Bedfellows

"Bedfellows" is a short story by Harry Turtledove, Fantasy & Science Fiction, June, 2005. It is a sharp and none-too-subtle political satire, depicting a same-sex marriage between two characters known only as "O" and "W". Although never named, characteristics displayed by both characters make it abundantly clear that the newly married couple is Osama bin Laden and George W. Bush.

The satire's fundamental point is that, for better and for worse, the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, which were in part masterminded by bin Laden, defined Bush's presidency and bin Laden's status a hero among extremist Muslims. Turtledove takes that inextricable link between the two men, and takes it to its most illogical extreme.