Mr. Dezenhall is half right. The American media have a harder time with inconsistency than with dishonesty. That is proven by the fact that they let Bush get away with lie after lie, but when he contradicts himself, or when Scottie McClellan says one thing one day and the opposite the next, e.g., about the outing of Valerie Plame, reporters will jump on it.

But THE AMERICAN PEOPLE don't have a harder time with inconsistency than dishonesty. Not at all. They hate being lied to. To a reporter, a lie is one side of a two-sided issue. To people, it's just a lie. And that's why people are turning away from the mainstream media in droves in favor of blogs.

I liked that last bit.. about emotion trumping fact.. and the walking of Shrubby across the lawn. I seriously doubt most people will get the irony of that, in that that's exactly what Shrubby (and most Repugs in recent history) does.

As for the Dubai port deal.. I guess I'd need to know more about "what they do" as managers.. Shrubby is saying "Americans still do the policing", but what exactly is a foriegn interest doing with our ports (even today)? Why isn't that something American companies are running? WTF is wrong with American Businesses that we continue to let foriegn interests "run" stuff for us?

I don't know that letting the Dubai deal happen is a big deal, if all they do is "rent spaces" to various business interests.. that's what it almost sounded like from one other report I read/heard.. If they don't have any control or influence over anything security related, it's probably not a big deal.. Of course, one fact in any event is, you are giving access to the ports and their "dirty little secrets" to people from a country known to have Al Qaeda connections. Even if they aren't "letting terrorists in", they can tell them where security is weakest.. and, the money they will make could end up being funneled to terrorists anyway.. In general, probably not a good idea to let UAE take over.. Some other Arab company/corp that does NOT have ties to terrorists.. sure.. but this deal is just a bad idea contrasted to Shrubby's "you're either with us or agin us" speaches.. and UAE seems "agin us", in the grander scope.

BS Alert...again!
Why didn't the Singapore deal go through as most experts figured? did Bandi Bush want to assure his brothers made out? I read 44 out of 100 of the worlds riches economies are corporations, not countries...what does this mean this selling out of American profit centers...a "United Corporate States of the World"? It's all sickening, why can't a rich American firm (not newly rich with our money Halliburton) take over operations! Soros are you listening?

PS...the news people are wimps. They freaked on Cheney's shooting (justly so, but never never got to the bottom of the fact that he was drunk because no one no one delays talking to cops after an incident unless they've got somethig to hide!)
I'd like to see them go rabid on Scotty for every issue from the DSM to Voting and everything inbetween. They should never be easy on them, I'm sick of the BJ's the news gives this administration. If every news media went in there like that being barred wouldn't be a 'fear' because they'd be replaced with another rabid news person...as they should!

He can not do all this crap alone ...

The legal structure of our congress does not support a multi-party system (e.g. three-plus parties), and is designed for a two party system.

It is a winner take all affair. This is not good, but it is reality.

Under the law of the House and Senate, "the Senate divides its tasks among 20 committees, 68 subcommittees, and 4 joint committees" ... "The chair of each committee and a majority of its members represent the majority party. The chair primarily controls a committee’s business" (link here).

Take an example where republicans win 30 seats, independents win 28 seats, greens win 29 seats, and democrats win 13 seats.

We can now easily see that this will not work well.

The republicans with 30 seats end up as the majority party. Remember that the majority party and the majority are not the same thing in our system. The majority, in this example, is 70 votes (greens, indys, and dems), but the majority party is the republicans because they got those 30 seats.

Therefore, they get the committee chair on each and every committee, and they get the majority number of members in each and every committee of congress.

So, in our system, the majority of seats would be governed by the minority republican 30 seats.

The polls show that the body politic favors democrats in the upcoming election, and voting democrats into the majority is the public will.

We would have an easier time prevailing upon the democrats to change the rules than we would the republicans who have changed the rules the other way. Remember when they changed the rule that those who were indicted for a felony could not lead the majority party? DeLay got that changed to further their "unitary congress", and even threatened to do away with the filibuster, the only thing remaining for the minority.

Committee membership, and therefore congressional control, should be pro rata based upon percentage of seats.

Committees should be distributed to all parties based upon percentage of seats in a pro rata configuration.

Otherwise, when independents, greens, democrats, and other parties fight each other the republicans always remain the majority party and therefore always control the congress.

This election is not the one to try and change the foundation of congress, but we do need to take over the majority party status and give it to the democrats this election.

So ...

