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Thursday, March 09, 2006A touch of class:Not that there were any good alternatives, but there were alternatives. And so, a tip of the hat to the Dubai Ports Co. and the UAE for getting the President and Congress out of the tangle they'd gotten themselves into. In this deal, the White House blew it by sitting tight instead of pre-empting complaints with, say, a short statement about how pleased they were to have an Arab ally... Congress blew it on two fronts: The Republicans blew it by going nuclear before finding out what was on the White House's mind, a mistake because as bad off as he is, W is still better at a) bouncing back from messes and b) propping up the party as a whole than they are. Kneecapping their star to get a shot at the spotlight was idiotic. The Democrats blew it because they gave full and complete license to the idea that Arabs - er, Ay-rabs - are potentially dangerous and to be regarded with suspicion. The next time the right says to hell with the niceties, the "ragheads" need extra supervision, the best the Democrats will be able to do is to argue about when and how much you can discriminate against Arabs and Arab nations, not whether it's appropriate at all. The Bill/Hill contrast was particularly rich: she says keep the foreigners out while he lobbies for them and, in the past, welcomed Chinese arms merchants into the White House to share a cup of coffee. Looking at the endgame in this, the UAE and the Dubai Ports Co., whatever one's doubts about them, look like reasonably intelligent and self-aware entities that know where they stand and work to make the best of it. The leaders of the two major parties in our self-governing entity look all the poorer for it. 
posted by gbarto at 6:37 PM |
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Day By Day© by Chris Muir.Old TurkeyBlog here.
