Nice Work Congress, Now Get Lost!
Techniguy - 03-09-2006
The Dubai Ports World debate is over now but this issue is far from being settled. Whether you support or oppose the deal, you have to look at the larger picture and the consequences of what Congress has done. Congressional Democrats and a handful of Republicans have shortchanged the system and betrayed the best interests of our country for the sake of political posturing in an election year, this wasn't about protecting America.
In their attempt to appear to the right of President Bush, Democrats in the House and Senate have voiced their opposition to the Dubai Ports deal with lies and distortions, and have misled the country into believing this transaction has something to do with our national and port security which it certainly does not. Republicans up for reelection and not to be out maneuvered by the Dems have done the same thing and misled the public with the same lies and distortions. It's time to clean house in Congress by removing and replacing about 75% of them with new blood. They have just screwed us all for the sake of their own taxpayer paid careers and political gain while avoiding the truth that they never even took the time to learn.
If any of them were really interested in protecting our country and wining in the war on terror, they would take an honest look at the issue and represent it honestly to the American people, but they haven't done that. They continue to make the false claim of "outsourcing port security to foreign countries" and have many people believing it who don't bother to educate themselves and understand what the issue really is. I'm not going to go through it all again here because the facts remain, and anyone can verify them who cares to, that port security was never a part of the deal and never the real issue. The only deal was for terminal management at a dozen or so terminals within 6 of our east coast ports. That means processing paperwork, docking ships, unloading them, reloading them and positioning of containers on the docks. Security is a whole different department and done by Americans as it always has been. WE, THE AMERICANS, are responsible for our own port security and no one else!
The news today is that DP World has cancelled their bid on those American terminals. This was just a small part of the overall P&O buyout which included management of 31 port terminals around the globe, steamship lines, cruise ship lines, ferry boat lines, and other P&O interests. Since Americans created such a big stink and put up such objections to port terminals being managed by a foreign company, even though 80% of them are, DP Word simply told our government, through an email to Sen. John Warner, that operation of those terminals would have to be "transferred to an American company".
And DPW is right! After all the bitching and screaming Congress and the media have been doing about our ports being operated by foreigners, how can they now turn around and approve that subcontract to another foreign company? Quite simply, they can't without looking like the greatest hypocrites in the world, which would be nothing new for Congressional Democrats anyway. But what if no American shipping or port management company wants to buy, or can afford to buy, the subcontract for those terminals? What do we do then, shut them down and let them stand vacant with no one to operate them? The only one who has been telling the truth about this deal is the President, but he's been far too absent in getting his message out to the people and to Congress. Even if an American company were to operate those ports, security would be the same. The same ships would be entering with the same cargo. The same security forces and Customs would be responsible for security, and the same Longshoremen would be doing the loading and unloading. Why does it matter so much who shuffles the papers? What are they going to do, put anthrax in the paycheck envelopes?
What Congress has done to the American people and to their own reputation is minor compared to what they have done to our foreign relations, national security, and the war on terror. They just couldn't look into this issue beyond the next election and failed to take into consideration the long term consequences their political posturing is going to have on the war on terror. The deal had already been thoroughly investigated by the Commission on Foreign Investments but that wasn't good enough for our Gods of Oversight in Congress. No, they had to block the deal and demand their own investigation which DP World agreed to and even supported.
But the Gods of Oversight just couldn't wait the 45 days for their own investigation and had to start making speeches and writing legislation to be attached to defense spending and Katrina relief bills in process now in the House and Senate. Harry Reid had to demand immediate voting on the issue before their own investigation even began. Then Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) in the House yesterday, not to be outdone by Democrats, managed to get his own legislation attached to the same bill to block the deal. On the floor of the House, he used the same Democrat rhetoric and lies saying the deal represented the turning over of our port security to foreign countries. If you add up the ignorant, the Islamaphobes, and the House Reps running for reelection, it adds up to enough votes to pass the legislation and that's just what happened. Now, Lewis can take credit for out maneuvering the Dems and screwing America all at the same time for his own political gain.
