Driven by new-age xenophobia and old-fashioned shit-pants fear, Mr and Mrs America today succumbed to pathology and voted down, with their voices, the takeover of six US ports by a United Arab Emirates company. To the Bush Administration, it’s a meaty noise, sloppy yet defiant, not unlike a wet fart during cunnilingus.
“In a complex and challenging time, the road of isolationism and protectionism may seem broad and inviting – yet it ends in danger and decline,” the President implored us on the last day of January. He said it somewhat sweetly, furtively, even. Framed for the public to slurp up like free Jell-O at a swap meet.
And it seems, oddly presciently.
Why now is the Right abandoning President Bush? Why are Mr and Mrs Sixpack jumping ship? My answer: When the fox’s in the henhouse, you ain’t worried none about the color of his coat.
That’s a shame. But that’s the America we ended up inheriting.
Xenophobia? I don’t think so. But even if you are right, I’m delighted to see members of his own party flogging Bush. If it’s the wrong issue, at least it has some elements of the Republican party distancing themselves from that s.o.b. Too little too late, if you ask me.
Since the U.S. Coast Guard is actually responsible for security in our ports it may not really matter who’s pushing the paper. But it is obvious that Bush is completely disengaged from the feelings of his countrymen, whatever the issue. And since he’s made so much hay out of terrorism, this was a bad time for him to appear to be lending his support to a country which has enabled terrorists, even if it hasn’t sponsored them directly. Dubai has a clearer connection to Al Qaida than Iraq ever did. Or did Saddam’s Iraqi banks launder terrorist money too?
Oh boy, now we can have a ten page argument about how useing the word peckerwood is just as offensive as niger or spick or gook or wop or raghead o heeb. And I find it offensive because you cid are reffering to white people. Right?
Its kind of funn how all these southern words and sayings ( Peckerwood, mighty white of you, etc.) have been adopted by the country at large and used by people who have absolutuly no idea what they mean. You Yankees are pretty funny.
Seems like it was more “Mr. Hastert and Mr. Boehner” than “Mr. and Mrs. America.” Congress knows Bush isn’t very popular right now and that this deal is very unpopular, so they’re out to make hay off it even if there’s no security risk involved here. I’m not sure xenophobia is the right word, but it’s not very far removed.
Bush is reaping the rewards of his own dishonesty. There’s a couple of things called morale and trust that presidents need to govern effectively. This port deal was stupid stupid stupid. A product of their incredible arrogance. Didn’t I hear some towns in VT. have officially voted to impeach? Good for them.
It’s the chickens coming home to roost. Bush gave us TWOT (for now I’ll call it the war on Them). He conditioned “da peeples” to hate and distrust all them Ayrab freedom haters and Amurrica haters. We had lots of multicolored terra alerts. We heard speeches about how “they” hate us and wanna kill us. So what’s the big surprise? Especially when the company Bush specifically wants, is the property of a foreign government? A government with possible ties to Al Queda, and also possible ties right back to the Bush family via the Carlisle Group? So what does Bush do? He stamps his feet, threatens to veto unless he gets his way, and implies that once again he will do whatever he pleases (and to hell with everyone else). Besides the questionable wisdom of this deal, there is once again a display of incredible presidential arrogance. It wears very thin after a while.
Only to stupids too lazy to actually get the, you know, facts.
DPW bought P&O months ago. The deal was OK’d in Britain, which is where it had to be OK’d. We gave it a quick once-over, remembered that both the government of the UAE and DPW have been exceptionally cooperative since 9/11, and that was that.
Them’s the facts. The rest is prejudice & xenophobia. As for cites, find your own, asshole. They’re all over the place.
This is the wrong issue, and for once Bush is actually right. Truly right. His opponents, all of them, are terminal idiots.
This stupidity is of a piece with the earlier blocking of CNOOC’s takeover of UNOCAL. As a result of that, you can be sure the Chinese listen to our pressure to revalue their currency more quickly, and ignore it as completely as we dissed them on that deal.
The world is watching this, and seeing that the US may talk a good game when it comes to open markets, but its actions are increasingly protectionist and prejudiced. They will put their money elsewhere. If you think that’s a good thing when you’re the biggest debtor on the planet, well, you’re really, really, really stupid.
I hate that this is the issue that’s eroding Bush’s support on his own side. It’s such a ridiculous thing for people to be pitching such a fit over, and while on one level it’s sort of nice to see the Democrats playing actual politics for once, on the other hand profiting off a non-issue like this makes me feel dirty, especially when there’s so many real things to hate the administration for.
On the other hand, I suppose he’s reaping the whirlwind after his efforts to paint everyone who speaks Arabic as terrorists. If it weren’t for the crypto-racist pandering to ignorance that led him to be able to get troops for his war in Iraq, people probably wouldn’t be leaping so quick to decide these guys must be terrorists.
I started two threads (one in GQ and one GD) to find out what voters and politicians in the other countries affected were saying. Nothing , nada, zip. This deal would affects port terminals in the UK, Germany, France, Belgium and Australia. I have not been able to discern one iota of resistance from any of these countries. Yet, here, you’d think that the end of the world is nigh.
Of course Bush handled this whole think abysmally. He sprung it on the country and spent ZERO time educating the voters and Congress on what was going on. Maybe he was hoping to spend some politcal capital to get the deal approved. Too bad he didn’t realize that his account has been overdrawn for months.
This thing is sunk, and it’s too late for Bush to do anything. His best bet is to have DPW pull a Harriet Miers and withdraw the bid.
On one hand, I actually agree with the president, more or less, on this issue, assuming all the proper checks and paperwork was taken care of without red flags.
On the other hand, there’s something morbidly amusing about watching Bush pissing off his party to such an extent over there.
Of course, it does make me wonder why this and not anything like the wiretaps, or the valrie plame thing, or all the other shit he’s been invovled in. Suddenly, this becomes the tipping point.
Or maybe we should ask: Why does the GOP suddenly hate America, like some terrorist-loving liberal?
A bit of discussion of this deal, with lots of links, is available in the Control of U.S. Ports thread, which is still on the front page of GD. Lotsa facts there, as well as the usual heaping doses of debate, argument, and opinion.
What does it say about Mr & Mrs America when the issue upon which they attack Bush, the stuttering incompetent who lost a truth-telling contest with Saddam Hussein, is one of the few issues he’s right about?
