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Ports fiasco reveals political hypocrisy, public ignorance
MercuryNews.com ^ | Mar. 16, 2006 | Victor Davis Hanson

Posted on 03/16/2006 5:02:26 AM PST by Cannoneer No. 4

In retrospect, America went collectively insane over the possibility that a company owned by Dubai's government would operate several of our ports.

Rarely has reason been so routed by pure emotion. Dubai is a Westernizing state that long ago left the eighth century and accepts the modern world of globalized commerce and finance. This member of the United Arab Emirates has -- especially after Sept. 11 -- passed on intelligence, hosted our fleet and provided a foothold in the gulf near Iraq and Iran.

For a country that is addicted to imported petroleum, hooked on cheap imported goods and eager for illegal-alien labor, and which has hundreds of military bases abroad, it is a little late to worry about dangerous foreign ganglia.

. . . the Dubai port deal shows how at odds are American perceptions and reality. For the past half-century, we have been living in a complex interconnected world of mutual reliance.

Soon we will import more food than we grow. We already burn more oil than we pump. For years we have bought more than we export, and we borrow far more than we lend. To justify these precarious dependencies, America assures foreign business leaders, investors and lenders that our markets remain open and immune to the distortions of xenophobia and provincialism.

Americans may not like that devil's bargain, but it was made long ago and, for better or worse, we are long past being an agrarian republic.

The resulting singular affluence of the American consumer derives from just these trade-offs in our autonomy -- and the trust we receive from those who loan and sell us things we cannot immediately pay for. So rejecting the Dubai port deal is not only hypocritical, but in the end dumb.

(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: billclinton; bobdole; borders; dpworld; dubai; mexico; openborders; ports; uae; vdh
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To: conservativecorner
I noticed you picked 1939. How about 1942?

Pull out one from 1942 or 1947. You'll see the same names.

21 posted on 03/16/2006 5:39:58 AM PST by Hermann the Cherusker
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To: Hermann the Cherusker

So German and Japanese companies were still delivering goods to America after the war started? Please do tell where they docked, and what Ports we allowed them to control?


22 posted on 03/16/2006 5:44:03 AM PST by conservativecorner
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To: conservativecorner

Hint! Look for the piers controlled by the Hamburg-Amerika Linie (Hamburg-America Lines) and Nord Deutcher Lloyd Bremen


23 posted on 03/16/2006 5:44:18 AM PST by Hermann the Cherusker
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To: conservativecorner

Since when did managing a few terminals equate to "controlling our ports". And last time I checked the UAE had boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan.


24 posted on 03/16/2006 5:45:52 AM PST by pissant
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To: Noachian
when will we start depending on foreign sources for much of our laws as well?

ginsberg has already suggested it.
25 posted on 03/16/2006 5:49:39 AM PST by absolootezer0 ("My God, why have you forsaken us.. no wait, its the liberals that have forsaken you... my bad")
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To: conservativecorner
So German and Japanese companies were still delivering goods to America after the war started? Please do tell where they docked, and what Ports we allowed them to control?

Again, no foreigner controlled any ports. They ran piers. After 1941, their US assets were frozen. However, last I checked, we are not at war with Dubai.

26 posted on 03/16/2006 5:51:27 AM PST by Hermann the Cherusker
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To: pissant

I have changed my mind on national security since 9/11. After 9/11, I like many Americans believed the President when he said, "Islam is a religion of peace". 4+ years later I have learned that that is entirely wrong, and the words "moderate Muslim" are an oxymoron. There are good human beings in the cult, but the cult itself is one of submission and death. Pick any date in recent history, and I can show you multiple attacks on the world by Muslims who are Hell bent on destroying western civilization. If this fact gets in the way of your globalism, tough shite'!


27 posted on 03/16/2006 5:52:56 AM PST by conservativecorner
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Comment #28 Removed by Moderator

To: Cannoneer No. 4

Slap, slap, slap.....

Take that FReepers.


29 posted on 03/16/2006 5:54:11 AM PST by bert (K.E. N.P. Slay Pinch)
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To: conservativecorner
Would a dirty bomb exploded at a gate close the gate or the entire airport? Now insert this scenario into your rosy port scenario.

In heading off a dirty bomb attack, the Dubai/ports issue is a gnat in a hurricane compared to our unguarded southern border.

30 posted on 03/16/2006 5:54:20 AM PST by Mr. Jeeves ("When the government is invasive, the people are wanting." -- Tao Te Ching)
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To: conservativecorner
Hey Vic, it also pointed out the gaping holes in our national security umbrella.

Perhaps it did, but Hansen is correct: this was a purely emotional controversy, fanned primarily by cynical Democrats who played on fear, not reason.

31 posted on 03/16/2006 5:56:58 AM PST by r9etb
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To: Cannoneer No. 4

Please make your point without the name calling

Thanks


32 posted on 03/16/2006 5:59:17 AM PST by Sidebar Moderator
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To: conservativecorner
Thanks for the info. I guess I missed the news headline about the U.S. declaring war on the United Arab Emirates.

/sarcasm off/

33 posted on 03/16/2006 6:01:33 AM PST by Alberta's Child
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To: Cannoneer No. 4
Dubai is a Westernizing state that long ago left the eighth century and accepts the modern world of globalized commerce and finance.

No it isn't.
Dubai is merely a luxurious little country-club community for the OPEC princelings.
The LAST thing in the world these pissant little oligarchs want is a government that resembles democracy.

Politics and Strategy After the Dubai Ports Case

34 posted on 03/16/2006 6:02:33 AM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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Comment #35 Removed by Moderator

To: r9etb
Hansen and I disagree on quite a few things, but on this point he is absolutely right.

As I listened to so many so-called "conservatives" in government and media engage in blatant posturing and grandstanding about this issue, I must say that I have never been so embarrassed about my political leanings in my life. Listening to morons like Peter King, Sean Hannity, and Michael Weiner Savage weigh in on the UAE port deal was like listening to an adult try to tell me that the Easter Bunny is real.

Even Mark Levin was totally ignorant on this at first, but I do give that man credit for educating himself about the issue very quickly. He didn't change his opinion about the deal, but at least he got the facts right.

36 posted on 03/16/2006 6:06:50 AM PST by Alberta's Child
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To: Willie Green

Thank you for pointing out the facts of what the UAE really is.


37 posted on 03/16/2006 6:08:06 AM PST by conservativecorner
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To: Willie Green

Have you been to Dubai?


38 posted on 03/16/2006 6:10:14 AM PST by Cannoneer No. 4 (Our enemies act on ecstatic revelations from their god. We act on the advice of lawyers.)
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To: Cannoneer No. 4
Have you been to Dubai?

Heck no... are you kidding?
I'm not rich enough to go there.


39 posted on 03/16/2006 6:18:53 AM PST by Willie Green (Go Pat Go!!!)
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To: Alberta's Child
Rasmussen had a 19% national approval rating on this deal. When you have these kind of numbers, it's a stupid idea. It means that Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives and Liberals didn't like the idea, and the President made a political mistake just like the goofy Meirs nomination.
40 posted on 03/16/2006 6:19:11 AM PST by conservativecorner
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