CONNECTING THE DOTS ON THE DUBAI PORTS WORLD DEAL
By Robert Klein Engler (03/16/06)
CHICAGO (16 March '06)--The uproar over foreign involvement in U. S. ports has been a constant topic in the media for weeks. Nevertheless, Rush Limbaugh and other commentators who are always good at connecting the dots when it comes to drawing a line from Democrats to criticism of the war in Iraq, seem to have wavered in their ability to connect the dots when it comes to the Dubai Ports World deal.
What was exposed by Lou Dobbs and has continued as an alternate media tempest, with Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh going after one another, has also disclosed something about the average American's ability to connect the dots while some political commentators cannot. Even Bill O'Reilly seems incapable of getting out his pencil and drawing a line from the crisis over illegal immigration to Dubai Ports World.
The majority of Americans are against Dubai Ports World managing U. S. ports not because they misunderstand the intricacies of international economics, but because they feel the country they know is slipping between their fingers like a handful of sand. Illegal immigration is making many Americans aware that their country is passing away, and they resent it. This is what Rush Limbaugh seems not to understand. He's not alone in that lack of understanding. President Bush doesn't understand it, either.
The recent disclosure that a Dubai state-owned company has been in charge of the port of Miami all along, does not make this business deal any more acceptable to most Americans. It is now reported that Dubai supporters are trying also to silence CNN's Lou Dobbs. All that will do is keep the issue before the American people. Add to this the recent protest march in Chicago for illegal immigrant "rights," and there are more than enough dots out there for Americans to connect.
It will be interesting to see if the U. S. Senate can connect the dots. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin admits his staffers spends the majority of their time dealing with issues pertaining to immigration. Like many Senators, Durbin may represent people who are not U. S. citizens, against the interest of those who are. Senator Trent Lott, however, is upset with President Bush because of the way the President reacted to the disclosure of the port deal. Senator Lott is reported to have said on Hardball that he was offended because President Bush threatened to veto any bill that came out of Congress regarding the Dubai matter. This threat of a veto just adds more fuel to the fire that is already raging about illegal immigration, a fire that President Bush has done little over the past 6 years to dampen.
Many Americans know illegal immigration is a problem that has gotten out of hand, and it requires a drastic solution neither political party wants to embrace. These Americans connect the dots. That's why they are against any kind of foreign control of our ports. If President Bush and his supporters wanted to garner support for the Dubai Ports World deal in the first place, they could have done more to combat illegal immigration. Now, they are left with a pencil and a policy that has nowhere to go but wander instead of connect.
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