The hypocrisy of President Bush

Since George W. Bush took office over five years ago, there have been times to fear, times to get enraged and times to cry. Now is the time to be befuddled.

Last week, the President vehemently defended his decision to hand over management of the U.S.’s largest ports to a state-owned company in Dubai. In other words, the most vulnerable, most studied points of penetration of our enemies, will be in the hands of an Arab nation.

Forget politics. This is a job for a psychologist, a case of unexplainable human reasoning. If you’re a staunch Republican President, you know you’ve made an egregious choice when far-right juggernauts like Sen. Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert stand dumbfounded, asking, “What the hell is he thinking?”

All Congressional Democrats – prominent Republicans, not to mention the Defense, State and Transportation Departments – have asked for is more time, 45 days, to review the deal, making absolutely sure the plan cannot be exploited by Islamic terrorists. To Mr. Bush, who sees this thinking as nothing more than “bias against Middle Eastern buyers,” such caution is too much to ask. As with previous Bushcisions, how dare we question his logic? He even threatens to flex his veto muscle for the first time in office if need be.

Bush defends his stance by saying such a partnership is expected in a global economy, and that this deal will send a conciliatory message to the Middle East.

Say what you will about him; never has a man with such a simple vocabulary been so unpredictable. We cannot discard the idea that perhaps he believes what he’s doing is an historical gesture, as well as a defiant position in alleviating tensions towards the U.S. in the Middle East.

But, how could he expect us to accept this?

For most Americans, particularly New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor George Pataki–both Republicans–who saw the City by the Sea all but destroyed less than five years ago, Bush must forgive us for failing to be as enlightened.

Get as outraged by this comment as you want: Arabs should not have control of U.S. ports, the same places from which many experts have predicted our next attack will come. Yes, racial profiling is wrong; yes, terrorists come in all nationalities – including American, but that’s the simple, sign-of-the-times truth.

Most Muslims are not extremists, and many nations, such as the United Arab Emirates, are firm allies in the war on terror. But how much easier do you think it would be for an Islamic fanatic to permeate this Arab brand of security? “As the president himself once said, we only have to be wrong once.”

Just imagine what would’ve been done to Bill Clinton if he had suggested, especially in a post-9/11 world, entrusting our national security with an Arab country? He would have been buried to the neck and trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants. Better yet, just remember: At the ’04 Republican National Convention, Georgia’s own, Zell Miller, ignorantly branded John Kerry as a man dangerously willing to place America’s safety in the hands of the United Nations.

Hmmmm. Considering the choices, the United Nations are looking pretty cozy right now.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 3 2006. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry