There's great hilarity on TV this morning about pictures of George W. Bush holding hands with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, as well as greeting the prince with an embrace and a kiss on both cheeks. The commentary, naturally, mingles scorn for the Administration's ongoing suck-up to the Saudi oil pump with good old American uneasiness and adolescent guffawing over male-male displays of affection.
Largely overlooked in all this is that the president is actually making a downright progressive display of cultural sensitivity -- and that he has the unselfconscious masculine confidence to do so. I dare say this is admirable and endearing.
It's a sign of friendship and respect in Saudi Arabia for men to hold hands while walking. But we don't often see men holding hands in the rural South. Or on a ranch in Texas. Good ol' boys tend to keep other guys at arm's length — unless they've just scored a touchdown.
Now, that doesn't mean Bush would go so far as to rub noses with a visiting emissary of the Eskimo. Unless, of course, they strike oil up there.
- amba
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