Arianna Huffington has her group news/blog up and running now, The Huffington Post. Some good quick reads there from the likes of John Cusack, Ellen DeGeneres, and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, as well as other writers, thinkers, pundits, and politicos.

Scariest read so far — Huffington Post has an exclusive excerpt from Gerald Posner’s new book, Secrets of the Kingdom that details how the Saudis may have jerry-rigged their oil infrastructure with radioactive “dirty bombs” and conventional explosives in the case of internal revolt or external invasion. Think of it as the 21st-Century version of the old Cold-War MAD – Mutually Assured Destruction, except I call it SAD – Saudi-Assured Destruction. In other words, if the Kingdom can’t control the oil, then nobody gets it at all. They are blackmailing the West to keep the Kingdom in power, or else they’ll take their oil and the world economy with it in a Masada-like suicide.

According to the book, which will be released to the public on May 17, based on National Security Agency electronic intercepts, the Saudi Arabian government has in place a nationwide, self-destruction explosive system composed of conventional explosives and dirty bombs strategically placed at the Kingdom’s key oil ports, pipelines, pumping stations, storage tanks, offshore platforms, and backup facilities. If activated, the bombs would destroy the infrastructure of the world’s largest oil supplier, and leave the country a contaminated nuclear wasteland ensuring that the Kingdom’s oil would be unusable to anyone. The NSA file is dubbed internally Petro SE, for petroleum scorched earth.

Now that picture of Bush holding hands with the Saudi leader makes even more sense. “Heh, heh,” says Bush, “now don’tchoo worry bout no terrists or coo-day-tots.” Bush leaned in and smiled that smirk he makes whenever he thinks he’s pronounced one of the tough words correctly. “Mairca will always be strong allies of the Saudi Kingdom. But could you please, pretty please with sugar on top, just open up production a little bit? Gas prices here are higher than Rush Limbaugh after a visit to the pharmacist, and it’s even makin’ the Jesus-lovin’ red staters madder than Fred Phelps at a Pride parade. My approval ratings are lower than Ted Kennedy in a wine cellar; Christ, my wife gets double my numbers jokin’ about me jerkin’ off a stallion! We’ll make sure you’re protected by the finest military in the world, but Sheikh, ya gotta do a little back-scratchin’ in return!”