Friday's White House Press Briefing included two economic advisers to discuss the volatile economic situation here in the US, though they were careful to not paint to dire a picture. Obviously, with crude oil trading at record levels and OPEC releasing a statement blaming the price on the weakness of the American dollar, the media might be expected to ask a question or two. However, White House Spokesperson Dana Perino was not having any of it.

Q I'd like to follow up on their refusal to talk about the dollar, if I could. I mean, we're in a kind of a bad situation here, when OPEC says the reason for $105 or $106 a barrel of oil is the falling value of the dollar -- and you won't address that issue. Where do we go to find out who is right?

MS. PERINO: Well, as he just said, the Treasury Secretary is where you go to talk about the dollar. It's a longstanding policy that predates this administration, and I'm not going to change it today. But Treasury can talk about it.

Q I don't expect you to change it, but I do expect you to be able to say whether OPEC is completely wrong about this, or whether there is at least something to their claim that the dollar is responsible for the high price of oil right now.

MS. PERINO: Wendell, I'm under strict instructions, and have been from the beginning, to not talk about the dollar, and I'm not going to get fired to satisfy your question.

At his presser today President Bush was asked by CNN's Ed Henry whether he had mentioned the Saudi rape case at all during conversations with King Abdullah in the past few weeks.

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Bush begins his answer with a supposedly heartfelt 'what if it was my daughter' explanation but then when pressed further says that he doesn't remember whether he ever brought the subject up or not but insists the Saudi King “knows our position loud and clear.”

Henry: On another issue of credibility in the Mid East -- At the Annapolis Summit you used your influence to get Saudi Arabia to the table but I wonder whether now you will use you influence to do something about the Saudi rape case that has gotten so much international attention? What goes through your mind when you hear about a 19 year old Saudi woman getting gang raped by seven men and basically a Saudi court blames the victim and sentences her to 200 lashes? You spoke to King Abdullah by telephone in the last couple of weeks. Did you press him on this case? If so what did you say and if not, are you giving him a pass?"

Bush: My first thoughts were these. What happens if this happened to my daughter? How would I react? And I would have been -- I would have been very emotional, of course. I’d have been angry at those who committed the crime, and I would be angry at the state that didn’t support the victim, and our opinions were expressed by Dana Perino from the podium.

Henry: Did you press King Abdullah about it personally?

Bush: I talked to King Abdullah about the Middle eastern peace. I don't remember if that subject came up.

Henry: If it was that important to you why wouldn't you at that level bring it directly up to King Abdullah?

Bush: There's plenty of time. He knows our position loud and clear.

Even after considering 'what if' the victim was his own daughter, apparently Bush decided it really wasn't important enough to even bring up after all.