Haulin_in_Dixie

Well since the announcement the fuel prices here have gone up over 10 cents a gallon. Hmmmmmm....

Ok left wingers.... the eastern ports are to be sold to an American company. Keep up the good work, now lets get China out of the LA ports. Maybe we can get a tough Republican in and go back down take over the Panama again... Yeah, and what ever happened to the Democratic party of Truman and some of those? How did Kennedy, Pulosi and the others take it over?

A one party system will never work in this country, no not even the Republicans. It takes at least two. We need a new party to get going and bring politics back to the American public.

I may at some time not vote for a particular Republican cantidate, but I would never vote for a Democrat unless there is a massive party principal change.

If some of this hate and vengence aimed for Bush were rechanneled to fixing the system, maybe we could get someplace. See I cannot even consider any party that has for its main and only position one of hate that sounds like a second grade recess argument. We need to get back to making America the great nation, blessed by God, that it has always been. Instead of accusing the American government of wrong doing and building it to hate, get in there and fix it, correct it.

marine4life

let me repeat a quote from a great president and a great man

"Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines."
- Commander-in-Chief President Ronald Reagan

As long as you have us, you have no problem. Sooner or later, everyone has to die. The trick is to die young as late as possible. Don't worry boys, the marines are here. OOHRAH

MCMLV

We are digressing from the original theme, but for whatever it is worth, I think that Truman style Democrats still exist, just like Reagan Democrats, and Reagan Republicans. I think the question is how do we take back the controls and the agendas. "Undesirables" exist on both sides, and I think it is a lot easier to admit to that if we leave names out.

Having said that, I think it is a shame that we as a country had to get to this point, to have to resort to this type of tactics to maintain safety in our land. I do think that DPI running the ports would not in itself presented a security issue, but the real world being what it is, it would have created a potential weak spot from a security point of view.

P.J

Amen, where do I sign up?!!!

Begle1

http://www.lp.org/

bama

the mass majority of americans did not want them to have control of our ports,,as it turns out,they wont..........whats the argument?....

Begle1

The argument is over the fact that the mass majority of Americans didn't want them to have control of our ports for mainly racial and ethnic reasons.

The initial knee-jerk reaction to this was a perfect example of the anti-Arab racism prevalent in the US. The same thing happens all the time with any other country, no issue. It should be an issue, but nobody cares. An Arab country tries to do it, and immediately more than half the country thinks Bush is totally insane and irresponsible, everybody immediately assumes we're going to be nuked, Senators and Representatives respond to grassroots protest and start firing off letters of damnation... All over what is statistically and historically a drop in the pond, but was blown way out of control because of racial prejudace.

If a massive terrorist attack strikes the United States in the next few years, I would not want to be an Arab, because they're probably all going to be rounded up and thrown in concentration camps before anybody realizes that they're over-reacting. The way America responded to these port purchases is borderline hysteria.

This port fiasco is not a good precedent for this country.

MCMLV

...just about everything we do lately. Terry Schiavo[sp], Katrina, oil supplies, I could go on an on.

When are we going to learn as a nation and as a people that everything we do has and will have consequences, some at the worst or most unanticipated time.
Just because a majority had an stand point on this, that standpoint is not necessarily a correct one. Majorities have been know to be wrong on just as many occasions as single persons. The problem with that is that when proven wrong the majorities will try to find a scape goat and blame everything on the poor soul,or just blame the minority party.

dezeldog

Here is my take on this port deal.

Yes the majority of Americans didn't want this deal to go through, That in isself ought to tell you something. MAJORITY!!! It was bypartisan not the standard dem. repub. thing. I don't see any difference in the anti Arab feelings today than the anti Japanese feelings of years ago. They attacked our country and killed our people, how should we feel??? Two of the terrorists involved in this vicious attack were from this very country. We are now dealing with a radical Islamic group that is bent on the distruction of America and they just happen to be Arabs. Figure that one out.

This might have been a great deal for both sides however we'll never know because THEY withdrew form the deal. I don't think that it was unreasonable to ask them to wait the STANDARD 45 day waiting period for security. This is normal in any procedure for all deals regardless of race, color or creed. It was they that decided to with draw.

