Holding Hands

The TV pictures this morning of our President holding hands with Crown Prince Abdullah were very symbolic. I read somewhere that he kissed him on both cheeks, too. Is this our best strategy to lower gasoline prices?

What is it that connects this president with the Saudis more closely, apparently, than with our neighbors Canada and Mexico or our historical friends France and Germany? Or even our bankers, China and Japan? Could it be that the business relationship between the Bushes and the Saudi "royal" family goes back to 1925?