Lou Dobbs just handed the Dems the '06 elections

[SillyGoose]

I was blown away by Lou Dobbs tonight. He was hitting Junior's Administration hard tonight about national security re: the UAE ports deal. He asked one of his Republican talking head guests if, by supporting the ports deal, there would be a partisan split on this deal and went on to say that Rove and the WH are injecting politics into national security regarding the ports deal.

He said this Administration is putting foreign trade and commercial interests ahead of national security and national interests; that this Administration has an "obsession" with foreign trade :wow:

The TRANSSEA ACT, sponsored by a Democratic member of Congress, would increase scrutiny of foreign trade deals was brought up but I didn't get the whole thing as I was cooking and missed that part. :-(

Dobbs said that the ports are the most likely point of entry for nuclear material yet the budget is only $2 billion for port security vs. $4.5 billion for airport security.

If that's not a platform for the November elections, I don't know what is.

I am wondering if Kerry has made a statement yet about this ports deal. I know he mentioned the insecurity of the ports during the '04 elections but haven't yet seen anything from him on this particular issue.

edited: punctuation

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

1. Kerry's letter to John Snow, courtesy of Raw Story:

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Kerry_demands_disclosure_of_contacts_with_0222.html

February 21, 2006

The Honorable John Snow
Chair
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States
Office of International Investment
Department of Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Room 4201 NY
Washington, DC 20220


Dear Mr. Secretary:

I write to you in your capacity as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) regarding the review and approval of the sale of Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Navigation Company to Dubai Ports World (DP). As you know, this sale would give DP, a company owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates, significant operational control over six major US ports.

Specifically, given the national security implications of this sale, I am concerned about the process by which this transaction was approved by CFIUS. First, it appears that CFIUS approved the sale as expeditiously as possible, without even using the additional 45 day investigation process that was clearly warranted under the circumstances.

Further, several media reports have cited ties between Administration officials and DP that raise questions about the basis for the approval of this sale by CFIUS. As you know, the CSX rail corporation, where you previously served as Chief Executive Officer, sold its port operations to DP in 2004. Moreover, the President’s nominee for Administrator of the Maritime Administration, David Sanborn, was DP’s Head of Operations for Latin America while this transaction was being reviewed by CFIUS. In light of these connections, Congress needs to learn more about the relationship between CFIUS members and DP, and whether Administration officials could have unduly influenced CFIUS’s approval process.

Therefore, in the interest of full disclosure and the transparency appropriate under these circumstances, I request that you provide to the relevant committees in Congress all documentation and information relating to contacts between Administration officials, CFIUS members and staff, and DP, including any lobbyists or registered foreign agents working on behalf of DP.

Given the national security implications surrounding this transaction, it is essential that lawmakers have access to this information so that Congress can conduct meaningful oversight.

Sincerely,

John F. Kerry

[NoodleyAppendage]

7. Ah, Kerry and his letter writing...what a profile in courage. TV????

I'm so sick of reading Kerry's "letters". He needs to get in front of a camera and go balls to the wall with Shrub. Letters are great, but politically they do NOTHING for him in the eyes of the wider (non-blog) public.

JB

[karynnj]

9. He was on the radio this morning out of Colorado

He was in Colorado to help the party and some 2006 candidates. He was in MN fundraising for 2006 candidates earlier in the week.
Here's a link to the interview that's on a JohnKerry group thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=273x72858

The other thing is if you read the letter - he is taking a somewhat different approach than others. He is hitting at the incompetency and cronies making decision aspects as well as the fact that they blew off the extra 45 days of investigation and at least 6 or so department heads who needed to aoprove this denied knowledge of it. Others have picked up on his points.

Many of the points about the UAE's shadier past come from his work.

The other problem is that others in DC and NY are jumping in front of the camera - they don't know more than Kerry or have better poistions, but they are the ones the media favors. It seems Kerry limits and picks and chooses his TV appearances - so they want him enough to give him the time to answer and a degree of respect. This issue will continue and Kerry knows more about it than any other Democrat.

[karynnj]

2. You may find this thread interesting as to why you didn't hear

Kerry's typically early and on target comments. This thread shows:

- early on MSNBC quotes Kerry

and shortly after deletes Kerry's comment

There's also a nice Kos thread discussing the letter already posted:

www.dailykos.com/story/2006/2/22/101323/855

You are also right that you are also right that he pursued the more important issue of port security in every speech in Oct 2004.

