When In Danger Or In Doubt...

And so it begins:

More than 100 Saudi academics, activists and businessmen have called for reforms in the conservative kingdom, including the establishment of a ”constitutional monarchy”, in a statement published on the internet.

”We will submit these requests to King Abdullah at a later stage,” said Khaled al-Dakhil, a teacher of political science at the King Saud University and one of the 123 signatories of the petition.

Elsewhere in the Kingdom:

Democracy activists in Saudi Arabia say the government is closely monitoring social media to nip in the bud any protests inspired by uprisings that swept Arab countries, toppling leaders in Egypt and Tunisia.

Which leads to this very germane point:

The clock is ticking on this and somebody better be paying attention if Saudi Arabia wants to continue avoiding the unrest that’s sweeping the region. Handouts buy time, but only so much.

Does the White House have any kind of plan in case the House of Saud falls? What we’ve seen so far (or rather haven’t seen so far) regarding Libya and Egypt isn’t exactly promising.