A Perfectly Cromulent Blog

And on a related note, November SUV sales are expected to skyrocket

And here I thought I'd hallucinated this last night:

NEW YORK (CNN) - A top Saudi official has assured President Bush that his country will increase oil production to lower gas prices before November to help the president's re-election prospects, according to a broadcast report Sunday.

Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, discussing his new book on the run-up to the Iraq war on CBS' '60 Minutes,' said Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador to the United States and a long-time friend of the Bush family, has given the pledge that "certainly over the summer, or as we get closer to the election, they could increase production several million barrels a day and the price would drop significantly."

No really, I'm not sure what infant-raising activity I was engaged in while 60 Minutes played in the background, but I immediately shrugged off what I heard Woodward say as a likely product of my rampant paranoia.

Then again, why is it the Republican presidential candidates who are always in cahoots with Islamic fundamentalists? Iran delayed the release of the embassy hostages until Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush were inaugrated (and thanks to...other considerations), so is it really that hard to believe George W. Bush is in bed with the Saudis, even in spite of increasing calls from this country for the government of Saudi Arabia to distance themselves from Islamic extremists?

Woodward's revelation comes on the heels of last week's somewhat less shocking disclosure on Good Morning America that the Bush camp has been mocking the fact that John Kerry speaks fluent French. Someone, I think it was Andrew Card, made the comment that the "average American" would rather have a president they could sit down and have a cup of coffee and a cheeseburger with. According to them, Bush fits that mold better (the French don't drink coffee, apparently).

I don't particularly care if my President is someone I'd be friends with in normal life. Point of fact, I don't care if the guy is a raving son of a bitch, as he long as he looks out for the best interests of the American people, governs within the limits of the Constitution, and doesn't lie to us.

And in what alternate dimension does our current President qualify as an "average American?" He and Kerry have fairly similar elitist credentials, yet Bush's campaign staff is trying to spin the fact that since Kerry can string two sentences together and Bush can't, it somehow makes Bush "folksy." If this is an indication that Bush's reelection strategy is going to center on how that particular spoiled brat is "just like you and me," it's going to be one hell of a long summer.