World Beware! Bush and the Saudis are talking down the price of oil...again

Many people thought Hillary Clinton was being rude - during Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate - when she called President Bush “pathetic” for flying over to Saudi Arabia this week to beg King Abdullah to lower the price of oil. Whereas, in fact, she was being kind.

After all, there’s something positively venal and conspiratorial about Bush promising to “talk down the price of oil” with his Saudi friends, given that the price actually rises every time he promises to do so. Indeed, here’s how I noted this oxymoronic synergy in April 2005 - in a commentary entitled The Bushes and the Saudis: Elusive (financial) ties that really bind:

[I]t’s worth recalling that on the eve of entertaining [then] Crown Prince Abdullah at his ranch in April 2002, Bush promised Americans that he would “talk down” the price of crude oil with his royal compadre - “mano a mano”. But since then, the price of oil has more than doubled (from $23 to $60); no doubt much to the constrained glee of oil sheiks in Saudi and oil barons in Texas.

Therefore, it seems more than a little ironic, if not incredulous, that Bush reiterated the same promise (to get the prince to put out) on the eve of their date just days ago. Indeed, his unfulfilled promise from 2002 begs the question:

What is America (and the Bush family) getting out of this relationship with Saudi Arabia?

But, if his constant begging to no (public) avail isn't pathetic enough (true to form, the price is now hovering around $100), what does it say about Bush’s personal integrity that he has gone from holding Abdullah’s hand in 2005 (like a proud boyfriend) to carrying his royal train in 2008 (like a humble footman)?

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