THE MUTINY BEGINS
With all the hoopla over a Dubai-based company taking operational control of some U.S. ports, the only real security issue here for members of Congress is their own job security. While the Democrats were the first to react and landed their first good punch on Bush in years, politicians of both parties are climbing all over each other to get a piece of this anti-Arab pie. What better way to be able to say to Arabs "kiss our freedom-loving asses" than to do what all xeonphobes do by refusing to do business with them and running them out of the neighbohood. The fact is that having them run the ports would probably make us more secure by beginning to build bonds of trust based on stronger economic ties and giving them a stake in our peace. President Bush's show of force with the threat of a veto to block any effort to rescind the deal, as Cheney was just about getting around to cleaning his gun, has put the Republican establishment in an unexpected jam and it's about time. Too bad this deal can't be dealt with with a couple good lies, but I'm sure they'll manage to slip in a couple anyway. To see the Republicans trying to catch up with Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer as they are being snookered on an issue of national security is priceless.

But, do not trust the Democrats to be the voices of rationality and integrity here. Weak and uninspired, this is nothing more than an easy interception that they will be sure to fumble before the play is over. They couldn't get one iota of trust from the American people as the opposition party even after thay had lost their trust in a President who lied us all the way to an illegal war and then turned his back on the Geneva Convention. And when you consider the Democrats' inability to make any political headway on the President's handling of Katrina/Fema disaster and other domestic scandals it's no surprise that the American people view them with the contempt they deserve. And now, acting as if they have found the key under the mat, the Democrats are in the process of ransacking the Repulicans on the 'homeland security' issue and they will take it as far as they can. The Republicans, totally panicked over the handing over of the keys to our ports, the most vulnerable area of homeland security, will soon be heading for the exits and won't be coming back. With the Abramoff scandal still only in previews, (and a show that should run a long time if previous scandals on corruption are any indicator), the Republicans are going to have to get real and give up their holier-than-thou mantle as they atone for their brutish behavior and attempt a make-over, reformed and reborn, again, by this fall's elections.

I have to admit, though, how much fun it is to watch the Republicans acting scared for a change, desperately looking forany homeland security skirt to hide under, scrambling with those terrified looks of people who know that they will be out of their jobs by next January. It reminds me of the look from not too long ago when they used to get outmanoeuvred regularly by Bill Clinton. On the heels of the Cheney hunting fiasco and the divulging of the whereabouts of one of his "undisclosed locations," with the Abramoff related scandal yet to hit high gear, this crew is on the run. Soon, many of them will no longer be waking up to the smell of Starbucks, but the bad breath of prison guards; and the rest, no longer a majority, will be left to explain why they took us down the long dark path of an unnecessary war after giving up their pursuit of Bin Laden, endorsed torture on its enemies and took part in a full scale assault on the civil liberties of their own constituents.


I'm, personally, opposed to the deal, solely on protectionist grounds. Call me sentimental, but I don't think any country besides the U.S. should be in charge of its ports. Before you know it, if they are not planning it already, this administration and its corporate cronies will find an easier and cheaper way to run our military and that will be outsourced, too.

The end is near for the Republicans and it's time to abort to avoid getting hurt in the stampede home. With their tails between their legs and praying to the same sweet baby Jesus they've been blaspheming for the past six years, they will be forced to their knees where they can only beg man and God, alike, for forgiveness. The picture that I'd like to see is Tom Delay, after losing his reelection bid this coming November, being led away like Jim Baker (as in Tammy Fay) to the loony bin after being caught sleeping on a cold winter's night, among his bags of refundable cans, nestled in the warm straw of the Sugarland, Texas nativity scene. While I should be more forgiving, I think I'm going to get down on my knees and start praying, anyway. And I don't think I'm talking a miracle here, either.