Today's post is pretty link-intensive, so please bear with me.
In a show of where his
real interests lay,
the President has threatened to veto any law passed by congress that would slow down or stop the sale of Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation, a British-run company that currently runs six U.S. seaports, to the state-owned Dubai Ports World of the United Arab Emerites.
Congress is in an uproar on both sides of the aisle, with the
exception of White House lapdog Joe Lieberman (D-CT), who believes that the connection between the UAE and some of the 9/11 terrorists isn't enough to stop the deal (even though
he signed a letter from himself and three other senators questioning this exact issue). Apparently, he also isn't concerned that Osama bin Laden was treated in Dubai in 2002, where he was visited by CIA agents, as well as members of the UAE Royal Family. Republicans have been surprisingly rabid in their opposition to this deal,
even though they had worked hard to undermine Democrat-supported measures to increase port security in the past.
President Bush was not even aware of the deal until after it was already cleared by his administration. However, this didn't stop him from pushing it to a captive press corps traveling with him on Air Force One Monday. On a related note, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, at a press conference Tuesday, said
he hadn't even heard of the deal until this past weekend, although he sits on the panel that is supposed to have unanimously approved this deal, which had been approved on January 17th.
One thing to consider:
When Tom DeLay thinks your actions are questionable, it might be time to put it on hold and take a closer look at it. But Dubya has promised to veto any law that requires a halt to the deal. After five years, and having never used his veto power up to now,
for this he's going to break out the Magic Pen? (Note: This is not, however, the first time he's threatened to use it. The first time he waved his veto pen around was when congress was looking at their anti-torture legislation. He balked. It passed.)
It really isn't that much of a problem if he does decide to veto, because Congress can override the veto and force the issue. But that's not the issue. The issue here is that the president - "I'm a uniter, not a divider"; "The security of Americans is our number one priority" - is giving America and its people the finger and passing a sweet deal to his buddies (
and former business partners).
Alongside all of this,
new information has been made available that there is a law that requires a 45-day hold on a deal when the company is run by a foreign government, as well as when it could affect national security. In this case, it should have happened for both reasons, although it didn't, and the White House cannot explain why. There is an
Associated Press article that may shed some light on this, as it explains that the White House worked out a special deal with Dubai that would bypass this, as well as other requirements.
The state of New Jersey, which hosts one of the ports that would be taken over by Dubai, said it would
file a suit to block the deal in State and Federal courts.
In a bid to get more people on their side, Dubai has hired former Senator and former Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole to lobby for them. They sure know how to get in touch with the people...
More on this as it develops further.
*****Today's Bit of Funny: HuffingtonPost.com is hosting a monthly contest, called the
Contageous Festival, to find the Internet's "next big viral success story." My favorite one this month is called "
Jesusaur!!" Check it out. It's approved by the Kansas School Board!
All the best,
Derek
(DCF)
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