False Patriotism Pretends To Protect U.S. Ports
By Justin Oldham = Oldham@alaskalife.net
WASHINGTON D.C.: On March 8 (2006), The House Appropriations Committee voted 62 to 2 to prevent Dubai Ports World (DPW) from doing business in the United States. As reported by AP writer Liz Sidoti, "the landslide vote was the strongest signal yet that more than three weeks of White House efforts to stunt congressional opposition to the deal have not been successful." [Source: ap.org] [See article, GOP House Panel Votes To Block Ports Deal]
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PORTS_SECURITY?SITE=CAANG&SECTION=HOM E&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
As I predicted in my novel, "Politics & Patriotism: The Fisk Conspiracy," the modern Presidency is rapidly becoming a much more forceful institution. President Bush has recently asserted the notion of a Unitary Executive, which is code for a Commander-in-Chief that has more power than past elected leaders. As outlined in my book, this trend has been with us for quite some time.
Each succeeding President since Abraham Lincoln has asked for more power. In most cases, they've gotten their wish. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, U.S. Presidents have wielded more power than any of the Chief Executives before them. Whoever takes the office after George W. Bush stands to be granted even more power by a self-serving Congress. Knowing this, we should be grateful to those members of the House who are standing in the way of the contract that would give Dubai Ports World (DPW) operational control over six major U.S. Ports.
DPW is the commercial arm of a recognized national government. As such, it is subject to the decisions made by the leaders of that country. Dubai, which is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, has been a sponsor of terrorism. At no point since this 'questionable period' in their past have the people who run the government of Dubai ever expressed any regret for what they did. No matter how much money is on the table, our elected leaders have no choice but to condemn this deal. If they don't, they'll be proving their dishonesty.
Any sitting President who could defend a sale of this kind isn't doing it for ideological reasons. There is no matter of theology involved, either. There are no ethical sticking point that just beg to be hashed over. There's only one reason that would justify this very deliberate conflict of interest. The amount of political power at stake in this battle between the Executive and the Congress is immense to the point of being extravagant. It's not out of line to say that what we are seeing in the DPW scandal amounts to nothing less than another grab for more power.
Those members of the House plucky enough to stand up to this challenge should be motivated by patriotism, and national security. It's too bad they aren't. For them, this fight is all about the coming elections in November. If this were not an election year, they'd be behind this President with their hands out, ready to take their share of the spoils from the dangerous deal with DPW.
We should remember this when we go to vote in November. They can't sell us to our enemies if we don't send them back to Washington D.C. for another term in office.
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Dubai Ports closes P&O acquisition
MarketWatch - 8 hours ago
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Dubai Ports World on Thursday closed its $6.8 billion takeover of Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., turning it into one of the world's three largest ports operators and giving it control over some key US ports. ...
GOOGLE NEWS U.S. PORTS:
Unconservative Listening
http://makethemaccountable.com/listening/
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