Personally I am thrilled that our government FINALLY responded to the views of the MAJORITY of Americans. I'm sure that it was quite painful for King George; however, it was the will of the people. Right or wrong, it was still the will of the of the majority of Americans, after all is that not what our government is about. Of the people, by the people and for the people.

Personaly I am pleased that the security and management of our ports will be in the hands of Americans. After all, who better to do the right thing for our country than fellow Americans. Hopefully this could be the begining of the end of outsourcing jobs, especially ones as vital to our country as our national security.

This was by no means a knee- jerk reaction as some have claimed.This was as overwhelming response of the American people to something that we felt as a threat to this country after 9-11. Was it not Arab terrorists who were responsible, thus the standard 45 day waiting period for security reasons, reguardles which country it is. Thats all folks.

Jim

truckjunkie

Couldn't have said it better myself. Nice post. Here, in a nutshell is what we just told all of the moderate Arab and non-Arab countries around the world:

- You can buy our planes
- You can buy our helicopters
- You can buy our goods and services
- You can host our call centers
- You can host airbases and our servicemen and women for us in your country
- You can host naval bases and our servicemen and women for us in your country
- You can provide us intelligence on terrorist activities
- You can treat us well while we're in your country

BUT
- You cannot come into the United States and expect us to treat you as you have treated us.
- We'll allow a Chinese state owned company to manage terminals, but not an Arabic state owned company
- We're OK with having this same Arabic state owned company managing terminals on foreign soil that ship hundreds of thousands of containers of cargo into the U.S. every year, but they can't manage the same kind of terminals in the U.S.
- Even signing up for three times the scrutiny of any other foreign-managed terminal is subjected to in this country is not good enough - you still aren't going to be allowed to do it.
- And our politicians and union leaders stand up on their platforms and say their decision is not racially motivated

If I was one of these moderate Arab countries, I'd be saying thanks but no thanks United States. You need us a lot more than we need you.....

truckjunkie

You do realize that the security and management of our ports were never at risk, don't you??? DPW was going to manage the TERMINALS, not the ports. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE. I don't know how many times I've said this - the security of the ports and the management of the ports are always going to be in the hands of the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, and the Port Authorities.

Sigh - and THIS is the majority opinion in this country? What do you do when the majority opinion in the country can't even articulate the actual issue? Glad I'm in the minority on this one...

Begle1

It's exactly like the Japanese following Pearl Harbor. I'm confident that US citizens of Arab ancestory will have their freedoms seriously routed following another major terrorist attack. The pan-Arab distrust in America is as illogical, irrational and will prove itself to be just as irrevelant as the internment of the Japanese in 1941.

Believing in the majority is dangerous, as the majority (or the mob) can swing to irrationality very quickly. The WWII concentration camps were a product of mob rule. It is the president's job to resist that initial majority opinion and see the country through that perilous time with minimal Constitutional alteration.

The anti-Arab mob that reared it's face following the "breaking news" of the port deal absolutely shocks me. You cannot say that the deal was initially opposed because of a broader economic initiative; within the first few days, everybody opposed it only because the buying country was the United Arab Emirates; they jumped to instant conclusions that the security of our country was in jeopardy and that the President was courting terrorists. It is insane. Thank God the President defended this against the mob; hopefully it will indicate that he'll defend US Arabs against the mob following another terrorist attack as well.

A Democracy is 51% of people destroying the freedoms of the other 49%. American democracy is a system where justice is provided to all as a foundation for their freedoms, and it is the President's job to safegaurd that justice.

truckjunkie

So are you saying, that in the event of another terrorist attack, if any of the terrorists are - oh let's say German and English, are you thinking that maybe we need to war with all Germans and Britons? Or maybe one of them is from Mexico - do we then go to war with all Hispanics? Guess you'll be going to war with a lot of us on this page, 'cuz I'm sure a lot of us carry at least one of those bloodlines. Please enlighten us...

Mexstan

Hey! Are you taking a swipe at me

truckjunkie

LOL - Mexstan - I was wondering if you were reading this... No - I wasn't taking a swipe at you :-)