Inside the Ring [Why Bush wanted Dubai Port deal]

Washington Times ^ | July 20, 2007 | Bill Gertz

[airborne]

I have a feeling that the CIA may have hung Bush out to dry.

Or at least elements within the CIA did.

[NRA2BFree]

I have a feeling that the CIA may have hung Bush out to dry.

Or at least elements within the CIA did.

That could be. It definitely wasn't very smart of him to leave Clinton's people in the CIA.

[George W. Bush]

The people who opposed the deal still won’t care. Hannity isn’t going to come out and say he was wrong about it, and this is the issue that caused me to stop paying attention to him.

Hannity should probably be ignored just for being Hannity with his giant bulbous head that is so swollen it can't fit through a door.

Though I was bashed repeatedly by the (now-banned) Harpy faction over it, I was an early Brownie-basher and a FEMA/Katrina basher. And I also was among the first here to demand that Aunt Harriet get thrown under the bus instead of put on the Court. So I'm not afraid to bash and I'm no Bushbot either.

But I never saw the precise rationale for any FReepers to join in on opposing Dubai Ports. I think that it was a Dim measure, meant to make them look tough on terror, particularly to the moronic hordes in their primary plantations in the east coast port cities.

I think the Dims managed to look tough on terror to a bunch of clueless nitwits who were easily panicked. And they fell for it. And FReepers helped the Dims in this little agitprop drama.

[George W. Bush]

Next thing you know, Harriet Miers is actually a Constitutional originalist

I think Bush is hiding Aunt Harriet from Congress out of fear she'll open her mouth and look like a complete idiot. She's a sweet woman and should probably retire and raise 30-40 cats. Maybe do some knitting and charity work. And find a man. She's not ugly or anything.

[George W. Bush]

So I guess Rush was right once again and the knee-jerk xenophobes around here were wrong...again.

You may recall that Rush has made reference before to getting a few "special phone calls" on such matters. He mentioned it recently about getting a few calls to get him to favor the shamnesty meltdown. They try to spin him because he has such influence. He's indicated he doesn't always believe what they try to spin.

Rush is shrewd and he's higher on the food chain than we are. But they can spin him too, sooner or later, at least on a few issues and no one is infallible (except the pope if you're Catholic). Still, you have to admire Rush's batting average. He's a Babe Ruth of spin. He's got a nose for it.

[Killborn]

IIRC, she still has the same job, vetting judicial candidates.

[Killborn]

If it’s “Iran World” or “Venezuela World”, the outrage would be understandable. Even “Saudi World” would be enough for concern. Along with Kuwait and Israel, UAE is one of the most reliable country in this messed-up region.

They even have many of our naval bases there.

[1035rep]

If some ‘talkers’/Freepers can’t think strategically, that’s their problem NOT the President’s . . . BTW: Rush called this one.

BTTT 

[George W. Bush]

IIRC, she’s the president’s personal attorney, a different and separate job from White House counsel. She’s a close advisor. And she writes such sweet cards and notes. She’s probably very easy to work with, very accommodating, knows his moods, competent but not a brilliant jurist.

[taxesareforever]

They did...but they got completely shouted down.

Sorry, I do not believe that to be true. This is the first I have heard this about the Dubai deal. That's what I mean about not stating the facts to the American people.

[Killborn]

Considering she vets all of the President’s judicial nominees, I have no doubt that she shares many of the PResident’s ideas on judicial restraint and Constitutional originalism.

But then again, even though I have confidence in her ability, the fact that the interview process in the Senate would compromise the PResident’s executive privelege would mean that the process could proceed in only two ways:

1) Miers go ahead while exposing the President.

2) Miers withdraws to protect the President’s privilege.

I have to admit, the President didn’t quite think this nomination through. It’d be the equivalent of say nominating a CIA agent (someone like Johnny Spann, Wild Bill Donovan, or Cofer Black not Plame or any of those politics before nation traitors) as UN Ambassador:

“Tell us your qualifications, Mr. ...uh... “Smith.”

“Well, in [redacted] I was responsible for [censored] and conducted meetings with [eyes only]. For that action I recieved the [classified] and a jar of eyeballs.”

[taxesareforever]

What part of "Secret Agent" don't you understand? I mean, seriously!

Come on. We have a disfunctional CIA which is so inept it is useless. When was the last time you have heard of the CIA really doing their job. Let me see, when did the CIA become a player for the democrats? In the Carter era or was it in the Clinton era? Whichever, the U.S. would be billions ahead to employ Duane "Dog" Chapman in place of the whole CIA. Your "Secret Agent" stuff is from comic books. The real CIA has a hotline to the New York Times and any time they can spike the Bush administration they dial up their pals at the Times.

[airborne]

I left to go to the store, and happened to catch a repeat of Sean Hannity ( http://www.hannity.com/index/bookclub ) on the AM dial.

I heard him refer to a book, ‘SABOTAGE’,(http://www.amazon.com/gp/quickclick/1596985100/ref=ac_bb6_,_amazon/105-1194477-3798829?ie=UTF8&tag=hannitycom-20&link%5Fcode=qcb&creativeASIN=1596985100 ) which talks about the very thing we are discussing!

From the Sean Hannity website - “Book Description -
Using his first-rate sources in all levels of national security-from field officers to high-ranking analysts to former intelligence heads-bestselling author Rowan Scarborough reveals how CIA bureaucrats are undermining President Bush and the War on Terror through disinformation, incompetence, and outright sabotage.”

[Killborn]

Has he talked about the DPW situation?

Hannity was one of the most vocal opponents. He may have had a change of heart.

[airborne]

No. About the CIA. Whether they’re reliable. It kind of dovetails into the DPW situation, since this story is basically from the CIA.

The big quesion is - Is the CIA trustworthy??

[soccermom]

But the important thing is that talk show hosts are foreign policy experts and they know best.

[soccermom]

“Our side of the aisle”? Are you on Hillary and Schumer’s side of the aisle?

[hinckley buzzard]

If this was in fact the motivation behind the Dubai ports deal, the Administration should have done better prep work behind the scenes to get the damn thing passed

Well-made point and the bottom line, despite all the re-hashing going on. In fact it was handled clumsily.

[soccermom]

“So I guess Rush was right once again and the knee-jerk xenophobes around here were wrong...again. I didn’t think that being knee-jerk reactionary and being Conservative went hand in hand very well. “ Personally, I don’t rely on Rush or any other host to validate my thoughts, but you nailed this one!

[soccermom]

No, as I recall Rush supported the Dubai ports deal. And, while I don’t remember his exact words, I’m betting the phrase “whipped into a frenzy” was employed.