I am growing very weary of the anti-UAE port deal= racism meme.

[Obamarama]

I'm not a xenophobe by any stretch of the imagination. But this contention that opposing the UAE port deal is tantamount to racism and or ethnic discrimination is really wearing precariously thin on my nerves.

If for some reason Norway was an operations center for a terrorist group; if terrorists used Oslo and the rest of Norway as an operations hub; if some of the 9/11 hijackers were from Norway; if half of the 9/11 hijackers had flown to the US from Oslo prior to the attacks; if the Norwegian royal family had documented ties to bin Laden; and if, knowing all of the above, Bush and his maladministration approved a deal to turn the ports over to a Norwegian state-owned business, I'd STILL be saying FUCK THAT SHIT.

As a matter of fact, even if Norway were our most sterling ally in the world, I would STILL say FUCK THAT SHIT. Would someone, somewhere, PLEASE explain to me why ANY of our ports should be controlled by ANY foreign or foreign country-owned company, period. ESPECIALLY when our ports are known to be one of our weakest security links. IT DEFIES LOGIC.

WTF has happened to reality and perspective? All I know is nobody wants to spout the racism meme to my face or they will walk away with a fucking EARFUL.

[meegbear]

1. Since it doesn't seem to be working ...

it'll die off soon enough and a new meme will be there.

[leftyladyfrommo]

3. Have any guesses?

I was thinking the same thing. Since this argument isn't going anywhere (or as Cheney probably says "This dog won't hunt) there will ba another one today. Just a guess, of course.

[meegbear]

35. No guesses ...

but I'm sure it'll be as inane as this one - and accepted by the morans.

[Dhalgren]

17. I wouldn't say that it isn't working quite yet.

These hypocritical assholes are more than capable of pushing this meme to the hilt. Look what they did to Kerry and his military service. How on earth was it possible for these pukes to make Kerry's honorable and heroic service to his country look worse than Bush's cowardice and shirking? But they did - or at least they did a good deal of damage. Now this "racism" thing just looks plain stupid, but I wouldn't count it out just yet...

[mondo joe]

2. Maybe we need a Pro-UAE = Homophobia thread or two

based on the UAE's repression of gays.

[iconoclastNYC]

10. Nah stay on message.

Foreign ownership of ports is a national security risk.

We need to nationalize the ports and spend the money to secure them.

This is why Bush got an F from the 9/11 commission on secure our country.

[Mass]

15. Private ownership of ports is a national security risk.

Ports should be operated by the govt. It is not whether they are arab or not.

[iconoclastNYC]

22. We agree.

Nationalize the ports (the national government takes over the ports)

[wake.up.america]

18. Wire tap ilegally, but allow a UAE company to take over the ports.

This is Bush at his worst.

No logic other than it's good for the Bush Crime Family.



He's got to be worst President since Harding.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. You look not at the color of skin, but their actions

the government of UAE owns this company. Two hijackers were from UAE and money for al Qaeda went through their banking system. And nuclear materials were shipped through UAE from Pakistan to N. Korea, which makes one wonder about security. Remember that the UAE is NOT a democracy, that the ruling class runs everything, so the same folks who helped al Qaeda are to run the ports.

[iconoclastNYC]

5. Spot on. Typical Republican projection.

That dog won't hunt.

But FOX news will run with it all day.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

9. But a lot of Faux listeners are racists

this "racist" meme isn't going to work on folks who like to say "nuke all the ragheads".

[iconoclastNYC]

11. I know

This is why it's a perfect issue for us. They don't have thier base on this issue.

The only thing they can do is use the DLC to get Democrats to drop the issue. Watch for it.

[BoneDaddy]

6. Agreed

Gee, we really are a racist, hate filled country to not allow the UAE access to our ports...
Funny that when it sells for 7 billion dollars, how quickly the opposition forgets we live in a "post 911 world". I guess that can be bought too.

[havocmom]

19. Yep, everybody has a price and we know what bushco's is

The commission on a $7 Billion sale would be about right. They sell out America pretty cheap.

[bryant69]

7. I think the hypocricy meme has more legs

If Clinton was doing this we wouldn't give a damn, and the Republicans would be calling us traitors.

But the Republicans who are opposed to the UAE deal are, for the most part, racists and bigots. And those are our allies in this fight.

I don't know how comfortable that makes me feel.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[mondo joe]

14. I have to admit Clinton would be starting from a position of trust.

But if he'd been President after 911 I still wouldn't like this.

Clinton get PLENTY of grief from dems in his time. We might give him a longer leash, but he'd still get a yank back.

[Pirate Smile]

28. Trust is based on a track record. We know Bush's track record.

That is why we doubt every word out of his mouth and anything his administration does.

[iconoclastNYC]

20. Clinton wouldn't have done this.

I'm NO CLINTON FAN -- I will do everything i can to stop Hillary from getting the nomination.

That said:

Clinton would have done the proper review, and I think he would have blocked this on National Security grounds.

Don't forget that this is a crony administration. Clinton was not.

[mattclearing]

21. Seconded.

The more I think about this, the more I think it's a big shell game. It's win-win...if the port deal got by Congress without a fight, it would be a great cash deal, and if Congress fights it, it works in favor of elections in '06 by pitting the Republicans against an unpopular president on a no-brainer issue.

