Anyone reading LGF for more than a day will quickly figure out that I’m no friend or admirer of the Saudi royal family. In fact, LGF is on the list of web sites that are blocked by the Saudis’ country-level proxy servers.

But is this how John F. Kerry plans to rebuild America’s standing overseas—one of the main planks of his platform—by immediately alienating an important strategic partner in the Middle East for some cheap points in a campaign speech? Saudis Criticize Kerry for ‘Bashing’ Kingdom.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Friday criticized Democratic presidential challenger Sen. John Kerry for “bashing” the kingdom when he called on the United States to cut its dependence on the Middle East nation’s oil. “Saudi bashing is not an energy policy,” an official with the Saudi Embassy in Washington said.

In his nomination acceptance speech Thursday night, Kerry said he wants America to use technology to become energy independent and end its reliance on Saudi oil. “I want an America that relies on its own ingenuity and innovation — not the Saudi royal family,” he said. The personal and financial ties between the Saudi royal family and President Bush and his family have been criticized in books and in Michael Moore’s film “Fahrenheit 9/11.”

Saudi Arabia has one-fourth of the world’s proven crude oil reserves and is the largest foreign oil supplier to the United States — providing 17 percent of U.S. crude imports. The Saudi embassy official said Saudi Arabia has been a reliable supplier of oil to the U.S. market for decades and expects to continue in that role whether or not Kerry becomes president.

“This an election year … and unfortunately Saudi bashing in expected,” he said.