Ignorance and Congress... But I Repeat Myself

From time to time, Democrats and Republicans come together and agree nearly unanimously in such a way that makes me wonder if any of them are capable of rational thought at all.

This is one of those times:

In an election-year repudiation of President Bush, a House panel dominated by Republicans voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to block a Dubai-owned firm from taking control of some U.S port operations.

By 62-2, the Appropriations Committee voted to bar DP World, run by the government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, from holding leases or contracts at U.S. ports.

Bush has promised to veto any such measure passed by Congress, but there is widespread public opposition to the deal and the GOP fears losing its advantage on the issue of national security in this fall's elections.

"This is a national security issue," said Rep. Jerry Lewis, the chairman of the panel. The California Republican said the legislation would "keep America's ports in American hands."

No matter how little I think of congressmen, time and again they prove I think far too much of them.

Despite the profound ignorance of Lewis and others in Congress, America's ports have always been in American hands, the work carried out by American workers, as it has been done under foreign leadership for the last six years.

Whatever "rational" excuses they come up with, our ports have been run, as Ed Morrissey notes, by British, Saudi, Chinese, and Singaporean operators, yet when an Arab company steps into the mix, all of a sudden we worry about security. Hypocrites.

As I first stated on 2/25:

Dubai is one of our better Arab allies, and if we can't work with them, it seems to send the message we are unwilling to work with any Arab countries, at least when it directly affects us. Instead of having them literally buy into America, we sell them what our enemies have been whispering the entire time, "See? They will not accept you. Come back to us..."

I have no stake in Dubai. I know some there have had their hands in terrorism, and I know that some still may. I know they don't recognize Israel, and that bothers me.

At this point, there aren't a lot of good "outs."

If Bush stands his ground, then most rest of the Republican Party will break with him to chase the polls in what has become a surprise election year turkey. If Bush backs down, we could lose some of the fragile trust we've tried to develop in Arab countries since 9/11.

That emerging trust, fragile as it was, is now perhaps shattered.

Thanks, Congress.