This news item gives one pause, doesn't it? Saudi Arabia's crown prince Abdullah is the unelected ruler of an Islamist state — a brutal place that laughs at human rights and notions of individual freedom. It's also the very same country that somehow produced fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers without the U.S. ever holding it to account. And yet, Bush is so enamored of the royal dictator that he conveniently forgets every syllable of his own freedom-promotin' State of the Union address. The hooker-in-chief instead holds hand with the Middle Eastern strongman during a high-stakes man-date, and kisses him on both cheeks for good measure, in an effort to lower the price of OPEC's oil. Interesting.
I got to thinking: If Bush is holding hands with the crown prince now, with gas costing about $2.25 a gallon at the pump, how will he treat his fellow statesman next year if we've passed the three-dollar mark? Holding hands isn't going to cut it. So I wonder if we might read something along these lines in the paper:
WASHINGTON, DC, April 27, 2006 — President Bush, massaging his jaw, announced at a press briefing today that during a behind-closed-doors meeting with Saudi Arabia's ruler Crown Prince Abdullah, he had made "a persuasive argument" for lower oil prices. "I love that guy, and I'm not afraid to admit it," said the president. "I affirmed my respect for him and his great country first by playing footsie with him under the conference table. We just took it from there." Bush said that he recounted to the Crown Prince "that time I choked on a pretzel," and that he playfully asked his guest if he would like a demonstration. The president declined to elaborate but added, "Whew, lemmetellya, it sure does get hot under those Arabic robes after a while."
All very well to sneer at Bush for cozying up to the Saudis....
What the hell else can he do? His hands are tied and the Arabs know it. Americans just slam-bang refuse to treat energy sensibly. I live in California, where every other person drives a behemoth SUV at 80 mph
( in the parking lot- on the road it's more like 100). Single person in each one, of course. They relax by driving jet skis, ski boats, snowmobiles and dirt bikes the same way. Lawns are trimmed by six kinds of motorized tools... toothbrushes will follow any day.
Posted by: Martin Owens | Thursday, April 28, 2005 at 03:13 AM
Just wondering: do Libertarians actually have a position regarding energy conservation? I don't like frolicking with the Saudis, but the previous comment brings up a good point. Shouldn't we first try to help ourselves?
Posted by: Patrick | Monday, May 02, 2005 at 10:38 PM
Where there's oil there simply aren't any human rights abuses. Part of the price of a gallon of gas is now paid in blood.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/03/1357228
Posted by: John Palubiski | Thursday, May 05, 2005 at 06:51 AM