Portgate re-revisited: George W. Bush is the greatest president in American history

Well, I got it wrong. Bush is right. I'm wrong. There's nothing wrong with foreign control of U.S. ports. Nothing at all. It's not a security risk. How silly of me to think so.

Bush: "This deal wouldn't go forward if we were concerned about the security for the United States of America."

Phew. That makes me feel better. I mean, there's no reason not to trust America's Great Leader, is there? If he says all is well, then all must be well. It's as simple as that.

Let me pause to kowtow. Or to genuflect. Whatever works. It's all good.

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And yet: "People don't need to worry about security"?

The Carpetbagger Report says that "this is one of those quotes that may linger a while". And: "The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee published a fairly devastating fact-sheet on port security, the concerns Dems have raised on the issue, and the legislative efforts that have been rejected by some of the same congressional Republicans who are raising questions about the UAE deal now." Via TCR, Kevin Drum hopes the issue of port security will now be taken more seriously and Matt Yglesias think that now might be a good time to challenge Republicans on port security.

Indeed, as I put it here, now is the time to go after Republicans on any number of issues within the overarching narrative of corruption, cronyism, and incompetence.

Steve Soto has a great post on the opportunity for Democrats at The Left Coaster: "And every Democrat in Congress should drop by a place of worship in the next week, and get down on their knees and thank the Almighty for what has fallen in their laps this week." Read it all. And also this, on Bush's really bad day yesterday.

The Heretik looks at Bush in the "maelstrom".

Crooks and Liars looks at the Bush family's ties to the U.A.E. -- I don't much care for Lou Dobbs, but he's right to address this side of the story.

Joe Gandelman has a round-up of softening views here.

And one of the best pieces I've read so far on Portgate is by Arianna herself: "Bush's reputation as the Great Protector who will do anything -- anything! -- to keep us safe, even if it means torturing, spying, and trashing the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions, is his one remaining political asset. And putting six of our major ports under the control of the United Arab Emirates threatens to undermine this rep in an irreparable way."

And she asks some intriguing questions that Bush's Portgate supporters need to answer: "Why was it approved in little more than half the 45-days mandated by Congress? Why didn't the president find out about the deal until it was already done? Why wasn't Congress briefed about the transaction before it was approved? What role did the corporate connections of Treasury Secretary Snow and newly appointed Maritime Administration head David Sanborn play in winning the White House's backing? Was the deal tied to the pending trade agreement the administration is negotiating with the UAE?"

And so: "For a long time now, I've been urging Democrats to relentlessly take on the president on national security. Well, he's just handed them the Mother of All National Security Cudgels. Start pummeling... before the GOP rebellion beats you to the punch."

Get to it, my friends.

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But, still: BUSH IS THE GREATEST PRESIDENT... EVER.

Seriously. Would I joke about something like that?