Headline from The New York Times yesterday: “Saudis Rebuff Bush, Politely, on Pumping More Oil”.
They had a photograph of the President in Riyadh but the one I saw in my mind was taken in 2005 in Crawford, Texas when the King of Saudi Arabia visited and the President walked with him hand in hand over the property. Cynics to the contrary, I did not think it was boy love, but a gesture by a younger man (Bush) to steady an older man’s gait (King Abdullah).
I’m sure glad it wasn’t boylove cuz honey they’d be some crockery flying in Air Force One tonight. Imagine the nerve of some people? You suck up to them fair and square and they diss you.
There’s a documentary program on HBO that I haven’t watched religiously but it is about “Addictions”: The family interventions, the denials by the abuser, the pitiful pleas for time: “Now? You want me to go to rehab NOW? I’ve got a life, you know!”
Yeah, the family says. We know. Some life.
They try to bargain, charm, wheedle, whine and threaten their way out of acknowledging they have to do something about their addiction. Some die before that moment comes.
I’m going to rehab after this summer’s tax-free gas holiday. I promise. I swear. I’ll carry your walker. Roll your wheelchair.
What? You say what?
Yes, yes, I know that the hand holding photograph from 2005 is really a older man propping up the younger man.
But, just give me a few more months cuz I’ve got a life.
©Pat Coakley 2008
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I spent the better part of yesterday having this very conversation with my dad. When will we break the addiction?
Breathtaking photo.
I drive for a living. I like to think i’m using Monopoly money to pay for it.
It softens the blow.
(Until I land on Boardwalk, that is)
All I know, Pomeroy, after reading several entries on your blog, is that you are going to land on your feet!
That photo shows your true talent.. absolutely amazing!
I don’t blame the Saudi’s actually. Their days are numbered to be in the game, so they are playing hard ball while they still have one. This will piss everyone off enough to finally go to alternative fuels.
I don’t feel sorry for Americans really. Living in the UK for 20 years, I am used to paying $8 to $10 for a gallon of petrol. Americans have been very spoiled for a long time. Maybe it will give us a wake up call to what goes on in the rest of the world?????
Remember mother necessity? I think she’s calling about now…