In July of last year, he grilled Chertoff(transportation committee) on port security - demanding to know why the promised evacuation plans for the major ports weren't done and why there was no improvement in checking the content of the containers.

[CottonBear]

3. Kerry talked about port security during the campaign.

I and many others kept wondering why NOTHING was being done to upgrade port security. Now we know. :(

To all Reublican lurkers: John Kerry is and always has been concerned about port security and our nation's security.

[Pirate Smile]

4. Kick and vote #5 to GP.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. "An obsession with foreign trade."

They said the same thing about Clinton, but little did they know that it was the Republican controlled congress pushing for it.

[AlCzervik]

6. no will the Fing voters not get sidetracked by a wedge issue this time?

when the gop plays the gay card or prayer card will the electorate try and see through the bullshit?

[Twist_U_Up]

8. He shot down that repunk from California too

Shot the racist card right back at him.

Lets see if he keeps it up

[Coexist]

10. "being for border protection, I am sure you have been called a racist"

"and you know that feels"

Cali Rep. "Touche"

Point. Set. Match.

hahahaha ... that was great.

VIDEO HERE:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x514606

[FreedomAngel82]

20. Awesome reply!

[Coexist]

11. The Republicans are OBSESSED with foreign trade at the expense of our jobs

the Democrats are strong on National Security before corporate profits.

Republicans SHOOT their friends in the face.

[Generator]

12. I refuse to watch CNN but

I watched Dobbs back in the day. He's exactly the Republican type I was wondering where they are-who aren't dumb and aren't evil and are finally going to say what needs to be said-in public!

Bush and his cronies are the biggest threat that this country has ever seen.

Oh and Olbermann had a poll that had the Democrats-yes the Democrats ahead of Bush in drum roll please-national security. Yes, it was a Rasmussen poll and barely ahead but within the margin of error. The first time that has been so since the Bush plague has threatened our great land.

[FreedomAngel82]

21. And wait until people learn more and see that

Bush is going for it and isn't going to listen to the people.

[pstans]

13. Dobbs and Cafferty have been great recently

It seems like they have woken up in 2006 and aren't taking this Bu$h*t anymore.

[FreedomAngel82]

22. I love Cafferty's comments

He kicks ass.

[flyarm]

14. this Administration has an "obsession" with foreign trade SURE IS NOT

benefitting the American working people..nor the middle class..
seems the income of Americans is going down and to the levels not seen in 40 yrs!

fly

[glitch]

17. Their obsession is selling off our country's assets to keep getting credit

in order to transfer that wealth into their own pockets via a massive war profiteering scheme.
Same as it ever was with bushies.

[WinkyDink]

29. The obsession---without quotation marks---is with money. Period.

Whatever scam works. Trade, terror, democracy, pain-pills, magic water, whatever it takes.

[jazzjunkysue]

15. I saw it, too. He just about blew a gasket with a guest, and he

tolerates alot of people disagreeing with him about his mexicans.

But this guy kept calling nay-sayers racists, and Lou almost hit him.

The thing is, Lou didn't do his homework: We have proof in an indictment of a 9/11 terrorist (oh, please, all their names are too hard to remember, but Randi was reading the court report on air, today) got all the 9/11 funding through UAE. There's nothing stopping them from loading a dirty bomb into a container right into NY or NJ. It's not a privately owned company: It's an arm of the government, and they support terror.

So, this is not a case of pre-judging someone based on heredity: It's already proven in our own courts that this government has attacked us. We should have occupied them, not Iraq.

Lou got his undies in a bundle, but didn't do his homework. He could have shot the apologist down in one statement, but he blew it. I bet he'll have the goods tomorrow.

[FreedomAngel82]

23. He did a report in the beginning talking about that so he did

[juajen]

26. Massoui (sp.)

N/T

[Pab Sungenis]

16. You know the really scary thing?

If terraists really wanted to screw with us using nuclear weapons, they wouldn't have to actually get the ship into port. A nuclear detonation 100 miles out to sea would do a lot of damage too. The shock wave could create a tsunami that would destroy hundreds of miles of coastal cities. Or blow up a bomb 20-50 miles out, and the shock wave would still destroy the port and surrounding cities, plus fire damage further inland.