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PS...Add another port to that Tampa approved its sale to the British company that's selling to the UAE. As for security, what security Homeland only checks 5% as it is and this deal has special favors, they don't have to keep records on US soil like the other companies so we can get court orders (but they promised to cooperate...yeah..duh!).
It is a big deal; we must stop giving our ability to earn money away. Like bush's recent deal leasing lands for quick cash profit and giving the buyer a brake on royalties...so a foreign country will lease our land, rape it and keep the profits, bush made a billion now and let go of ca-billions to come...his deals like this go on and on!

Chimpy says: "now lookee here....if yer onna phone, makin' deals with regimes that aid terrists, we wanna know 'bout it....but if I'm onna phone makin' deals with those regimes, it's nonna yer goddamned bidness....

LMAO Blow Me, I'm Irish.. too true!

I love it !
Their selling the port control to a government that has been known to give moola to Al Qaida

Whoever said the Republicans were horseshit at governing, lemme give 'em a big kiss, because this proves it once and for all

Hey, how come none of them whistle-teats aren't on here spewing today, hmmm ?

Here you people go again. Wrong as usual. No law was broken, but you will never find that out on this blog. As is the normal, you will make a blog of something that is completely incorrect, then it will dissapear never to be spoken of again. No retraction, you will just let the DISINFORMATION float.

Hey libs, the reason no of this stuff never goes your way is because ITS ALL A LIE! JUST LIKE THIS THREAD IS!

The truth HURTS

Floridiot spoke too soon....

Ricky are you for real? I believe just a day ago you also said selling these terminals to the ARAB GOVERNMENT (not a company as we are misled to believe) was NOT in the best interest of this country. So it is ok for you to say it but no one else?

Ricky when a foreign government is involved the LAW states minimum 45 day investigation with involved parties (that would be state heads) should be informed. Right now an Israel company (not government) is being stalled trying to buy an American company (not even a port)

Isn't it a strange coincidence that the Carlyle Group and Dubai are tied together? The same Carlyle Group that Neal, Marvin and Daddy Bush are tight with and get financial rewards from? Neal sold educational software to Dubai government.

Yeah the same Neal that brought the Silverado Bank down. The taxpayers picked that liability up too. And you would be the taxpayer just like us "liberals".

Realize that for every mistake this administration makes, Katrina, Iraq, No Child Left Behind, etc. you, Ricky, are having to pay out of your salary just like liberals. Claiming to be a Republican doesn't let you off.

So get off the Liberal/Republican crap and just work with all Americans to regain the economic strength and World respect we had six years ago.

Listen to your stations, long time Bush people are wondering what the hell is he thinking.

So.. Ricky.. when the guy who WROTE THE LAW says "this law was broken", you say he's wrong?

I think the -fact- that we're dealing with A) ports and B) Arab governments tied to terrorism SHOULD be enough to let ANY resonable person understand that the LAW says, national security may be impacted here, we should tell the president.

What's amazing is, your dillhole leader pulls something like this.. you get pissed about it.. but STILL try to disparage "liberals" ..

Ricky, thanks for another great post!
I'm just so upset that no of this stuff never goes our way! You're so rite an we librul is so dum!!

I have a big problam with the MSM, they have helped BUSH lie us into a war maby with out end, now HE is spying on the common AMERICAN, while HE AND THE REPUBLICAN party are selling off the EVERY THING THE CAN SELL AND NOT TO OTHER AMERICANS but to FOREIGN powers TELL ME HOW MUCH THE RED CHINES OWN OF OUR COUNTRY, We make nothing in this country any more it all has ben outsorced, to foreign countries. Here is another thing where is all of those big brave NRA, PEOPLE THAT SWORE TO DIE WITH GUNS IN THERE COLD HANDS, JUST MORE REPUBLICAN SUCK-UP LAP-DOG YELLOW COWARDS, THE WILL not serve in THE ARMED FORCES THEY wan"t other to do there BLEEDING AND DYING. THEN WE have DEMOCRAT LIKE LIEBERMAN, BIDEN BYARD, AND OTHERS IN THE DEMOCRAT PARTY THAT ARE VICHY DEMOCRATS OR AS THE NORWEIGNS CALLED THEM DURING WWII QUIZZLINGS. The reason for all caps I feel like no one is listing to our COUNTRY bein slowly being sold down the drain, and the CONSTITUTION AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS being SHIT ON H.D. COLE

I see it this way: the republicans are sinking in the polls across the country; an "issue" that would endear them back into the voters' hearts was necessary... prior to the 2006 elections --- "their" protests over the BUSH ADMIN GOING TOO FAR with handing over our ports to a country owned company that supports(ed) terrorism gives them value... shows that "they" are not the yes men/women to this admin that has taken down/apart our country. ...the timing is right; this admin (Rove, et al) has come up with similar "marketing techniques" in the past to achieve their objectives (this time around: save the Senate and House from being turned over to the Dems come Nov. by allowing an issue to be exploited for the purpose of "marketing" Republican politicians as independent and willing to fight the Bush Admin...).

