Fruitless Abasement

One had thought that Obama's now infamous bow to the Wahhabi potentate back in May had made a good impression on the king. At least, that's what the White House and the Obama-besotted media implied at the time. But in a story about Hillary Clinton rushing off to Riyadh in a bid to elicit Saudi backing against Iran (good luck with that, Hill), the Washington Post reveals that despite Obama's submissive posturing, his May tete-a-tete with Abdullah was actually a complete bust:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton begins a difficult diplomatic assignment Monday in Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally. By all accounts, President Obama's meeting with King Abdullah last year went poorly over misunderstandings on a variety of issues, and now Clinton seeks to rebuild ties.

Clinton, who landed in Riyadh Monday afternoon, is expected to have lengthy meetings with the king, a tough, no-nonsense leader, at a tent compound about a 90-minute drive from the capital.

In his meeting with Obama in May, Abdullah turned down a request for Saudi Arabia to accept detainees from Yemen and rejected making any confidence-building steps toward Israel. (The Saudis themselves had thought Obama's visit was a courtesy call and they were surprised so many tough issues were raised without much preparation.)...

The Wahhabi is "tough" and "no-nonsense". The president...not so much. Who do you suppose is more likely to prevail (again) in that match-up?