Fear. It's a real bitch.
In the immortal words of Gandalf the White, a treacherous weapon is ever a danger to the hand. That's all the moral we need to draw from the Dubai Ports World imbroglio - a political shipwreck that George Bush brought on himself in more ways than one. Even as the president seeks to distance itself from self-willed embarrassment and worries aloud about "the broader message" sent by the failed port deal, he ignores the true message, the real cause.
Succinctly: Fear, bitches!
This post-9/11 mantra has served as the Bush administration's one-note hallelujah chorus, providing the rationale for a trumped-up and ill-considered war, the impetus toward the president's reelection, and the political cover for the expansion of executive power and the accompanying rollback of the tenets of an open society. All of this in the promotion of personal and national insecurity, flogged without ceasing and exploited for gain at every opportunity. And now that this convenient and oft-used weapon has turned in Bush's hand to bite him, the president and his handlers and his apologists wring their hands over the possibility of America appearing xenophobic.
The irony is almost too rich for a balanced diet.
Mr. Bush should take care, lest he be accused by some of having a pre-9/11 mindset.
(Post, riposte, cross-post...)
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