I Wanna Hold Your Hand

There's something about that image of President Bush and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah holding hands as they walked through a field of bluebonnets on Monday that just won't quit.

Is it the way it plays against Bush's cowboy image? Is it the contrast between Bush's talk of global democracy and his embrace of the leader of an absolute monarchy? Is it that it reminds us of our dependence on Saudi oil? Is that it looked, well, a little gay?

I suspect it's all those and more.

George Rush and Joanna Molloy write in the New York Daily News: "President Bush can forget about getting any mercy from Washington wags at Saturday's White House Correspondents Dinner -- not after the setup he gave every comic and Democrat by strolling hand in hand on Monday with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. . . .

"New Yorker writer Andy Borowitz said, 'After the picture came out, President Bush reiterated his opposition to gay marriage -- unless one of the partners has several billion barrels of petroleum'. . . .

"Jay Leno, who has emceed the dinner in the past, jumped on the tender scene at Bush's Texas ranch by offering 'Tonight' viewers a spoof on those Las Vegas tourism commercials showing how Sin City reawakens a couple's romance. The punchline: 'What happens in Crawford stays in Crawford.' "

As it happens, first lady Laura Bush was visiting Leno yesterday.

Here's a Reuters photo of Leno showing her footage of the two men holding hands.

"It was actually very sweet," Laura Bush said, laughing.

"You're a very understanding wife," replied Leno.

Here the transcript of the first lady's chat with Leno.

Lana Berkowitz writes in the Houston Chronicle: "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."