Over at the great OpEdNews.com, Rob Kall addresses "the Democratic Wimp Factor."

     But his editorial "The Wimp Factor: Defining the Real Wimps" was really too confusing.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_rob_kall_060226_the_wimp_factor_3b_def.htm

     To put it plainly, Dems. will no longer be seen as wimps when they STAND UP for some core, basic issues, issues that currently they most certainly are NOT standing up for to date.

  In a nutshell, they deserve the "wimp" label.  They are repeating the "wimpiness" of Al Gore in 2000, John Kerry in 2004, and Tom Daschle/Joe Lieberman in 2002.

     #1.  Kerry stood their like a dumb punching bag, on national TV, as George W. Bush called Kerry a "flip-flopper" and then Bush sneered into the cameras "Not concerned about bin Laden?  I don't ever recall saying that.  I think my opponent is e-x-a-g-e-r-a-t-i-n-g." 

     Kerry stood there like a deer caught in the headlights, either too stupid, or too compromised, to say "Mr. Bush has FLIP FLOPPED on his 'get Osama dead or alive pledge", and we have the WHITE HOUSE VIDEO of his April 2003 press conference to prove it!"

     #2.  Al Gore and Donna Brazille ALLOWED george w. bush (and karl rove) to promote their so called "Texas public education miracle", even though a Rand Corp. test analyst who compiled some of the results went WAY out on a limb to contest the Republican braggado (as did many other critics of Gov.George W. Bush's slashing of state education funds). Gore and Brazille left that state contract empolyee (Rand Corp. was working for the state of Texas) whistleblower TWISTING IN THE WIND, just as they let the CHILDREN, mothers, and seniors who suffered from those Bush-Republican BUDGET SLASHINGS TWIST IN THE WIND, as Gov. Bush gave his signature TAX CUTS FOR WEALTHY CORPORATIONS to, well, Texas' wealthiest, most connected corporations.  I realized 3-5 months out that Gore was too compromised, to weak, or too cowed to CALL Mr. Bush on his LIES and DECEPTIONS, and therefore Gore would loose the election.  (To be precise, Gore BOUGHT INTO the right-wing lynching of Bill Clinton, which is why Gore selected "moral values" Jewish Orthodox theocrats Joe Lieberman as his running mate.)

       Specifically, Gore and Brazille (an African-American) BOUGHT INTO the right-wing propaganda smear that to spend money on health insurance or education for poor schoolchildren (or seniors, or minorities) was to invite fraud, the usual right-wing charicature of "tax and spend Democrats." To belabor the point, Gore/Brazille REFUSED to CONFRONT or EXPOSE the Texas governor on his "MORE COMPASSIONATE Conservative" claims, his "uniter, not divider... more bipartisan" claims, his (Bush's) Texas ecological/environmental record, and of course the massive SHIFT of state funding from middle- and working class Americans to Texas's wealthiest donors and corporations.  In so doing, Gore effectively GAVE AWAY the high ground in the 2000 campaign (allowing Bush-Rove to rant on about "character" and "moral values" and "restoring dignity to the White House), and thereby MAGNIFIED the Republican's campaign spending.  (A charge or accusation left unrefuted in campaign politics is a charge or accusastion that circles the world effortlessly, and is on the tips of everyone's tongues - for free!)

     #3.  In 2002, Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle LOST the Democratic Senate Majority.  The "DEFECTION" of courageous Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords "switched" the majority BACK to the Democrats, re-installing Senator Joe Lieberman as Chair of the Govt. Affairs Committee.  From there, Lieberman (and Daschle) threw a huge WET BLANKET on the ENRON FRAUD investigations (and Enron's huge LINKS to Mr. Bush) thereby robbing mid-term Democrats of their best issue - framing (tarring) Bush Republicans as SYNONYMOUS with Enron CORRUPTION, FINANCIAL EXTORTION, and outright theft.  Because of their appalling "leadership", Democrats LOST seats in the midterm, including (justice served) tom daschle's seat. 

     #4.  The Senator Patty Murray Amendment - $2.7 Billion to fund Veteran's rehab - Veteran's Affairs - for returning Iraq war combat veterans.  NOTHING ILLUSTRATES THE Dems' PREFERNCE for GIVING IN - for REFUSING to PAINT Mr. Bush and his Republicans as corrupt liars - than the ABANDONMENT of the Murray Amendment WITHOUT A FIGHT, WITHOUT AN ATTEMPT to win the press/media PR high ground.

