Biden Blasts Bigots, McCain Manhandles Hillary
As is always the case, the Sunday morning talk shows created more than a few notable quotes. The funniest soundbite of the morning shows came from Slow Joe 2.0 (as Hugh Hewitt likes calling Sen. Biden):
Biden said the Bush administration had caused “a diplomatic problem” by not briefing congressional leaders on the Dubai ports deal before criticism reached a fevered pitch. “The diplomatic problem has been brought on by this administration’s tone-deafness,” he told Fox. “What they should have done, knowing this [ports] application was being made, they should have brought in Republican leaders in the first place. They should have gone through this thoroughly and showed everybody what was going on.”
Biden thinks that it’s the Bush Administration’s fault for not leading loud-mouthed senators by the hand through the process? Biden makes it sound like the hyperbole could all have been avoided had the Bush Administration laid out all the facts that anyone on the, say, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee could’ve had a staffer find out?
The only reason why this got so blown out of proportion is because (a) loud-mouthed politicians wanted to sound important and (b) because the Agenda Media whipped the public into a frenzy by running one factless article after another on the subject.
In fact, it wasn’t until talk radio, starting with Rush, and the Right blogosphere got involved that we started learning pertinent information about the deal. In fact, at the risk of sounding self-important, this blog was one of the first to tackle this issue in a substantive, serious way. (I’d hate to think that senators can’t find out more about national security issues than bloggers find in 24-36 hrs.)
“The fact of the matter is that there are some people, I’m sure this is anti-Arab-bashing,” Biden told “Fox News Sunday,” adding, “I’m sure that’s true.” But in the next breath Biden said that Arab allies throughout the Mideast should be treated differently from European nations. “You don’t sell the same aircraft to Saudi Arabia, our great ally, that you do to England or to France or to a NATO country. So there’s always been a distinction.”
Sadly, Joe, I’m afraid you’re right. And it didn’t have to happen if only people weren’t pre-disposed to thinking ill of ALL Arabs.
Appearing on ABC’s “This Week”, John McCain took Hillary to the proverbial woodshed on the Dubai Ports’ issue, saying
Sen. John McCain said Sunday that the reaction to a Dubai-based company’s proposed takeover of several U.S. shipping terminals has reached the point of “near-hysteria,” singling out Sen. Hillary Clinton for criticism. “The near-hysteria about this is not warranted, particularly in light of the other major crises that we’re facing throughout the world,” McCain told ABC’s “This Week.”
The Arizona Republican criticized Mrs. Clinton for urging that all foreign operation of U.S. ports be banned, warning that if she gets her way, “We’ve got a lot of disinvestment to do. Does that mean the British are not allowed?” McCain posited, before reminding that convicted al Qaeda shoe bomber Richard Reid “was British, as you know. I think obviously this has to be looked at on a case-by-case basis,” he added, rejecting Mrs. Clinton’s blanket ban. McCain said that the United Arab Emirates, home to Dubai Ports World, is “freer than China,” reminding that “700 [U.S.] warships have visited Dubai.”
The ‘debate’ started off as more heat than light. Now serious people are weighing in, from Sen. McCain to Charles Krauthammer and Bill Kristol to the Heritage Foundation. I hope that President Bush follows these gentlemen’s defense up with a series of speeches similar to the one he did on Iraq just before Christmas. That got Democrats back on their heals for awhile.
When the American people know the facts about port management and port security, the more they’ll see this as just another time when politicians started talking before they had a clue on what’s going on. When they learn that Democrats tried politicizing national security again, they’ll express their disgust in November.
Cross-post at LetFreedomRing
February 27th, 2006 at 1:42 am
I’m with you on this issue. What is amazing to me is the MSM’s ability to ignite “Bush deranged syndrome” even among conservatives. Hugh Hewitt, Ace of Spades, Captain’s Quarters and many other conservative blogs immediately bought into the idea that Bush was letting our security collapse by agreeing to this sale of these Port leases. I might be willing to believe many negative things about Bush, but you’ve got to be pretty susceptible, guileless and extraordinarily intellectually unsophisticated to be sucked up by the MSM propaganda into believing that Bush would leave this country more vulnerable to terrorist attack. Wisdom is a fleeting and inconstant companion to these commentators.