Rodent Regatta

This has been on my mind all day, but I couldn’t put it into words. Thankfully, James Lileks has a gift for using just the right words in the best way imaginable. What he says still worries me, but it feels better to have it out there.

This Riyadh bombing story would be cause for a brief dank gust of saudenfreude if the damage hadnt been so horrible. Will the Saudi newsmagazines run covers that say Why Do They Hate Us or, more accurately, Why Do We Hate Us? Its a blue-pill / red-pill moment for the Saudis; it reminds you if you needed just a jab that history is moving swiftly around us. And it would seem to be an act of audacious stupidity by Al Qaeda this isnt just biting the hand that feeds them. This is biting it, tearing it off, chewing it up, and blowing smoke rings with the bone powder.

And it makes me wonder: They stick the shiv in the ribs of their richest and most enthusiastic backers.

What makes them this confident?

James Lileks
The Bleat
November 10, 2003