The New York Times has reached a new low, if that is possible. Interviewer Deborah Solomon in the New York Times Magazine interviews Prince Turki, new Saudi Ambassador to the US.

Here are the two smartest questions of the interview:

Q: I don't mean to make you feel unimportant, but aren't you one of some 6,000 Saudi princes?

A: I haven't counted, so I don't know.

Q: Before I go, I have to ask you, why is green the national color of Saudi Arabia?

A: Because we are a desert country whose ultimate ambition is to turn green.

Of course, as a woman she could have asked about the condition of women in the Kingdom or education but no, she'd rather stick to the question of the green flag. By the way the real reason it's green is that is the color of Islam....

Olivier Guitta   8 28 05