The Collapse of Bush and His Dubai Deal

*** I'm honored to be guest blogging over at firedoglake.
***

The Collapse of Bush and His Dubai Deal (cross-posted
at firedoglake)

“This issue is going to go away like
the sun's not going to come up in the morning,” said Senate Minority Leader
Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.).
Showdown
With President Likely

Terror Guy
has slipped into a coma in the name of commerce.

Now he's being made to pay for his presidential misstep.

Democrats have been leading
on the port issue from the start. So now there's a head-on collision brewing
between the president and his rubber stamping subjects, because Republicans
who control Congress have decided it's more important to take cover than it
is to back the boss.

There are exceptions, of course, like Senator
John McCain, who thinks we should just trust the president on the ports.
Yeah, that's worked so far.

Take Rep. Peter King, who started off as an adamant opponent of the DP World
deal. Then King was kicked off a congressional delegation to Iraq by the Pentagon,
likely payback for him going against Bush on the port deal, so he's now “shopping
around” a compromise for the president. Access is everything, baby.

“Collapse” really is the operative word on so many issues where the
Republicans are involved. So while they've been kissing the king's ring, Democrats
have taken the
lead on national security. It has shaken the rubber stampers to their core.

There have been so many warnings, Iraq, Katrina, Hamas
winning, Iran, offering nuclear
rods for mangos… oh, and did I mention Iraq? But nothing has driven the
complete collapse of Bush credibility more than his incompetence, weakness and
out of touch view on the port deal. At the moment when the Katrina tape was
revealed, the port deal just seemed like another American sell out from the
Republicans. After all, they control everything, so if they wanted to stop it
they could. But to do so they'd have to stand up to the boss, something the
Republicans in Congress haven't done once.

Question is why did Bush box himself in so thoroughly, threatening a veto from
the start? Answer: He is so out of touch with the average American that he doesn't
realize what this deal means to us all. He's lost credibility with Democrats,
independents and people with no political bent at all, but also with his Republican
base. It's that pre-9/11 mentality Karl Rove is always accusing Democrats of
demonstrating. But Democrats said from the start, we don't want no stinkin'
Dubai deal.

We've been called racists, prejudice and all manner of names, when all we're
trying to do is protect our country. Some of us haven't forgotten. Two of the
hijackers came from the UAE, where terrorist money was laundered pre-9/11. Al
Qaeda is said to have “infiltrated”
the UAE. What the UAE has done post-9/11 is a great start, we need the base
in Dubai, they've been partners post 9/11, but it doesn't excuse aiding Osama
or the A.Q. Khan network, which has dispersed nuclear components to places like
Iran. Unlike Republicans, Democrats believe some
things simply aren't for sale.

The Dubai port deal is dangerous for America and the Democrats knew it from
the start. Ports and homeland security have been our issue from the beginning.
Bush didn't even want a Homeland Security Department. Democrats were leading
on the issue right up until the moment where Joe Lieberman sold us out and homeland
security became Terror Guy's territory. John Kerry talked about the reality
of our homeland insecurity, with ports, railways, chemical and nuclear plant
vulnerability being a real national security threat to this country, but nobody
listened.

Well, even the Republicans are listening to us now.