America has been bowing to Saudi Arabia for most of the past century, and it’s going to continue until we wean ourselves off their oil.

I usually don’t take issue with you, Charles, but this is a bit inaccurate. America has only been bowing to the Saudis (and OPEC for that matter) since 1973. Previous to that, the oil exploration companies in Saudi were foreign-owned, and did not always do as the Saudis wanted. After the takeover of Saudi Aramco by the Saudi government, all the money from the profits of the oil taken out of Saudi Arabia went to them.

A short history of Saudi Aramco:

In the 1930s, oil was discovered on the Sadui Peninsula (Persian Gulf side). In 1933, Saudi Aramco was created as a concession by the Saudi government for Standard of California (Chevron). Three years later, Texaco bought into it. Other oil companies followed. In 1950, the Saudi king threatened to nationalize Saudi Aramco (as had already happened in Venezuela). Over the next 30 years, the Saudi kingdom bought into Saudi Aramco, and then took majority control in 1974. They completed the purchase in 1980. Wiki has a decent, albeit short, article on Saudi Aramco with a timeline.