Agreed. I was just outlining plausible scenarios, even if somewhat remote. But believe me, there are some real idiots with client-itis over at the Embassy these days. Some of them might JUST have planted this in his ear when discussing protocal. Whats more likely the case though, your take in fact, is that the joker just freelanced at the last moment and stepped into a world of shit in terms of cultural and geopolitical sensitivities. What an idiot.
For him to think the spin will be normal waits to be seen. If NBC tomorrow shows this over and over with no reference to saud will tell the story.
My read is that Obama fancies himself as being a citizen of the world and he likes to cite his experience of living abroad and having relatives scattered around the globe from Indonesia to China to Kenya. He is an "internationalist" who thinks he knows how to behave abroad and to curry favor. Hence his constant apologies for the US because he believes that is what his foreign audiences want to hear. And it doesn't hurt that he believes that the US should apologize.
The reality is that he knows very little about how to behave abroad and diplomatic protocol. He is a head of state. The main problem is that he hates the country he represents. Obama is bent on recreating it in his image.