I would be careful to think that this whole deal is on the up and up in more than the way it is being presented to us via the press...

Regards.

I heard that 2 of the 9-11 terrorists ( zero were from Iraq) were from the UAE and that at least one of the royal families hangs out with Osama. I also heard that the UAE was one of only three nations to recognize the Taliban as a government and they contributed resources to Al Qaida. What about the "with us or agin' us" speech?

Dubai company set to run U.S. ports has ties to administration
BY MICHAEL MCAULIFF
New York Daily News
WASHINGTON - The Dubai firm that won Bush administration backing to run six U.S. ports has at least two ties to the White House.

One is Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose department heads the federal panel that signed off on the $6.8 billion sale of an English company to government-owned Dubai Ports World - giving it control of Manhattan's cruise ship terminal and Newark's container port.

Snow was chairman of the CSX rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, the year after Snow left for President Bush's cabinet.

The other connection is David Sanborn, who runs DP World's European and Latin American operations and who was tapped by Bush last month to head the U.S. Maritime Administration.

The ties raised more concerns about the decision to give port control to a company owned by a nation linked to the Sept. 11 hijackers.

"The more you look at this deal, the more the deal is called into question," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who said the deal was rubber-stamped in advance - even before DP World formally agreed to buy London's P&O port company.

Besides operations in New York and Jersey, Dubai would also run port facilities in Philadelphia, New Orleans, Baltimore and Miami.

The political fallout over the deal only grows.

"It's particularly troubling that the United States would turn over its port security not only to a foreign company, but a state-owned one," said western New York's Rep. Tom Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Campaign Committee. Reynolds is responsible for helping Republicans keep their majority in the House.

Snow's Treasury Department runs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which includes 11 other agencies.

"It always raises flags" when administration officials have ties to a firm, Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y., said, but insisted that stopping the deal was more important.

The New York Daily News has learned that lawmakers also want to know if a detailed 45-day investigation should have been conducted instead of one that lasted no more than 25 days.

According to a 1993 congressional measure, the longer review is mandated when the company is owned by a foreign government and the purchase "could result in control of a person engaged in interstate commerce in the U.S. that could affect the national security of the U.S."

Congressional sources said the president has until March 2 to trigger that closer look.

"The most important thing is for someone to explain how this is consistent with our national security," Fossella said.

If the president does it, it's not against the law.

hey now, take it easy on ricky....

Chimpy's selling out America's security is entirely consistent with everything else the turd-flinging butt-monkey has done since the 1st stolen election....

For example, if trolls like Ricky were O.K. with Chimpy's allowing 200+ saudis (including BinLaden family members) -potenial material witnesses- to flee the U.S. just 2 days after 9-11 when all other air traffic was grounded, why would we expect this to influence their "thinking"?

Holy Cow!

Violence After Mosque Attack Kills 111
By ALEXANDRA ZAVIS, Associated Press Writer

2 hours ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen shot dead 47 civilians and left their bodies in a ditch near Baghdad Thursday as militia battles and sectarian reprisals followed the bombing of a sacred Shiite shrine. Sunni Arabs suspended their participation in talks on a new government.

At least 111 people were believed killed in two days of rage unleashed by Wednesday's attack on the Askariya shrine in Samarra, a mostly Sunni Arab city 60 miles north of Baghdad.

"if trolls like Ricky were O.K. with Chimpy's allowing 200+ saudis (including BinLaden family members) -potenial material witnesses- to flee the U.S. just 2 days after 9-11 when all other air traffic was grounded, why would we expect this to influence their "thinking"?"

oops - I meant to add that Chimpy spared these potential material witnesses the inconvenience of any significant interrogation, questioning or searches...

(shit, even the French would've had Inspector Clouseau ask 'em SOMETHING.......'Do yoo 'ave a lie-SANCE for that meeenkey?')

"BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen shot dead 47 civilians and left their bodies in a ditch near Baghdad Thursday as militia battles and sectarian reprisals followed the bombing of a sacred Shiite shrine. Sunni Arabs suspended their participation in talks on a new government.

At least 111 people were believed killed in two days of rage unleashed by Wednesday's attack on the Askariya shrine in Samarra, a mostly Sunni Arab city 60 miles north of Baghdad."

A python quote: 'come now, this is supposed to be a HAPPY occasion....lets' not bicker and argue over who killed who.....'

Chimpy says: 'let freedom reign'.....
Sycophant #3 says: 'sir, I think you mean 'ring'.'
Chimpy: 'how'dya like a ticket to Gitmo fuckface?'

