Are We The Being Suckered In By A 'Rove Job' On The Port Issue?.......

[global1]

I been away from DU all day and just watched some news channels about the uproar on the Ports issue. I heard about how Repugs like Frist, Hastert and King are against this deal and demanding moratoriums, etc.

But wait - these guys have been *'s lapdogs all along - until now? Why?

Is it because *Co is being accused of not having checks and balances? Is it because *Co has control over both the Legislative and Executive branches and maybe even the Judicial branch of our government?

As I watched this uproar I thought *Co/Rove can't be this stupid to sell our ports to the control of an Arab government. Not this security conscious group. Then I refocused back on Frist, Hastert, King and other Repugs et al and pondered the following:

What if Rove is pulling a fast one on us 'sheeple'. What if he's having the dissenting Repugs do this for effect? What if he's having them challenge the pResident so later they could say - "see - the government is not one-sided. Even the Repugs challenged *. And this is a bipartisan movement to overturn this deal.

What if its a sham. Just a convenient issue to make it look like * can't pull all the strings and the Repugs can think on their own. It would make a nice political statement for the Repugs going into the '06 and then the '08 elections - wouldn't it?

[NVMojo]

1. sorry but the sale is real and the selling owner has contracts in place

with 6 ports that the new company wants.

[acmejack]

4. It would seem to the layman that under the terms of the WTO

That there isn't a damn thing we can do about it. A UK Corporation legally owns the port facilities and has legally sold them to an UAE Corporation. Under the terms of the WTO, we are going to be in for what if the congress says no way? Just WHAT are the ramifications?

[TayTay]

2. I think it's about the money.

The Bush Admin has proven time and again that they can't govern and have a tin ear when it comes to measuring how their proposals will appear to regular Americans. The effort to get rid of Social Security failed, the Terry Schiavo effort to make Dems appear heartless and anti-life failed, the Bush Admin failed with Katrina and so forth. These people are incompetent on every level and can't govern. At all. They completely suck at it. Bush was artificially pushed up becuase of the attacks on America on 9/11 and a press corp that was afraid to do it's job. Those chickens are now coming home to roost. These people are incompetent.

[riderinthestorm]

3. Harriet Miers redux?

The discussion on DU about the port deal sounds an awful lot like the Harriet Miers nomination. Is it Rovian? Is it a ploy to put an even bigger reactionary in place? etc. etc.

I think though, that when it all boils down in the end, it WILL be just like the Harriet Miers nomination: Bush stupidity, arrogance and craven pandering to his friends - and the folks in the UAE are definitely his friends.

[global1]

7. Good Point - And The Only American Company Capable Of Handling.....

such a job should we pull out of this UAE deal is none other than ---- HALLIBURTON.

[Orangepeel]

5. well, what if?

should democrats be paralyzed with fear on every issue just in case it is a Karl Rove trick?

Democrats should just do what's right, and selling port control to a foreign government isn't (Muslim or not, although a theocracy is even worse, IMO)

Personally, I don't think this is a Rovian thing. This was somebody in the administration letting the sale go through because it lined their pockets in some way, and nobody else paid attention. But, if I'm wrong and it IS some sort of reverse double secret plot to make republicans look independent, then there is nothing to do differently.

[yellowdogmi]

6. I think you are right.

I have been saying this for several days.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2469894

[MissWaverly]

8. If you listen to Bush, you will understand

I think it is a good idea, he never mentions anyone else like I have discussed this with
leaders in Congress and he did not mention that this company is actually owned by
their government, so we would be giving management over to 6 major ports to a foreign power.
I think this is more of the bubble syndrome.

[calimary]

9. I suspect it's actually their own constituents. Their GOP constituents.

My husband and I were just now talking about it (as of this writing, anyway). I strongly suspect it's because they've begun to take a HUGE amount of heat from other republi-CONS, AND Republicans in their districts/states. If it were Dems complaining, their staffers would chuckle, mumble "another 'Sore Loserman,' yuk-yuk-yuk. But they can't do that when the complainer is one of their own. THAT they take more seriously, because it's family, one of the in-crowd, one of those still ON the reservation. When THOSE people start complaining, they start taking it far more seriously than if the complaints were coming from us. They dismiss us as just partisan whiners.

