To my main man Andrew...

As I do everyday, after I finish my blogging, I check out what Andrew Sullivan is up to on his site. I came across this little piece on the Dubai port situation (http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/) under the entry "TCS on P&O." He writes at the end,

"...people are worried about the ports, they need to scrutinize the Coast Guard and the administration's own DHS. Much of the rest is xenophobic nonsense. Leave that crap to Lou Dobbs."

Let me get some thing straight about my view on doing business with Arab nations. I have often written in the past about the importance of opening trade with Arab countries and giving the poorer nations Federal aid, especially with those who have been our allies in the war against terror. Much like the carrot and the horse metaphor, if they work with us they should be rewarded. But what sort of reward is selling off our ports? That's like leading a horse with a carrot and then feeding them lobster. This isn't xenophobic nonsense, it's prudent policy. It is not safe to have a foreign country, any foreign country, build and maintain vital security sections of the nation. It just isn't. There's nothing wrong with trading and encouraging investment with Arab nations, but you don't need to go overboard with it. What Bush and Co. need to do is go back to the drawing board and find possible investments for Arab companies that don't endanger security interests. I have an idea, maybe we could sell FEMA to them. Lord knows they can't screw it up any worse than we already have.