The American Spectator

Wayne E. Greenough br> Hampstead, North Carolina /p>

A lot of people, perhaps including Brandon Crocker, just don’t seem to understand what is happening here. The Dubai Ports World deal is not a political problem but a failure of leadership. This isn’t about what Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid thinks, nor about what John McCain or Peter King thinks, nor about what the New York Times or CBS thinks.

Dubya needs to bring the mass of the American people along with him on the War on Terror, and he cannot appear to look as though he isn’t treating it seriously. The blogosphere is important and Rush Limbaugh has some weight, but even more important is the impression made upon the average American. The guy or gal who doesn’t watch Fox News, doesn’t listen to talk radio, reads only the front page, sports, fashion, and the funnies, and who takes his or her political stance more from Jay Leno than George Will — these are ultimately going to determine whether G.W. Bush successfully handles the Axis of Evil.

We are in a guns and butter type of war, far different from WW II, and we seem to be coasting in Lyndon Johnson mode rather than demanding sacrifice from all Americans. In other words, Bush no longer seems fervent about the importance of this conflict, and therefore neither will the citizenry. The signs of his lack of focus are legion, from his spending huge sums on questionable domestic programs to his hesitation to take down Syria, a major supporter of the Iraq insurgency and our weakest potential target. And on top of that, he now appears to be inviting the fox to guard the henhouse.

It doesn’t matter whether his casual attitude is genuine. It matters not at all whether DPW will do as good (or even better) a job than O&P. It would not matter if port security were somehow improved, nor if the UAE were to give the Pope a medal and welcome in Christian missionaries. The only thing that matters now is that our leader appears to be consorting with the enemy. And when it comes to leadership, appearances count.

p>Bush needs to decide — or have decided for him — whether it is more important for his goals to gain the phantasmagorical friendship of the UAE or to retain the iron-clad faith of the average American. That’s what this port deal is about. br> — Richard Donley br> New Lyme, Ohio /p>

Kudos to Mr. Crocker for finally putting the Dubai Ports imbroglio into its proper perspective. I have been amazed this past week watching the MSM, political pundits of all stripes and the Washington pols loudly and publicly demonstrate their profound ignorance about a deal none of them desire to understand. I am cautiously supportive of this deal but have been frustrated in my attempts to obtain necessary facts and details from the so-called guardians of the public’s right to know, the MSM. It has taken the combined information gleaned from the “new media’s” many websites to get what I consider to be a minimal baseline of understanding. The MSM have been completely derelict in their obligation to provide details and context and have taken to their comfortable modus operandi of easy and lazy politically biased commentary and judgment. It’s no longer necessary for citizens to be sufficiently informed so long as we are spoon fed the anti-Bush talking points. Once again, the MSM is happy to engage in gab sessions rather than put shoe leather to the pavement and gather facts.

p>Congress has been equally appalling in its failure to perform basic due diligence. This entire deal (secret process and all) comes about through a protocol created by congressional legislation. One would think that members would have a minimal working knowledge of this process, given the fact that it is routinely used, at least some 65 times during the past year alone. But no, certain members can’t wait to rush to an open microphone for their all important face time on national television to express their distain over a process of their own creation. I’ve no problem with a delay in order to obtain more information, I’m just sickened by the way the MSM and the pols, with an eye towards their respective agendas, have turned this entire process into a circus. As Mr. Crocker opines, our institutions are failing us. We deserve better than this. br> —