The Destooling Of Bush

Now that Dubai Ports World has decided to hand over operation of its U.S. ports to a U.S. company (as yet unnamed), one would expect things should begin to settle down a bit.

Hardly.

The DPW affair has exposed Bush for the hypocrite he really is and it has caused a major shift in how he is viewed in his own country. Bush was caught defending his actions: the invasion of Iraq, illegal domestic spying, suspension of constitutional rights and torture under the banner of protecting Americans against any and all terrorist threats. Despite outrageous abuses of power, he justified it all on the basis of guarding against even the slightest possibility of a threat. Until it involved a global business deal.

Suddenly, it was no threat, despite the UAE having had clear connections with the actual perpetrators of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Was it a big deal? Probably not. But that is hardly the point.

Bush's unbelievably virulent defence of the DPW ports deal, including the threat to veto a bill to block it, told many Americans one thing. Everything Bush had been telling them up to the time the deal came to light was a lie. To have surrendered rights and freedoms; to have submitted to intrusions on personal privacy; and to have lived in fear of an unseen threat, was for nothing.

Bush trapped himself. Unprepared for either the exposure or reaction, Bush was caught off guard - and so was Rove. No script, no strategic plan and no way out. And now it looks like it won't go away.

Congress, for so long little more than a rubber stamp for all things Bush, has handed the president his head. By threatening a bill to block DPW and then mustering enough votes to override a presidential veto, the US Congress has taken control of government away from the administration. And now the distancing begins.

This, from the Washington Post via Liberal Catnip, speaks volumes.

"We want to protect the American people," House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) said this morning. "We've been doing it the last four and a half years. We fought a war in Iraq, fought a war in Afghanistan, stood up to the Homeland Security Department. We will continue to do that. We will maybe have our differences, but we think we're going to continue to" oppose the Dubai deal."(Emphasis mine).

Even before that, conservative Republicans were starting to distance themselves from this president. He has become a liability.

But now, the Bush cargo culture is starting to lose heart. They are finally recognizing that Bush has been pulling the wool over, not just the eyes of his opponents, but theirs too.

From this whiny-ass-titty-baby comes an interesting comment.

This should end the ports controversy, but it won't. From now until November, we'll hear about the "deal," how badly it was handled by the administration, etc. What we won't hear about, is whether there was ever any substance to the claim that DP World's involvement in managing port terminals posed any security risk. Nor will we hear about the other port facilities that are already being managed by foreign companies, unless a way can be found to spin that fact against the administration.

Assrocket should pull his pants up, put his hat on straight and act like an adult. It goes deeper than that. Bush's behaviour over the DPW deal is more than "mishandling". It is viewed as a betrayal. Brother John and his fellow travelers can take heart that they helped fuel that perception.

Hindraker's concern with "substance" is laughable. Or perhaps he's forgotten the Swiftboating of John Kerry, or the various smears against Jack Murtha, or any other number of dishonest attacks in which he was a willing participant.

So, maybe he's right. Maybe the cost of all this is that the Democrats will take a "no substance" issue and run with it. And, maybe they won't. They have accomplished what was necessary. However, if they do, the Republicans will recognize it quickly. It is, after all, a Republican tactic.