Somebody is Missing

 In today's "Dealbook" newsletter from the New York Times, the reporters note just how far Trump has managed to normalize the idea of doing business with Saudi Arabia in recent years—despite the Kingdom's horrendous human rights record. 

Trump himself attended the Saudi sovereign wealth fund's summit for foreign investors (the FII conference) this week in Miami Beach, Florida. While there, he publicly praised the Saudi officials in attendance. 

As "Dealbook" summarizes: "The warm reception for Saudi Arabia underscores Trump’s embrace of the kingdom, a far cry from when U.S. executives either bailed on the FII conference in Riyadh or went with their badges hidden after the killing of Jamal Khashoggi."

Khashoggi—lest anyone forget—was a Washington Post columnist whom the Saudi Kingdom ordered to be assassinated in 2018, in a grotesque political murder. Most memorably, his corpse—upon execution—was dismembered with a bone saw. 

Reading about the vague sense of guilt that the ghost of Khashoggi has exercised over the Saudi conference attendees, I was reminded of one of the most haunting, hallucinatory passages from John Berryman's collection, The Dream Songs: 

...never did Henry, as he thought he did,

end anyone and hacks her body up

and hide the pieces, where they may be found.

He knows: he went over everyone, & nobody's missing. [...]

Nobody is ever missing.

But in the Kingdom's gatherings, someone is indeed missing. The ghoulish autocrats that Trump is now courting, in an effort to do business, did indeed end someone—and hack his body up—and hide the pieces—where they may be found. 

When Saudi Arabia invites foreign businesspeople to come celebrate its immense riches, and its chances for profitable investment—they may come in the hopes of getting rich. But I hope they feel haunted all the time by the sense: somebody is always missing.