The port thingy. This is a tempest in a teapot. Writers who are normally cool headed have lost their moorings. The issue here is ownership, not control. I understand the arguement that foreign firms should not be controlling the ports. However, that means we can't have any foreign nation in control of them. Not British, Canadian or Australian. In this case the same people are going to be doing security. The chafe here is that two of the 9/11 hijackers were from the UAE and the company is owned by the government. What both sides are not realizing is that the UAE is one of the most Western oriented and Western friendly, liberal, open Arab Muslim nations. If we're going to build bridges to the Arab world, they are the best place to start. We are not going to win this war without Muslim help.
That said, giving them what appears to be control over the keys to our front door wasn't smart politically. It was crafty because it puts the Left in the position of talking tough on security and shows that while they talk a good game about "Muslims are our friends" they now take sides against them. That doesn't make it any less a pyrrhic victory. Bush gives lie to the "bubble theory". That is, he is ensconced in an information bubble that is coterie of courtiers shield the real world from him.
He appeared exaserbated that anyone would even hint that we should examine this closely. Wrong. Tact. To. Take.
The minefield nobody seems to be addressing is this; how do you determine what an American company is anymomre? Globalization has touched nearly every industry imaginable. The company in quesion has been purchased by the UAE company. They are merely taking ownership of the company. It's not as if they are going to summarily fire everyone currently working there and hire shady swarthy people to wave through their terrorist friends.
Is Chrysler an American company? Is Coca-Cola? McDonalds? What determines ownership? The stakeholders? Headquarters? Management nationality?
Bottom line: This is much ado about nothing and will pass as quickly as it came.
That said, giving them what appears to be control over the keys to our front door wasn't smart politically. It was crafty because it puts the Left in the position of talking tough on security and shows that while they talk a good game about "Muslims are our friends" they now take sides against them. That doesn't make it any less a pyrrhic victory. Bush gives lie to the "bubble theory". That is, he is ensconced in an information bubble that is coterie of courtiers shield the real world from him.
He appeared exaserbated that anyone would even hint that we should examine this closely. Wrong. Tact. To. Take.
The minefield nobody seems to be addressing is this; how do you determine what an American company is anymomre? Globalization has touched nearly every industry imaginable. The company in quesion has been purchased by the UAE company. They are merely taking ownership of the company. It's not as if they are going to summarily fire everyone currently working there and hire shady swarthy people to wave through their terrorist friends.
Is Chrysler an American company? Is Coca-Cola? McDonalds? What determines ownership? The stakeholders? Headquarters? Management nationality?
Bottom line: This is much ado about nothing and will pass as quickly as it came.
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