     THIS IS A CAN'T LOOSE ISSUE: it both portrays Democrats as "supporting the troops," AND it portrays Republicans as NOT supporting the troops.

     The COWARDLY Democratic leadership PREFERS the fog of confusion, to CONFRONTING the Bush-GOP cons on this life or death issue. 

     I mean, just how cynical do you have to be, to have your supporters paste "We Support the Troops" bumper-stickers on their cars by the tens of thousands, while your party with malice and coordination aforethought SLASH a lousy $2 billion (out of tens of billions spent on the war) from Veterans affairs medical and rehab services??    

This past week, one Iraq Vet shot his wife to death, and we know that there are Timmy McVeigh's and DC snipers brewing in the broken lives of other PTSD vets. (McVeigh and the DC sniper were both Gulf War1 vets.)


     Speaking of, the above 5 issues have a common denominator that does indeed portray Democrats as WIMPS:  the "disappeared" factor.

     That is, our Dem. "leaders" buy into the Bush-Republican PR talking points - THERE ARE NO VICTIMS of Enron fraud...
    
     There ARE NO VICTIMS of Mr. Bush's atrocious Medicare/prescription "reform" bill...

     There ARE NO VICTIMS of Bush's BUDGET SLASHINGS....

     There ARE NO VICTIMS of shortchanged Veteran's care for PTSD vets...

    

     UNTIL Democratic "leaders" STAND UP FOR these "disappeared" Americans, they deserve the "wimp" label.


     And as of right now, it looks like the Dems. are REPEATING Gore/Kerry/Daschle's dismal campaigns of 2000/2004/2002.


     THAT puts the election in the hands of karl rove, who can spin a DEFENSIVE "sluff it off" campaign as they have become so proficient at (and are now doing - who is talking about the Abramoff and Cunningham convictions, now that cheney shooting and Dubai ports have taken over the news cycle?), and then, at the last second, RAMP UP THE SMEARING and SWIFTBOATING campaigns, using their tremendous media advantage. (COMPLETE MONOPOLY of ALL the major media airwaves, and most press.  In 2004, kerry won CONSIDERABLE press support, or at least many editors REJECTED Bush, but the Deibold fix, and kerry's dismal campaign, overcame this LOSS of bush press support in the final "vote count.")

     There you have it.  On at least 5 major issues - public education, medicare/prescription drugs, veterans affairs/rehab, Enron fraud, and general social budget slashings, the Democrats would PREFER TO SELL THEIR CONSTITUENTS - American citizens - down the "disappeared" river, to STANDING UP AND CONFRONTING  the LIES and DISTORTIONS of BushCo.   And this listing hasn't even mentioned other  atrocious Bush issues and policies...  Tom DeLay's extortion racket, the inquisition-era CENSORSHIP of science (evolution) in schools, the intimidation of women seeking reproductive health care (abortion), torture and "preventive detention," etc., etc., etc.

     It is that simple, and it is frankly appalling that the cowering Dems. FOLLOW the lead of the CORRUPT MEDIA in this abject betrayal of thousands of Americans.






The Wimp Factor; Defining the Real Wimps
Subject(s): Campaigns, Machismo, Right wing    
February 26, 2006
by Rob Kall
http://www.opednews.com

I've been told by a few Republicans that they didn't particularly like Bush, but they couldn't bring themselves to vote for Kerry. Some say he was too much of a wimp.

I don't buy it. Part of the Right Wing, Republican battle plan is to tap the false machismo, the tough guy facade that right wing males embrace. Rush Limbaugh takes on a sotto voce to mock "girlie" liberal ways of being.
[continued at http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_rob_kall_060226_the_wimp_factor_3b_def.htm ]

Cowardly Democrats: WHO will STAND UP to bushCo??

Let's get this straight: since 9-12-2001, Mr. Bush, his acolytes, sycophants, media stooges, PR bullies, business cronies, and political hacks have been telling us "WHAT A GREAT JOB the bush administration and Republican Party HAVE BEEN DOING FOR AMERICA'S SECURITY...

....and it took this multi-billion dollar insider-corruption STINKER of the Dubai/UAE/port deal for the politicians in our government and the paid media-press flunkies to EVEN MENTION that ONLY 5% of the containers entering US ports are inspected???

How many billions of dollars are we supposedly spending for "homeland SECURITY" ?

WHAT KIND OF INSANITY IS THIS??

As Maureen Dowd writes in her Feb. 22/06 NYT commentary:

"Same old pattern: a stupid and counterproductive national security decision is made in secret, blowing off checks and balances, and the president's out of the loop."