A real leader is one who does what he knows to be right regardless of what others think, not someone who puts up a wet finger to see which way the political wind is blowing before taking a position as John Kerry did. A leader leads his people, he doesn't let his people lead him and he fights for what is right, not what gets the best poll numbers. Isn't it odd that even the Left thinks you have to be on the Right to win elections? Democrat politicians grabbed at this opportunity to make themselves appear to the right of the President on security issues in hopes of getting votes but their record on national security speaks differently. Even after Dubai conceded on the deal today, Harry and the Dems still insisted on a Senate vote to block the deal that didn't even exist anymore just so that they could put on a political show. They seem to think they are on a Hollywood soundstage every time the cameras are on and act accordingly. I am not impressed, I am disgusted with elected officials in Congress acting like children and playing games with our country at stake.
So here we have the Dems maneuvering to the right for political gain. They want to appear to be something they are not. This is as much as admitting they are on the wrong side of the issues so why don't they just come out and say it? Tell the American people "we care more about your rights to privacy and equality than we do about the security of this nation". That would be a more accurate statement and it would be an opportunity for them to be honest for once, but to pretend that this Dubai port deal is a national security issue is a farce and the Emirates are not amused. They have had enough of the American Congress playing political games with their business interests and called off the deal, at least the part that applies to the American ports. Now we can all sit back and wait for the other shoe to drop! What other shoe, you ask? Why the one our military wears when they dock their warships at Dubai ports and land their warplanes on Dubai airstrips, of course.
We have insulted and offended the UAE by the actions of our Congress. We have essentially told them that Americans are ignorant bigots who cannot tell the difference between our allies and our enemies, our friends and our foes. We have told them that we don't mind the use of their country to help us fight the war on terror, but when they want to invest in business interests in our country, we see them as the enemy and won't allow it, simply because they are Arabic. This is obscene, arrogant, despicable, and a disgrace to America. The least Congress could have done was to wait for their own investigation to take place instead of jumping off a cliff in an attempt to beat Republicans on national security. But consider this; had they waited for their own investigation, the Dems would have lost this security issue if their investigation found no good reason to block the deal. If the investigation was completed and gave Dubai a clean bill of health, it would have proven the Dems wrong again and by their own hand, and they couldn't take that chance. They acted not only to block the port deal, but also to block their own investigation so that the truth would never be known and they could come out looking like heroes.
I fear we have just lost our best middle eastern ally in the war on terror and all because of political games in Congress and an electorate that plays to ignorance and counts on it to get reelected. Just as the leakers of the NSA spy programs went too far with our national security, Congress has now gone too far in tampering with our foreign relations and the long range, best interests of our country in our fight against terrorism. They have just trashed our best ally in the region, an asset we need more of, not less of. It's time to throw the whole lot of them out on their ears and let them go find real jobs.
Just stop and think for a moment how we would feel if one of our allies did that to us. We would see them as identifying us with their enemy and not a friend to them, which is precisely how Dubai is going to see us. By blocking this deal, we have told them we don't want them as friends and we don't value them as allies. It wouldn't surprise me, and I wouldn't blame them a bit, if after this they switch sides in the war on terror or at least go back to being neutral and tell us to take a hike. Dubai is now reconsidering and reevaluating their commitment of cooperation and assistance with the United States and considering whether or not to continue to allow us to use their country as a military base and port of call for our Navy. They are not only offended by us, they are now angry at us. Nice work Congress, you've been a big help. Now get lost before you do any more damage!
I've had it with Congress and their personal special interests driving their agenda. I've had it with all their political posturing and God like attitudes when it comes to running this country and making decisions for the American people. I've had it with their overstepping of their authority by trampling on executive constitutional rights and those of other agencies. And I've especially had it with Congressional Democrats who think they are still running the show and go into tantrums with trumped up legal charges, lies and distortions, when they don't get their way.
I've had it with Congressional Republicans who won't stand up for Conservative values and the truth, and think that being friends with their Democrat counterparts in Congress is more important than serving those who elected them. I've had it with all of them irresponsibly spending our money like drunken sailors and unconstitutionally giving it away to both foreign and domestic causes without our permission. I've had it with expanding bureaucracies created by Congress like Homeland Security, who spend most of the money we give them on office furniture and paper shufflers while getting little done to serve the country in emergencies like Katrina. Whose best interests do they have in mind anyway? It surely isn't ours.
|
Techniguy’s
Newsletters
To see other Newsletter articles, JOIN the mailing list, or
be REMOVED from the list go to http://www.techniguy.com/Newsletters
|