Politics: Port Anyone?

We have here a photo of a port. I don't know exactly which one it is. They all look the same to me. Today the news in the USA is that President Bush has finally threatened to use his veto if the Congress decides vote against the takeover of American ports by a company owned by the United Arab Emirates.

What a surprise it must be to Bush that Congress, who usually rubberstamp every daft idea that looney bugger comes up with, might actually disagree with him...and have the audacity to say so out loud. Has Congress finally discovered where the testicles were hidden?



I believe that there is a more sinister reason for handing over strategic elements of the economy and infrastructure to Bush's mates in the Middle-East: A trade off. It makes sense. Bush and his cronies, domestic and foriegn, are all in the oil business. They rule their respective countries with regal disreguard for liberty and fairplay. Their cabinets and assemblies rubberstamp all their pet projects, plans, and schemes. Life, as they know it, would change very little should they just trade places...and peoples.



Congress is considering legislation to prohibit any foriegn ownership of ports in the USA. This sounds good on paper. There was similar legislation on the books concerning ownership of TV networks. This did not stop Rupert Murdoch from gaining control of Fox. All he did was wave a billion or two in the faces of salivating Republican overlords, and promise to dedicate his new "news" channel to promote their interests (and his own), and they granted him citizenship one day and gave him control of a media empire the next. Why not do the same for their friends in the Middle East. America is, after all, a melting pot.

This man was called Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia. He was an immigrant to America who gained control of the docks in Brooklyn. He didn't buy them from a friendly government, nor did he work his way up the corporate ladder. He was a founding member of the modern MAFIA. He was a gangster. Working through the trade unions, and using murder, blackmail and extorsion, he managed to control all the goods coming into and going out of New York. He made a lot of money. Money was his only motivation and he was willing to take extreme measures to insure it's continuous flow into the family coffers. Does this remind you of anyone? He was a very bad man...but he was chasing the American dream.



Ask yourselves this: When the new owners of the ports start work, whose dream will they be chasing?