Which brings us to the point of, and need for, this website. WHERE THE HELL ARE OUR Democratic "LEADERS" in all of this?

Why aren't THEY leading the charge "Mr. Bush and his administration ONCE AGAIN, BETRAYS America's security!" ??

When starting this website today, I can't even keep the outrages and atrocities of the Bush administration down to just 5 or 10 items. So I have whole-sale lifted Mr. Stephen Pizzo's article, "Who's counting Bush's Mistakes?" below.

The fact that Mr. Pizzo even has to ask this question means that the Democrats ARE NOT asking it, at least not enough to where Mr. Pizzo could aknowledge them as at least starting to!


Here's what Maureen Dowd has to say in (another) her 15 Feb ('06) column:

<< As the story of the weekend's bizarre hunting accident is wrenched out of the White House, the picture isn't pretty: With American soldiers dying in Iraq, Five-Deferment Dick "I Had Other Priorities in the 60's Than Military Service" Cheney gets his macho kicks gunning down little birds and the occasional old man while W. rides his bike, blissfully oblivious to any collateral damage. Shouldn't these guys work on weekends until we figure out how to fix Iraq, New Orleans, Medicare and gas prices? >>

Iraq
New Orleans
Medicare
gas prices (i.e. energy policy)

Notice how we are so swamped with scandal incompetence (not to mention corruption and cronyism) that Dowd can only mention the above items obliquely. Although I hate to quote Dowd on the first day of this new blog (Dowd's hatchet editorials on 'boyscout' Al Gore through the summer of 2000 - she devoted entire columns to Gore's earthtones wardrobe! - helped Scalia and crew steal the election for the Bush campaign), her last three columns (this Feb.) are spot on.

The only thing she leaves out is that elephant in the room.... "WHERE ARE THE DEMOCRATS?!!"

Where are the Democrats DEMANDING Chertoff's resignation (as Director of Homeland Security), a COMPLETE and PUBLIC INVESTIGATION of the Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans flooding response incompetence debacle, and an APOLOGY from George Bush and Dick Cheney for the actions (or inaction) of their emergency response officials?

(Note: Yesterday on the Ed Schultz radio show Representative Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, did demand Chertoff's resignation at 5min. into the mp3 download of his conversation with Big Ed. But Bennie can hardly be called a high-power leader of the Democratic Party; even Rep. Conyers gets short-shrift from his Senate compatriots. Go to "WeGotEd.com", click on archives, 2-23-06, interview with Rep. Thompson, to download the mp3 recording of Rep. Thompson's comments.)

Speaking of Ed Schultz, here is what Ed has to say about the Conservative culture in America, the culture that is propping up the scandal-mired Bush administration: (go to WeGotEd mp3 archive, 2-10-06 opening ('liberal media) at http://www.wegoted.com/dailyAudio/index.asp, 7 minutes into the segment)

<<
The entertainment of conservatives is HATE.
Their entertainment is that they HATE liberals, they HATE Democrats, they HATE progressives, and they will frame their arguments, that's their entertainment, making fun of them, whether it's a funerals, no matter what it is, they're going to find a way. That's their Entertainment. >>


So much for Mr. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign pledge "to be a UNITER NOT DIVIDER.. to be a MORE BIPARTISAN LEADER."

Clearly, with Mr. Bush and his Republican supporters, "MORE BIPARTISAN" means "license to HATE!" Democrats, liberals, and ANY opposition to the radical-right Bush agenda.

Speaking of, the latest news on Mr. Bush's "port sellout debacle" is that the 'major media' and Republicans are starting to come on board with this new "deal." Yesterday druggie-Limbaugh was foaming at the mouth that any opposition to the deal was a glaring case of Democrats playing the RACE CARD.

Here's a little memo for the corrupt, serially-lying Mr. Limbaugh:

<<
Bush prefers CIA intelligence briefings face to face
Clinton liked written summaries
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/18/bush.briefing/
From David Ensor
CNN National Security Correspondent

January 18, 2001
Web posted at: 5:14 p.m. EST (2214 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Even before Vice President Gore congratulated George W. Bush on his victory in the election, a long tradition quietly resumed: the Central Intelligence Agency started briefing Bush, every day, face to face.

Everywhere Bush has gone since then, from Austin, Texas, to Florida for a fishing vacation, a CIA briefer has been there to meet with him each morning, officials said.
>>

Let's see: Jan 18, 2001... That was before the attacks of 9-11! Mr. Bush's new presidential PR staff were BRAGGING that George W. Bush was getting "face to face briefings" from the CIA - EVERY DAY!

