Jeuss, you know things have gotten out of hand when Tom DeLay comes across as the voice of reason. (Via Atrios.)
AFTERSNARK: I'm not sure how much more of this I can take. From today's NY Times,
Panel Saw No Security Issue in Port Contract, Officials Say
The Bush administration decided last month that a deal to hand over operations at major American ports to a government-owned company in Dubai did not involve national security and so did not require a more lengthy review, administration officials said Wednesday.
So, let's recap, shall we? Apparently, it's critically important that the administration violate the U.S. Constitution to keep tabs on those dangerous, terrorist-loving, America-hating Catholics and vegans. Oh, and Quakers. Don't forget those treacherous Quakers.
But outsourcing port management to a company owned by a foreign country with a long history of supporting terrorist activities? Apparently, no big national security issue there.
You just cannot make this stuff up, can you?
BY THE WAY, the latest talking point from Wingnuttia is that any opposition to this deal is clearly racist since it involves a foreign company. Let's be clear -- this is not a foreign company, this is a company owned by a foreign government. There's a difference and if you can't understand that difference, you really are too stupid to be having this conversation. (Media Matters hammers home that point here.)
MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE: In all fairness, as Dave explains over at TGB, it's quite possible that, when you finally dig down into this whole port management outsourcing thing, it's not as horrendous a development as it first appeared to be.
But there's no way to escape the simple fact that the optics are just horrible, and the administration's absolute insistence that the deal go through is what's putting most people on edge, to the point where they're not even willing to think rationally about it anymore. Quite simply, the administration is saying "Trust us on this one," to which most folks are responding, "Fuck, no. Not again."
In any event, there's still some serious strangeness about this whole deal. Josh Marshall explains some of it.
2 comments:
UAE was one of the countries that young males had to register with the government after Sept.11
When the government says it's unfair to suspect someone just because they are from a specific country, are they calling themselves racist?
Yemen was also on that list. Yemen recently had Al Qaeda members break out of prison with inside help. I'm sure the UAE is categorically different.
I can't find the damn quote right now but even Condi, who I believe has something to do with national secutity, talked about this deal in terms of economics.
Shareholders count; stakeholders don't. This is the whole US philosophy in action. Why are they whining about it?
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