Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Aladdin Sane
This issue rests on distrust of Arabs, plain and simple. Until I see evidence that this firm cannot be trusted to manage American ports, I see no reason why it shouldn't. We do not allow profiling at airports but somehow it's okay to stop an Arab company from doing business for no other reason that it is owned by Arabs? What a bunch of rubbish.
|
While no one is saying it in terms that are easy to identify... I think you've nailed it.
James Carville (Democratic strategist and good buddy of Bill Clinton) told Wolf Blitzer yesterday that while the situation is a little unclear (lots of vague objections and not too many concrete problems), the politics are simple.
This is a good issue for Democrats to attack the whitehouse on, because they can paint Bush into a corner for how an arabic firm controlling a national security interest LOOKS, while Bush can't do too much because (thus far) there isn't much to find.
Meanwhile, republicans can score points before an interim election because they "stood up" to the president (which will help when running against Dems who want to claim the same thing).
So basically, the situation is almost a "perfect storm" for the Bush administration - and in some part because they're sort of stuck with their decision unless they find some glaring problem, which will look horrible since they didn't find it before...
AKA, look for a dogpile.