President George D. P. W. Bush
"But in America the sovereignty of the people is neither hidden nor sterile as with some other nations; mores recognize it, and the laws proclaim it; it spreads with freedom and attains unimpeded its ultimate consequences." --Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Ch. 4, translation by George Lawrence.
Foreign ownership of American port operations adds a variable of risk that also infringes on our very sovereigty and freedom, not to mention our security. The American people and Congress rightly smelled a rat with this deal, and, thankfully, called the Orcon man. Allowing such transactions to go forward is at least a symbolic sacrifice of sovereignty, and, at worst a recipe for self-destruction, or, rather, delegated destruction.
Not all business deals where 7 billion dollars changes hands is necessarily good for America. It may be a nice lubricant for "the global economy," but two gents from the U. A. E. helped mess our economy up pretty bad a few years ago, I seem to recall....
I know our President has an M. B. A. and all, but it should not blind him to the sovereignty issue and the fact that surely our freedom is not spread by this deal. The Oxford English Dictionary defines "being oneself" as being "without hypocricy or constraint." Surely, we would feel constrained knowing our very ports are in the hands of a foreign nation that does/did business with terrorists and has plenty of its citizens who are or morally support such.
I guess when you know people first-hand it is hard to hurt their feelings, and you can picture them getting offended and stabbing you in the back to return the favor, but it is the right call on this one. We don't run their ports, nor should we. It is one thing to be buddies, it is quite another to trust one's points of entry to anyone but oneself. Gee, "Brokeback Mountain" comes to mind....
All foreign companies running port operations should be required to transfer all operations to American companies. Completely independent subsidiaries can be discussed, but we have to get the ball rolling on this.
I hope my artwork brings the folly of our ways home. I wonder how long the L. A. ports have been run by China and Indonesia. Cricky!
We really need to get a grip on this now. Not doing anything is like how Detroit does not plow all its neighborhood streets of snow.
It is unacceptable and should not be allowed to happen in America. If Detroit cannot run itself, then some governmental entity should run it for them. Likewise, if Homeland Security cannot get our national security truly in order, the citizens should receive monies for security operations such as the Minutemen of Arizona.
This winking little boy, "Captain Hamad" is on the Kid's Page of the D. P. World website, along with his friend, the unnamed seagull. Perhaps you will allow me to name him "Abgulla".
The instincts of the American people are good. We have a good nose. Maybe it was winking Captain Hamad. By the way, the winking Flash image of him was pulled during the brouhaha that just ended. Let history judge us and Marcel Duchamp.
Special thanks to Roy Zornow and Tom Marchione for helping me to actualize my artistic vision on this one! You guys are awesome!
