A light comes on

This morning it finally dawned on me why I'm so interested in this issue of  UAE management of our ports.  I had  heard nothing about it really until President Bushing started threatening to veto any bills on it.

I guess this administration has me so jaded that when they get to the point of threatening their first veto, I have to start wondering what is going on behind the scenes?  Don't give me this commitment to free trade.  The Canadians might die chuckling over that.

There are plenty of good editorials on the subject this morning.  I like Paul Krugman's "Osama, Saddam and the Ports," in the NY Times.

Finally, the ports affair plays in a subliminal way into the public's awareness — vague but widespread — that Mr. Bush, the self-proclaimed deliverer of democracy to the Middle East, and his family have close personal and financial ties to Middle Eastern rulers. Mr. Bush was photographed holding hands with Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (now King Abdullah), not the emir of Dubai. But an administration that has spent years ridiculing people who try to make such distinctions isn't going to have an easy time explaining the difference.

Then there is another interesting article, "Will Fight for Oil," by Ted Koppel.  It was  pointed out  to me by my friend Stephen.

H. L. Mencken is said to have noted that "when someone says it's not about the money — it's about the money." Arguing in support of his fellow Arkansan during Bill Clinton's impeachment trial, former Senator Dale Bumpers offered a variation on that theme: "When someone says it's not about the sex — it's about the sex."

Perhaps the day will come when the United States is no longer addicted to imported oil; but that day is still many years off. For now, the reason for America's rapt attention to the security of the Persian Gulf is what it has always been. It's about the oil.

As they say we live in interesting times.  I'm just glad that I'm observing those times from up on the mountain.  At least the beauty of my surroundings takes the edge off some of the issues.
 

Comments

[RLD]

"The Canadians might die chuckling over that."

All I could think of when I read that was Porky Pig's incessant chuckling over Daffy Duck's antics in "Robin Hood Daffy",
an old Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood_Daffy in case you're interested.

Strange connection, I know. But then I imagine the Canadians chuckle at our antics quite a bit sometimes.

-rld