with shadowy involvement in a lot of the international brigandage of the Putin regime was shot twice before the chopper went down. From the Mirror:

Russian deputy attorney general Saak Karapetyan died on on Wednesday when his AS-350 came down in bad weather on a hunting trip 365 miles northeast of Moscow. There are also extraordinary claims he was a channel of leaks to British, US and Swiss secret services. Karapetyan was in charge of Russian high-profile criminal probes into three major episodes in Britain - the poisoning of Sergei Skripal this year, the unexplained death of Putin foe Boris Berezovsky in 2013, and the polonium murder of dissident Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. The shooting allegation is expected to increase speculation that the leading prosecutor was assassinated.

Again, this is not coming from the most respectable precincts of the media, but the fact that it sounds more than plausible is a good indication of where we are right now.

Item: This is horrible. From the BBC:

Her body was found in a park in the northern city of Ruse, near the River Danube, on Saturday. Interior Minister Mladen Marinov later confirmed she had also been raped. It is not known if the killing is linked to the 30-year-old's work at a local television station, TVN. An investigation is looking into her personal and professional life. Her death immediately drew international condemnation. "Shocked by horrific murder of investigative journalist Viktoria Marinova in Bulgaria," tweeted Harlem Desir, the media freedom representative for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. "Urgently call for a full and thorough investigation. Those responsible must be held to account."

Ms Marinova was a presenter on a recently-relaunched current affairs talk programme called "Detector" for TVN. Its first episode featured an interview with two Bulgarian investigative journalists exploring alleged fraud involving EU funds linked to businessmen and politicians. The pair, Attila Biro and Dimitar Stoyanov, were arrested in September while looking into the case. She is the third high-profile journalist to be killed in the European Union in the past year, and the fourth since the start of 2017.

This is in the EU. It's crept in from the east, where the old habits have proven surprisingly durable.

Item: The allegation is that they killed this guy, cut him up, and transported the pieces out of the embassy in suitcases. From the BBC:

Turkish officials said Mr Khashoggi was killed on the premises and his body was then removed. Investigators said a 15-person team arrived at the consulate on Tuesday, returning to Riyadh the same day. The head of the Turkish-Arab Media Association, Turan Kislakci, told the New York Times that Turkish police officers providing security for the consulate had checked their security cameras and did not see the journalist leave on foot. But he added that diplomatic cars had been seen moving in and out. Mr Erdogan was more circumspect, saying on Sunday he remained "positive" and would await the results of an investigation as Turkish authorities continue to look at camera footage and airport arrivals and departures. Saudi Arabia said the allegations were baseless. It has allowed reporters into the consulate to show Mr Khashoggi is not there.

I'm certainly convinced.

The authoritarian parade is, as ABC used to say of the endless variety of sports, spanning the globe. Unthinkable solutions are some part of a new normal. Of course, we're immune to the attractions of authoritarian solutions. And I am the Tsar of all the Russias.