Once you realize that terrorism is not an issue, this becomes a win-win situation for Republicans.

[tabasco]

24. Wrong answer. Speak for yourself.

There are a lot of things Clinton did to which I was vocally opposed then and now.

I never observed Dems marching in lockstep with Clinton ala the freepers/brownshirts and Bush.

edit typo

[bryant69]

26. well I kind of all expect us to deny it

Republicans by the way say exactly the same thing. They are saying it right now. "You see our opposition to this ports deal shows that we think for ourselves. I don't remember Democrats ever disagreeing with Clinton."

We are all noble men at heart.

Bryant

[mondo joe]

29. Sorry, but you NEVER saw dems march in lockstep with Clinton.

Doesn't matter what Freepers say --- from NAFTA to the impeachment to a variety of issues, Dems have never had a problem criticizing each other.

[tabasco]

30. You need to do your homework.

"I don't remember Democrats ever disagreeing with Clinton."

Man, that's rich. :crazy:

NAFTA and Iraq sanctions are two examples off the top of my head where Democrats disagreed with Clinton.

[bryant69]

34. You realize that when I said that I was speaking as a

Hypothetical freeper, right?

And if you talked to republicans they would say "What about the Perscription drug plan or the part time work visas or the education bill. Republicans have disagreed with Bush plenty of times."

Bryant

[txindy]

25. If Clinton was doing this we wouldn't give a damn?

Speak for yourself. I'd oppose this regardless of who proposed it. It's ludicrous. So is the idea that we cannot oppose the UAE deal simply because there are racists/bigots opposing it, as well. So, to follow that line of reasoning, the cabal could simply proffer a deal or a piece of legislation that we would rightfully oppose, while also arranging for a Limbaugh-led group to oppose it as well (making overtly racist comments about it on Faux a la Mann Coulter), and we'd back off our opposition. Is that it? Because that would work out very well for the cabal.

[emulatorloo]

36. speak for yourself -- If Clinton was doing this I'd be pissed off EOM

[Mass]

8. Some threads are very racists, but they miss the real point,

WHY ARE THESE PORTS NOT OPERATED BY THE GOVT? IT IS NOT whether the company is Arab or not. It should not be operated by a British company in the first place. That is as simple as that.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

13. Folks in my neck of the woods are asking this very thing

They want to know why Americans don't run these ports. Some have volunteered to take their deer rifles to a port and help defend it.

[High Plains]

38. Defend the port with deer rifles?

Fucking idiots should go back to beer drinking and watching sports on TV.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

39. That's all they have-for now

If this port sale goes through, I see sales of more powerful firepower going through the roof.

[LisaLynne]

12. You and me both.

And the thing I keep trying to point out is that this misAdministration has tried this before. Remember the stuff about Gonzales? Oh, if you didn't like Mr. Torture is Legal, you were a racist. It's the same thing. I'm sure there are people who are against this because of racist reasons, but there are legitimate reasons for not liking this. I don't see why any foreign power -- from the British to Norway -- should be in charge of our ports. Why do we have private ports anyway? I think there is a discussion abotu all of this that needs to happen instead of just assuming those who don't like it are racist.

Plus, as I stated at first -- it's an old trick! At least make the Admin come up with something new!

[ewagner]

16. My theory

is that the "race card" is a stopgap measure that KKKarl produced in panic because the administration never actually anticipated that this would show up on the public radar.

KKKarl is busy drawing pentagrams on the floor and conjuring up a new "frame" for the argument even as we speak.

My theory about the new frame? It will have NOTHING to do with the port issue itself but it will attack as "unpatriotic", weak or "bush-hating" anybody who opposes it.

also....Lieberman has taken a weak hand in this one...and Jimmy Carter has come out in favor of it...watch for Bush to use them to browbeat the Democrats.

[iconoclastNYC]

23. The Carter thing has me scratching my head.

I didn't think he was a tool of the right. I don't understand his motivation here.

[acmavm]

27. It really doesn't matter who the drag out on this one. If he/she

cannot walk across the Atlantic, it won't matter one bit.

This is THE issue. KKKarl isn't as smart as his 'legend' says he is, and contrary to anything bush** apparently thinks, the 'mandate' and political capital thingies are non-existant in this issue. He got away with everything else, but people are not going to let him just turn over our docks to terra-ists.

[populistdriven]

31. Bush is playing the Race Card but no one is calling him on it

A failure of our Democratic leaders I am afraid

[The Backlash Cometh]

32. There are seven countries that would send up red flags, too.

And I think this is the beginning of looking at our quasi-allies a little closer.

[dooner]

33. Making war on the people of Iraq - THAT'S RACISM.

Managing our ports ourselves - THAT'S INTELLIGENT

[emulatorloo]

37. Anytime Bushco plays the "race card" I get skeptical

So sorry, I can't get all squishy and mushy over it -- it is just more bullshit designed to cover this admin's {deliberate?) incompetence.

[The Stranger]

40. But of course it is about race.

Has anyone yet posted a link to a terrorist act committed by the company or persons at issue?

Perhaps you could be the first.