A plague o' both your houses

I've been dozing on the news lately, but this piece perfectly highlights the craven hypocrisy of both houses of congress.

There was no unified opposition to Bush when he illegally authorized wiretaps on US citizens, bypassing the constitutional and legal checks and balances designed to protect civil freedoms. But now, they are all of one voice in demanding he block the sale of British port management firm P&O to Dubai Ports World, owned by the United Arab Emirates. It is apparently a matter of grave national security concern that management of the ports of New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia is suddenly falling into the hands of evil Arab terrorists.

'Zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat, to scratch a man to death!

Given the general knowledge skills of congress members, most of them probably couldn't finger Dubai on a map of the world before this week. So why all the fuss? As Bush and others in the administration point out, these ports are already under 'foreign' (British) management. Port security is handled by the US Coast Guard and US Customs Service. How does the sale of P&O to Arab owners impact that or pose a threat to port security? If ownership is an issue, why don't we block Arab-owned airlines, banks, etc from operating in the country? Congress doesn't seem too concerned about the country's reliance on Arab oil, surely a far greater long term threat to national security and economic stability.

And as a Washington Post editorial notes, why single out Dubai for special attention? 'Britain, as events of the last year have illustrated, is no less likely to harbor radical Islamic terrorists than Dubai.'

It sounds a lot like knee-jerk xenophobia and political oneupmanship. Oh that's right, I almost forgot: we're in an election year. The hounds on both sides are gathering, sensing an opportunity to pounce on a weakened Bush to further their own political advantage. What a bunch of whores.