by Ben Adler, CampusProgress.org
I know its old news that the President is prone to malapropisms but I can't help finding it embarassing when the leader of the free world says ''I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company,'' That's right, he can't even refer to our dear allies the British (note they aren't called "the Great British") correctly. But, of course, the quote above, which was from Bush's defense of the decision to outsource our port security to a Dubai-based company highlights a more serious problem with Bush's governance. As David Corn smartly notes:
The problem with the Bush administration's support for a move by a United Arab Emirates-based firm to take over operation of six major American ports -- as well as the shipment of military equipment through two additional ports -- is not that the corporation in question is Arab owned.
The problem is that Dubai Ports World is a corporation....
Like most American firms, Arab-owned firms are more concerned about satisfying shareholders than anything else. As such, they are poor stewards of ports and other vital pieces of the national infrastructure that still require the constant investment of public funds, as well as responsible oversite by authorities that can see more than a bottom line, in order to maintain public safety -- not to mention the public good of modern, efficient transportation services.
Here, once again, President Bush gets caught playing fast and loose with our national security in his zeal for privatization--and he tries to change the subject to whether a corporation is being "treated fairly." What a crock! Hopefully liberals will reframe the issue around the question of privatizing important government functions rather than the relative merits of firms based in different countries.
