Blackmail the Vulnerable

Qualifier: My hair is on fire today over several news stories. Assume what follows to be driven by angst and cynicism and a total lack of respect for all of our Political Heroes...both sides of the deep divide AND the Man at the top himself for letting it come to this.

Today we find in THIS Article in the LA Times that

the House Appropriations Committee approved a measure that Bush had promised to veto — and attached it to a bill the president dearly wanted.

[...]The committee, long a bastion of support for the Bush administration, passed the prohibition, 62 to 2, as part of a bill that included $68 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and $19 billion for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. If the full House and the Senate go along, the strategy could force Bush to choose between the ports deal and another year of war funding.

Isn't that uplifting? Our 62 Congressmen voting in favor of THIS AMENDMENT have no qualms whatsoever about blackmailing the President over the politically charged Dubai Ports deal even if it means daring him to take badly needed funds and resources from, not only our brave men and women in harm's way, but the displaced and humiliated victims of Katrina. Are you kidding me?

It is no coincidence that the election is in sight. It is increasingly being seen that as Bush slides deeper into lame duck status, the Repubs are starting to jump ship like rats anytime they think it is conducive to ther reelection chances. It's quite plain the Dems continue to seek the soft spot on the President where they can drive in that final, fatal voodoo needle.

Every other line they have drawn in the sand has been blurred and erased with the next shifting political wind, so perhaps they can capitalize this time with the Benedict Arnolds on the right that are willing to bury the President and the party for personal political glory.

This is truly a dark moment for politics; for me at least.

If our Political Heroes were so sure the American people-their constituents-were against this Dubai debacle, why do they need to resort to blackmail?. Why are they afraid this President, who has never lifted the veto pen, would veto or survive a veto override over the port deal when SO MANY PEOPLE are supposedly against it?

We face today the not-so-bold "stand" by the House Appropriations Committee which suggests the only way our Soldiers and Hurricane victims will continue to get their support is if the President gives up on the DPW deal. That is blackmail. It is cowardice, it shows they do NOT in fact have the strength of their convictions regarding Muslim Arabs working American ports, they do not in fact trust their fellow Political Heroes to stand up for what they SAY is the will of the American people, and it says some very sad things about where we have travelled in the political sandbox.

If Congress succeeds in blocking Dubai, our soldiers and our fellow citizens suffering through the hurricane aftermath will get their sorely needed resources. The President will be slapped down and humiliated by the press and anyone needing to make him look bad so they can look good and get elected or re-elected. Everyone gunning for Bush or willing to sell him out for their own gain will give each other the collective high 5. The DPW group will go somewhere else...whether they become unhappy with us as a nation aside, we will have given no NEW reasons for the Arab world to trust us or want to do business with us, and to many this is not a bad thing.

What this will all do for many of us out here in the real world of every day fending for ourselves and fighting to survive is further show that our Political Heroes are not in it for anything but themselves. They are not fighting for the soldiers. They are not fighting for fellow citizens while they suffer miserable circumstances. They will sell us out any time the chance arises to improve their own condition; everyone else's be damned.