The Obama Administration denied that tensions with Saudi Arabia have risen in the wake of that nation’s recent mass executions and ongoing support of radical groups. Said White House press secretary Josh Earnest: “Saudi Arabia is still a dear friend of this nation. They’re like the kind of friend you’ve known so long that you can get through any little kerfuffle. You know, like the guy you’ve known since middle school, and you used to smoke dope together behind the gym, and you both got laid for the first time at his big brother’s party with the strippers. Now you live in different neighborhoods, but you’ll always be friends. When you hear he executed a few people in his basement, that doesn’t change the friendship. Or if he starts putting your picture out on the internet with a bounty, well, you get through these kinds of things.”