Friday, February 24, 2006

Look Closer: I was worried that the United Arab Emirates would be offended by the explosion of controversy surrounding the port deal. It turns out that government is being very understanding. The UAE has agreed to hold off in taking over the management of the U.S. ports, at least temporarily.

Hopefully that will give enough time for detractors to calm down and realize that there is no reason for alarm. Sure, there will always be critics in Congress who will make noise because of their upcoming re-election, or those who will find any reason to counter President Bush. But as more information is made public, people will find that this deal is no more worrisome than most other current arrangements.

The argument that two of the 9/11 hijackers lived in the UAE borders on the inane. Many of the hijackers lived in Florida at one point, but we didn't hang up Gov. J.E.B. Bush by his toenails.

We need the cooperation of Middle Eastern countries in our War on Terrorism. Shutting out the UAE for no other reason than because of what the "A" stands for will only backfire, making us less secure than if we let them set up shop in Baltimore.

Still, hopefully the controversy will bring much needed attention to important issues -- namely that we must boost security at our nation's sea ports (as well as our airports and other shipping channels). If Congress is looking for a compromise with Bush, lawmakers should demand that the deal will only be allowed to go through if the president agrees to tighten port security, which is needed regardless of which company is in charge.

P.S. Is Hillary Clinton still trying to blame President Bush for 9/11?

If 9/11 was a failure of imagination and Katrina was a failure of initiative, this process is a failure of judgment.

Since Tom Delay is already the World's Biggest Asshole, Sen. Clinton must be the World's Biggest Hack.