I didn’t support your invasion of Iraq, but I like the way you’ve helped to get prices at the pumps down by grasping the nettle of long-term supply, as well as old Prince Abdulla’s hand.
And for good measure, you’re sending out a positive message about male intimacy and combatting xenophobia. More here.
I was wondering when someone was gonna post about this. And then to hear him going on lately about cutting our dependance on foriegn oil. Does he not SEE the dichotomy here?
Think about it. What could the average doper have written?
a) Bush is holding hands with a man - he’s a fairy. OUT
b) Bush is breaking down barriers with the leader of the country on whose soil many of the 9/11 bombers and Al-Qaida operatives were trained. OUT
c) Bush is befriending a dark-skinned foreigner who upholds a religion that promotes female genital mutilation. OUT
d) Bush is trying to weasel his way into the confidence of a very powerful oil sheihk in order to help me pay less for the gas I put in my car. HARDLY
I guess the answer is closest to d). But all of them sans a) really apply.
Sigh.
I guess what really buged me about it was that he went on to make the whole Foriegn Oil Is Bad speach less than a few days after walking around holding fucking HANDS with one of the biggest Foriegn Oil guys on the planet, like he was Laura, for fucks sake. All I could think of when I first saw that pic was “Happy Shiny People” for some reason…
I don’t really see the dilemma. Rely less on the furriners; get gas as cheap as possible in the meantime. Just balancing different interests [economic (cheaper imports), political (get Repugs re-elected), national (security), and of course personal (get praised in history books - ok might have to write them himself - with Raygun, Slick Willy and JFK - his willy was pretty slick too, come to think of it).
But, a nitpick: the Muslim religion does not “promote” female genital mutilation - though it is keen on the male version. That practice is broadly Northeast African and exists in non-Muslim communities in Ethiopia etc as well as Muslim ones. You won’t find it in NW Africa (eg Morocco) or Saudi, etc.
I still remember the discomfort I felt when I had to walk down the street holding hands with an Arab guy (my cousin’s husband). No-one else batted an eyelid. It’s just what buddies do there.
In honor of Scumpup’s current Pit thread, this average doper will write, “We are merely exchanging long protein strings. If you can think of a simpler way, I’d like to hear it.”