And since 9-11, we have learned that both the CIA and FBI (and foreign intel services) were "BLINKING RED" about the threat to America from a new round of Al Qaida attacks, with Osama bin Laden specifically quoted as wanting to up the stakes from his successful suicide-bomb attack on the USS Cole in October of 2000 in Yemn to direct attacks on America.

So today, we are consoled by Rush Limbaugh, the Bush administration, and those Republicans who are starting to 'come on board' the administration's approval of the sale of at least 6 major US ports to a United Arabs Emirates business consortium, that the Bush administration has "thoroughly reviewed" ALL of the secuirty concerns of the deal, and that we should not worry - we should put our faith in the Bush goverment!

This with ONLY FIVE PERCENT of containers entering American ports being inspected, in the first place!!!!

THE ONLY QUESTION IS, "WHERE ARE THE DEMOCRATS?"

WHY is Michael Chertoff still on the job?

WHY hasn't Mr. Bush been compelled to apologize for the ABJECT FAILURE, the criminal negligence, of his Homeland Security and FEMA directors?

And WHY do the expositions of the Bush administration's serial failures, incompetencies, and corruptions, if not outright crimes, have to be researched deep in the editorial pages of the nation's papers... instead of PAGE ONE, brought to our attention by our united-in-outrage Democratic leaders??



_________________________________________

Who's Counting Bush's Mistakes?
by Stephen Pizzo, News for Real
Alternet.org
February 19, 2006

Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best, "The louder he spoke of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons." And no administration in U.S. history has spoken louder, or as often, of its honor.

So let us count our spoons.

Emergency Management: They completely failed to manage the first large-scale emergency since 9/11. Despite all their big talk and hundreds of billions of dollars spent on homeland security over the past four years, this administration proved itself stunningly incompetent when faced with an actual emergency. (Katrina Relief Funds Squandered)!

Fiscal Management: America is broke. No wait, we're worse than broke. In less than five years these borrow and spend-thrifts have nearly doubled our national debt, to a stunning $8.2 trillion. These are not your father's Republicans who treated public dollars as though they were an endangered species. These Republicans waste money in ways and in quantities that make those old tax and spend liberals of yore look like tight-fisted Scots.

This administration is so incompetent that you can just throw a dart at the front page of your morning paper and whatever story of importance it hits will prove my point.

Katrina relief: Eleven thousand spanking new mobile homes sinking into the Arkansas mud. Seems no one in the administration knew there were federal and state laws prohibiting trailers in flood zones. Oops. That little mistake cost you $850 million -- and counting.

Medicare Drug Program: This $50 billion white elephant debuted by trampling many of those it was supposed to save. The mess forced states to step in and try to save its own citizens from being killed by the administration's poorly planned and executed attempt to privatize huge hunks of the federal health safety net.

Afghanistan: Good managers know that in order to pocket the gains of a project, you have to finish it. This administration started out fine in Afghanistan. They had the Taliban and al Queda on the run and Osama bin Laden trapped in a box canyon. Then they were distracted by a nearby shiney object -- Iraq. We are now $75 billion out of pocket in Afghanistan and its sitting pres! ident still rules only within the confines of the nation's capital. Tribal warlords, the growing remnants of the Taliban and al Qaeda call the shots in the rest of the county.

Iraq: This ill-begotten war was supposed to only cost us $65 billion. It has now cost us over $300 billion and continues to suck $6 billion a month out of our children's futures. Meanwhile the three warring tribes Bush "liberated" are using our money and soldiers' lives to partition the country. The Shiites and Kurds are carving out the prime cuts while treating the once-dominant Sunnis the same way the Israelis treat the Palestinians, forcing them onto Iraq's version of Death Valley. Meanwhile Iran is increasingly calling the shots in the Shiite region as mullahs loyal to Iran take charge.

Iran: The administration not only jinxed its Afghanistan operations by attacking Iraq, but also provided Iran both the rationale for and time to move toward nuclear weapons. The Bush administration's neocons' threats to attack Syria next only provided more support for religious conservatives within Iran who argued U.S. intentions in the Middle East were clear, and that only the deterrent that comes with nuclear weapons could protect them.

North Korea: Ditto. Also add to all the above the example North Korea set for Iran. Clearly once a country possesses nukes, the U.S. drops the veiled threats and wants to talk.