WHICH IS NOT TO SAY WE SHOULD NOT WEIGH IN WITH THESE PEOPLE!!!

Repeat:

WHICH IS NOT TO SAY WE SHOULD NOT WEIGH IN WITH THESE PEOPLE!!!

Another DUer once pointed out, very astutely, that some of these reps got in by the hair of their chinny-chin-chins. They are, believe me, PAINFULLY aware that they need EVERY vote to stay employed, even among the outsider contingent (like us Dems). A few votes from our side could make the difference between a narrow race won, or a narrow race lost, or a race that doesn't come close enough for them to steal. Those who are a LITTLE bit more circumspect, not to mention those who are up for reelection this November, have at least a nominal awareness of this FACT. And a FACT is what this is. They DO need us. Some of them need more than a few of us, a LOT. And they alienate us at their peril.

It's the OTHERS, though, in bloody-red states, or states in which they appear to be a safer bet for reelection - that will get interesting. If folks like frist and others see their fortunes fading, they're gonna realize they HAVE TO reach out to us - because some of us on the margins might actually be convinced to hold their noses and vote for these types. Unfortunately for these same types, the benefit-of-the-doubt effect that probably has been KEY to their political survival up til now is FADING. It is NOT strong enough to sustain them when the conventional wisdom shifts - that these people are no more capable of ensuring our safety than the Dems or liberals are.

I suspect that there are more than a few in those same bloody-red states who are TRULY upset about this, and they're letting the frists of the world know about it. THAT'S why you see people like bill frist bucking bush on this. frist still thinks he's got a viable White House run ahead of him, and knows that nationally he's going to have to cut into Democratic support to win (YEAH, like he could! And I'm the queen of Siberia).

[TexasLawyer]

10. Maybe just making lemonade from the

lemon of a decision on the ports. Manufacture dissent in the GOP ranks-- then put it in the display case-- to make it appear that Democracy is not actually DOA. Why do they pick the port issue to suddenly get reasonable? And how did so many get so reasonable all at once?

I've thought the same thing about my congressman's (John Culberson (R-TX)) stand on border control. He has taken a "brave" stand on this issue that diverges from the BushCo stand.

But-- cynic that I am-- I can't help but notice that this guy is such a lap dog, he would never take a stand if he wasn't told to do so by his dark overlord: Tom DeLay. Also, the Texas 7th district (primarily west Houston and northern suburbs) is hundreds of miles from the nearest border.

[Call me Deacon Blues]

11. Yes, they can be that stupid

Hubris, that's what it is. They think they can get away with anything, and as long as our so-called party leaders let them get away with it, they'll continue to do so. The problem is that we think they're invincible. They're just stupid. There's no reason to be afraid of these people. We can take them on and beat them, if we only will. We can do it NOT by trying to win, but by trying to do the right thing. Fighting this traitorous, dangerous action is the right thing. It's that simple.

[dusty64]

12. They aren't "security conscious "

all they care about is money and power. 9/11 was created on their watch!

[Julius Civitatus]

13. I think you are on to something.

I too smell they are pulling a "Harriet Miers" on us. In the middle of the outrage, Halliburton will come by an miraculously "save the day." How convenient.

I can almost see it coming already.

[rman]

14. Their being "security conscious" is merely pretense

If they are really security conscious, then why are they underfunding Homeland Security, why have the ports been leaking like a sieve ever since 9-11, why is it that OBL at some point became irrelevant, why no proper investigation into the financing of 9-11?

Haven't you noticed they are being deceptive all the time?

[PBass]

15. I think if it's a ruse, then it's a ruse to get issues like

Illlegal Domestic Spying
Plamegate
Jack Abramoff
Tom DeLay

and other losing issues for Dumbya, out of the headlines.

I don't see how this can help the GOP at the polls in November (at this point, maybe there is a surprise coming). This issue just demoralizes the right wing and makes them discouraged and disillusioned about their party in general... IMO.

[rman]

16. It sure looks to be a hard sell even to Bush's base,

whatever *'s goal is with this deal.