[n2doc]

28. not with the inverse square law

A bomb 50 miles offshore would produce a bright flash, maybe a strong gust, and fallout. It took the really huge hydrogen bombs (tens of megatons, and well beyond the ability of Pakistan, or any other nation outside of the US, Russia, Great Britain, China and maybe Franc, to produce) to destroy atolls. The Indian Ocean Tsunami was caused by an earthquake releasing the equivalent of 300 megatons of TNT. That is 23,000 Hiroshima's....

see:
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tsunami/Faq/interview_gonzalez.htm
And
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=658

[JaneQPublic]

18. Dobbs has been pounding on Chimpy all week

A few days ago he had a story showing all the money and family connections to the UAE government, i.e., Poppy Bush/Carlye Group, Neil Bush... something no other news program has had the balls to cover.

It's amazing. I thought Lou was a staunch Repug, but he seems virulently pissed at Bush these days.

[FreedomAngel82]

19. Us Kerrycrats think he might be doing something

He's too quiet so he might be doing something. He's usually out there by now. Maybe he has some plan coming up. It'll be interesting to see what happens. Try to find Kerry's book "The New War." He's been on this since the BCCI.

[karynnj]

30. For what he has said, see posts 1 and 9

Kerry seems to be taking a very good position on this:

- He is pointing out the obvious (and incontestable) fact that this critical change was approved without the heads of at least 6 departments in the Bush administration even looking at it and some of the people who DID approve it were people with connections to the company. (Does this not fit the Katrina and Abramoff patterns?)

- He also called for transparency and review.

At this point, this is a very prudent (yet strong position). The fact is that previous administrations allowed the privatization of the operations of critical infrastructure and (later) allowed a foreign company to take over these functions complicates this issue. The Dubai company purchased the British company - and the Bush administration appears to have treated the approval of the transfer of the lease from the British company to the UAE company that purchased it as routine.

This is a sticky position. The UAE's history (which Kerry knows better than almost anyone), not xenophobia, brings out new questions. But there were similar questions that should have been asked when this was first privatized, and then again when a foreign company was allowed to operate the ports. That precedent IS what makes this especially hard - it would be easier if it were an American company that had the lease, bit a British one. Now, it brings up really ugly questions that we truly trust only a few countries. IF the US wants to change the decades old privatization of these functions, it has to change it through law and make whole the UAE company. (They may be the innocent party in this blow up.)

I think that for many American's this was a wake up call. I doubt they had any idea of how many things in this country are owned or operated by foreign countries. What concerns me is that this can wake up the latent xenophobia in the non-coastal US. That said, this company is owned by the UAE itself and they recognized the Taliban,some of the Emirs apparently socialized with AlQaeda before Sept 11, and they were in the center of the BCCI mess. These things would seem to call into question whether a high level official of the company might willing pass on to Al Qaeda operational information or layouts of the private sections of the ports.

Some of the people who spoke out emotionally will likely have to backtrack to more reasonable positions. Kerry, at this point, has criticized the Bush process and the comments he made sting. Once there is an investigation, Kerry is likely - when the facts are known - to make a statement that will carefully marshall the facts and what he things is right for the country to suggest what to do. He will likely make sure to repeat (likely verbatim) his 2004 comment made daily that 95% of the containers coming into the port are not inspected. Contrary to Republican and media statements that NO ONE (but the security people) questioned port security, the 2004 Democratic Presidential Nominee questioned it daily and they didn't report it.

Part of the reason that Kerry has been found to have been right on nearly everything where he disagreed with Bush is that his opinions seem to be meticulously based on a very careful evaluation of all the facts. Kerry is not a demagogue - even though Nixon called him one. I am waiting to see where he comes out on this once all is said and done.

[upi402]

24. old school patriots are somehow reasuring

:patriot: Randi Rhodes is all over that like a blanket!

[NoMercy]

25. Kerry ask for "full disclosure" but probably does not want to spook Bush

Bush is now the Repub congress worst nighmare if he keeps pushing this deal.

[lovuian]

27. Lou has known for years what Bush & Cheney's plans are

they are ANTI AMERICAN ... and pro greed... they would sell their souls to the devil for a few bucks...

Lou's a smart man and an American

he knows evil when he sees it...