There’s a pretty simple way to figure out whether Woodward’s recent claims about Bush’s supposed secret deal with the Saudis is true or not.

Let’s wait to see what happens in the run-up to the election.

If he’s smart, and there was such a deal, the President will make a new one: Make sure the oil prices remain as outrageously high as they are now.

On the other hand, one can hardly fault the Wag the Dog approach. It works.

If I were the President, I’d call in my chips as November got nearer. The Saudis would increase production, flooding the market with oil until just after the election. Osama bin Laden would be brought out of whatever cell I was already holding him in (and as I’d be sure I was already holding him long before the election, I’ve no doubt Karl Rove has thought of this as well) just in time for the vote — personally, I’d do it within about one week of the vote and I’d be very public about it. All my friends would carry it on their television and radio stations hourly.

If I were the President, I’d be working on this from now oil, er, uh, I mean “all” the way through to November.