Will we let our ports go? HELL, no!

The recent decision to hand over port operations of our 6 major ports--in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami, and Philadelphia--to Dubai Ports Authority, a state-owned United Arab Emirates company--is ridiculous. President Bush is completely tone deaf on this issue. This is one issue, along with illegal immigration, that the President just does not get it. He can't even defend it without resorting to a "liberal" time-honored tactic of implying his critics to be racist bigots. "There is no difference between a British company and an Arab company running the ports," Bush says. Yes, Virginia there is a santa clause and there is a difference between an ally like Great Britain running our ports and an "ally" in the middle east, where 2 of the 9/11 hijackers are from, where Bin Ladin has operated, where transfers of nuclear and biological weapons have taken place, and where a majority of the population believe the U.S. is an evil, imperalist nation (according to recent polls). But the point is NO foreign country or company should be allowed to control our ports, British or Arab, period. Especially a state-owned company like Dubai Intl. American companies should be put in charge of American ports. And those who use the free trade argument--don't give me that. I am perhaps one of the staunchest free trade advocates in my circle of Republican friends, but national security trumps free trade any day. Anyone who's taken Econ 101 knows that certain areas of our life (such as defense, government, police, emergency) are not effective when subject to the laws of the marketplace--they require special rules and regulations (although, I believe that there are still certain government-controlled industries that would be more efficient if privatized, such as Amtrak and the post office, should have been privatized long ago). If Bush is so willing and trusting of this company, why not put Dubai in charge of airport security for our country? How come Bush went so far as to nationalize airport security under one new government agency, the TSA, yet he won't budge when it comes to control of our ports? Can you say inconsistant? And a veto threat from the president who hasn't used his pen in 5 years? I say bring it on...