Katherine - very interesting point...so strange how Delay came out against the Port deal at least in front of the cameras. Delay is tight with Rove, so an excellent ploy to become a 'good guy'. At least until after he is re elected. McCain has his eye on 2008 but this siding with Bush just flushed his chances.

The Bush's have slept with the Saudis every way possible. From Arbusto to letting Osama go. Osama was in our hands in Afganistan but was allowed to escape because Bush suddenly detoured the military to Iraq.

Prince Bandar had dinner with Bush the night after 9/11 suddenly before the no-fly was lifted, all the Bin Laden family members were allowed to leave the country. CIA said they 'checked' passports.
Money comes and goes from Sun Trust in Florida to Dubai, guess who funnels it. And Tampa has voted to ALLOW the Port deal no discussion 5-1. So very, very interesting.

I understand the purpose of this blog is to clean up the totally corrupt voting practices in this country but Americans have to realize the rotten fish starts at the head and until it is thrown out, we will never reclaim our voting rights.

I use to respect McCain, but he nothing but a sell out like that piece of shit LIEberman. He has his lips super glued to the noe cons bungholes. How could McCain do this after what happened in 2000? I will laugh my ass off if turd blossom pulls off a repeat in 08, lol.

Counts on the civil war in Iraq are going up.. 130 now listed on RawStory.com.. All the while, the U.S. is saying "it's only like 40 people, and 11 mosques.. nothing serious", despite the claim of 40 mosques and 130 people (so far).

The U.S. fucked up royaly in getting involved in Iraq.. we deposed a leader (as bad as he was) that had stability in that country. Now we have a theocracy running the show and engaging in a crusade against other people (the people that were in charge before). Shiites are killing Suni with the government's blessing (say the Suni), so the Suni are retaliating.. now it's decending into civil war.. fun!

#19
Jo,
"..What about the "with us or agin' us" speech?.."
Yes, good point! Someone should post a clip of that.
I'm still buying that bourbon though.
Jesus. Hell in a hand-basket.

Has anyone considered the Constitution in all of this? From what I read, I can't see where the executive has the power to make the deal in the first place. Article 1 section 8 says, "Congress shall have the power...to regulate commerce with foreign nations,". Am I missing something here? Wouldn't the selling of an AMERICAN port to a FOREIGN GOVERNMENT owned company come under this provision? Is this just another example of the Congress relinquishing it's power to the executive, an executive, by the way, that is totally out of the loop? Who the hell is running this country anyway?!

Any mid-level manager or traffic manager in DPW would have access to manifests and information on what containers were held up for security searches.

They could then, without much difficulty, reverse engineer or at least get a good sense of the algorithms that Homeland Security uses to pick which containers to search. They could us this information to falsify manifests in such a way to eliminate or at least reduce the chances of getting caught shipping WMD into the US.

The chance of an American being motivated to do something like this is much less than than the chances of a foreign employee from the middle east.

That one reason it is very bad policy - there are many more.

Roger RE: #30 - Bush didn't even KNOW about the deal until after it was done.

A deal that allows an Arab-owned company in Dubai to manage six major U.S. ports was scrutinized for security risks by an obscure intelligence agency that has existed for only four months, American officials said on Wednesday.

Go read the entire article here, it just keeps getting weirder.

Guys, get over it! No law was broken if he's not held accountable. /sarcasm

By the way, yes the law was broken yet again. The law has been broken everywhere. Congress is a compromised whorehouse and of course the republicans are only going to rubberstamp the agenda again, and have it backfire on them later.

They are all liars. The independents are going to come and sweep them all out of there, we're heading to court for instant runoff elections... No democrat seats will soon be safe either.

Doug

Doug E #33

Once again you post a falsehood without a link.

Please post a link that shows polls indicating that the public wants independents to replace democrats.

The polls I am aware of show that the voting public wants democrats to replace republicans in the upcoming election.

I think you know what the majority party in congress has power to do. And what the minority power has no power to do.

Even if independents replaced all democrats, nothing would change and the congress would continue to be a rubber stamp majority party.

The only thing that would change by your version of politics, is that you would be blaming the victim independents rather than the republicans.

I have noticed that a lot of republicans are calling themselves "independents" all of a sudden. Like Snottie's mom for instance down in Texas.

Karl Rove is the architect of this ideology. So ...

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Maybe they are calling themselves "Independents" because they are ashamed to wear the stench this administration is creating for the republican party.

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Jo #35

Yes, if we give them the benefit of the doubt.

But the independent candidates will help keep the republican majority in power.

So even if 100% of the democrats were replaced with independents, the same majority republican party would still be there and the new victims would be the independents.