Port o' Potty

Some on the left are agreeing with the Bush party line: the opposition to the UAE managing our ports is "anti-Arab bigotry." Those on the left who say this, of course, think that Bush is just taking this tack for political reasons, while they really MEAN it. But they seem to assume that opposition to the port deal is the knee-jerk reaction of xenophobic yahoos.

Well, sorry guys - it really IS a stupid idea, it's just SO stupid that its stupidity can be seen by folks with many different points of view, for many different reasons, no xenophobia required. The fact that SOME folks who oppose it almost certainly DO oppose it because of bigotry does NOT make that the only possible reason to oppose it.

In the first place - the problem isn't that they're Arab. "Arab," my ass. I don't give a crap if it's Canada. A foreign government shouldn't have the management of American ports.

And Dubai Ports is a not a private company, they are a wholly owned subsidiary of the UAE. They are a foreign government, not a foreign company.

As an aside, I don't think ANY private company, foreign or domestic, should have the management of American ports. The fact that they have for years doesn't make it a good idea. And this event seems to have focused attention on what, in my opinion, has always been a crappy practice. It's really, really stupid to have decisions that affect National Security governed by the profit motive.

But that's a side issue. Because one thing worse than having such decisions governed by the profit motive is having them managed by someone else's government, making decisions in THEIR national interest and not ours.

Bush said that he dared anyone to explain why it was okay for a British company and not an Arab company. THAT statement is such total crap that its hard to believe that he even said it. Does any sane person REALLY think that there is no difference between a privately owned British company and the government of the UAE? Does any sane person feel the same way about trusting national security to Great Britain - our stauch allies - and the UAE, which actually DOES have some terrorist ties?

I have no question that Bush's reason for pushing this deal is either to line his own pockets OR to placate the UAE. Or both.

See, Bush isn't saying that there is nothing WRONG with the UAE managing the ports - that might even be a valid argument. No - he is saying that they MUST. He is talking like they are the only ones who CAN. Like it is imperative that they DO. He is threatening to veto legislation for the FIRST TIME IN HIS PRESIDENCY. And for WHAT? To ensure that the UAE manages American ports? What in the hell kind of a sacred principle is that?

Pardon me for asking, but why the hell does he feel that they MUST manage our ports?

Simple question: What do WE gain from such a thing?

Maybe this will wake up the red-staters and Working Class Americans who have been duped by this charlatan into seeing him for what he really is - a greedy prick who cares about nothing but his own power and self-aggrandizement, and certainly cares nothing for working- and middle-class Americans, white OR black.

I think America may be having a wake-up moment, and if so, it's about damned time.