John F. Kerry

so at first i was pleasantly surprised by their allowing women to join the elected councils and vote. and i still am.

but i was also pretty sad to hear that they are still trying to cling to the prohibition on women driving...and lord knows what other second class things they have to suffer .

but on the other hand, i think its prety cool and a step in the right direction that they are letting women be elected and vote... if u were the king of saudi arabia you might think this was a good way to "plant the seed" of womens liberation...without doing it all at once- because once women hold 20% of shura council seats they might be able to have an even further and deeper impact , and have more support from the legislature to do it....

i dont know if this is the tail wagging the dog or the dog wagging the tail.

or if its even possibly some last ditch effort to co-opt the saudis inclinded to their own arab spring.

but its interesting, and its cool to hear about an ally taking a step in the right direction, even if they are also taking steps sideways and backwards at the same time....i honestly think it has something to do with israel too- that the royals get pissed hearing about how great israel is all the time, the freest country in the middle east , and they think, we are americas allys, we have plenty of money, but people think we are savages...and so it might almost be a point of pride type thing, where freedom is the new version of who can build the biggest tower... like, who can have the most open free modern and prosperous society.... now THAT is an awesome and refreshing idea.

__________________
Nasa under Obama

stoneric

Will they still be our "ally" when we veto Palistinian statehood?

Xil

will anyone?

__________________

Xil

the prohibition on women driving can't last too much longer. from what i've read they've just been making women sign pledges not to do it again. their is civil disobedience though, and when they sentenced one women to a lashing, there was a big outrcy, the monarchy stepped in and overturned it

people are pushing back, the public eye is on them, and i'm pretty sure the powers that be realize that if they clamp down they could end up ousted, but if they make make concessions they'll end up more supported than before

__________________

Roach

I'm going to take the Ron Paul position.

"I could give two fucks what the Arabs do in their own country"

__________________

לזיין את הקופים

Home Wrecker

Borderline meaningless and intended to placate international community and possibly dissident citizens.

At the end of the day Saudi Arabia is still an absolute monarchy and women are still second-class citizens.

__________________
Mr. Pink: You kill anybody?
Mr. White: A few cops.
Mr. Pink: No real people?
Mr. White: Just cops.

Xil

if they have to keep placating, isn't it possible that things could improve? yea, people act for selfish reasons...not really a groundbreaking discovery.

what actually matters is the effect that this sort of 'placating' could have on saudi women who are currently getting a pretty shit deal

__________________

SageTree

Women in with more power in gov't could be the 'apple that spoils the barrel', which would be a good thing. Couldn't they vote or introduce legislation that creates great attitudes of fairness and equality to women slowly and surely?

__________________

Dhomnley

When it comes down to it, Saudi Arabia isn't that bad. What we hear about the Middle East is a lot of hype. Homesexuals being executed, torture for petty crimes, women being killed/stoned for being raped.... is all few and far between. Women are allowed to drive for most tasks. They are allowed to vote, and they hold many high end positions in government.

Roach

sounds fairly Americanized already...

I think there were something like ten people shot/killed for one reason or another just this week in Pittsburgh.

__________________

לזיין את הקופים

kamikazi89

with all those royal wives, some of them are going to have to drive the getaway cars

__________________
katie west is the best

Bad dog

how can any man have a problem with this? If only our great western nations could see the wisdom of such a rule.
At the most they should have driving rights some hours on week days to take the kids to school and do the shopping etc. But even then they should be banned from the overtaking lane.

As far as other second class things they have to suffer, going out to work is not one of them. they get to stay at home all day and are not overly encouraged to go out to work. The kingdoms citizens are well taken care of financially.

paradise if you can take the heat.

__________________

this is where i live