All of this talk of Saudi Arabia leads me to one conclusion

[genxlib]

Alternative Energy!

For decades, political parties have taken turns beating each other up about the way we treat Saudi Arabia.

For example
Trump shouldn't curtsy
Trump shouldn't sell weapons
Trump shouldn't attend all male concert
Obama shouldn't bow
Obama apology tour
Bush shouldn't kiss SA ambassador

You get my drift. Enough already.

Our relationship with this giant sand bar is totally skewed by oil. Without it, they would be little more than a desert full of nomadic tribes.

Let's get off the oil so we don't have to kiss their ass all the time. Without the need for oil, our relationship with them would be much more in balance to what it really should be.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Brown people with oil, money and power does make some "others" uncomfortable.

[BannonsLiver]

6. Yeah the Saudi royal family sure has it rough

[DrDan]

10. and brown people without oil, money ane power makes some uncomfortable

[luvMIdog]

2. we've had alternatives for quite a while but the big wigs in Washington make money keeping the

status quo

[Hoyt]

3. Basically agree, but it does leave a lot of people dependant on pistachios and dates for

a living. Point is, lots of starving people will look at most Americans as we do the one presenters. We/they need to figure out a way forward.

[Squinch]

4. So I guess this is the "everybody does it" idea. To which I roll my eyes. But I will agree with

you that the solution is alternative energy.

Fact remains though: Trump SHOULDN'T sell weapons to the country that gave us 9/11 and Trump SHOULDN'T attend an all male concert because it insults all of his female constituents. And these acts are in a different league than bowing or kissing. You really should acknowledge that at the risk of normalizing his behavior.

I don't give much of a rat's ass about the curtsy.

[genxlib]

5. No intent to make them equivalent

Forgive me if I lent any credibility to the "all sides do it" theme.

At the risk of undermining that statement, it should be noted that the Obama administration has sold weapons to Saudi Arabia through most of his years in office. They reneged in late 2016 based on concerns of their use in Yemen but their have been plenty of weapons flowing for years.

It speaks to the point that we consider them an ally despite their behavior that should preclude it. Oil is the only reason. We kiss their ass and sell them weapons to keep it flowing.

[elehhhhna]

7. We don't need their oil

We have massive reserves.

[progressoid]

8. It's more than just oil. Thanks to our arms exports, SA is now a well armed sand bar.

And a key player in our ME military strategies.

[genxlib]

9. That is true

But isn't our ME strategy largely about protecting the access and movement of oil.

Even looking after Israel gets easier without the big petrodollars fueling its enemies.