Social Programs: It's easier to get affordable -- even free -- American-style medical care, paid for with American dollars, if you are injured in Iraq, Afghanistan or are victims of a Pakistani earthquake, than if you live and pay ta! xes in the good old U.S.A. Nearly 50 million Americans can't afford medical insurance. Nevertheless the administration has proposed a budget that will cut $40 billion from domestic social programs, including health care for the working poor. The administration is quick to say that those services will be replaced by its "faith-based" programs. Not so fast...

"Despite the Bush administration's rhetorical support for religious charities, the amount of direct federal grants to faith-based organizations declined from 2002 to 2004, according to a major new study released yesterday....The study released yesterday "is confirmation of the suspicion I've had all along, that what the faith-based initiative is really all about is de-funding social programs and dumping responsibility for the poor on the charitable sector," said Kay Guinane, director of the nonprofit advocacy program at OMB Watch.."

The Military: Overused and over-deployed.

Former Defense Secretary William Perry and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright warned in a 15-page report that the Army and Marine Corps cannot sustain the current operational tempo without "doing real damage to their forces." ... Speaking at a news conference to release the study, Albright said she is "very troubled" the military will not be able to meet demands abroad. Perry warned that the strain, "if not relieved, can have highly corrosive and long-term effects on the military.

With military budgets gutted by the spiraling costs of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the administration has requested funding for fewer National Guard troops in fiscal 2007 -- 17,000 fewer. Which boggles the sane mind since, if it weren't for reserve/National Guard, the administration would not have had enough troops to rotate forces in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly 40 percent of the troops sent to those two countries were from the reserve and National Guard.

The Environment: Here's a little pop quiz: What happens if all the coral in the world's oceans dies? Answer: Coral is the first rung on the food-chain ladder; so when it goes, everything else in the ocean dies. And if the oceans die, we die.

The coral in the world's oceans are dying (called "bleaching")! at an alarming and accelerating rate. Global warming is the culprit. Nevertheless, this administration continues as the world's leading global warming denier. Why? Because they seem to feel it's more cost effective to be dead than to force reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. How stupid is that? And time is running out.

Trade: We are approaching a $1 trillion annual trade deficit, most of it with Asia, $220 billion with just China -- just last year.

Energy: Record high energy prices. Record energy company profits. Dick Cheney's energy task force meetings remain secret. Need I say more?

Consumers: Americans finally did it last year -- they achieved a negative savings rate. (Folks in China save 10 percent, for contrast.) If the government can spend more than it makes and just say "charge it" when it runs out, so can we. The average American now owes $9,000 to credit card companies. Imagine that.

Human Rights: America now runs secret prisons and a secret judicial system that would give Kafka fits. And the U.S. has joined the list of nations that tortures prisioners of war. (Shut up George! We have pictures!)

I could go on for another 1,000 words listing the stunning incompetence of the Bush administration and its GOP sycophants in Congress. But what's the use? No seems to give a fig. The sun continues to shine in this fool's paradise. House starts were up in January. The stock market is finally back over 11,000.

But don't bother George W. Bush with any of this. While seldom right, he is never in doubt. Doubt is Bush's enemy. Worry? How can he worry when he has no doubts?

Me? Well, I worry about all the above, all the time. But in particular, I worry about coral.

Stephen Pizzo is the author of numerous books, including "Inside Job: The Looting of America's Savings and Loans," which was nominated for a Pulitzer. © 2006 Independent Media Institute.


______________________________________

Drawing upon her columns, Dowd dissects the alternative reality of Bush and his NeoCon cabal as they seek an extreme makeover of the country and the world.



G.O.P. to W.: You're Nuts!
by Maureen Dowd
The New York Times
February 22, 2006

WASHINGTON

It's enough to make you nostalgic for those gnarly union stevedores in "On the Waterfront," the ones who hung up rats on hooks and took away Marlon Brando's chance to be a contend-ah.

Maybe it's corporate racial profiling, but I don't want FOREIGN COMPANIES, PARTICULARLY ONES WITH LINKS TO companies, 9/11, running American ports.

What kind of empire are we IF WE HAVE TO OUTSOURCE OUR COASTLINE to a group of sheiks who don't recognize Israel, in a country where money was laundered for the 9/11 attacks? And that let A. Q. Kahn, the Pakistani nuclear scientist, smuggle nuclear components through its port to Libya, North Korea and Iran?

It's mind-boggling that President Bush ever agreed to let an alliance of seven emirs be in charge of six of our ports. Although, as usual, Incurious GEORGE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW about it until after the fact. (Neither did Rummy, even though he heads one of the agencies that green-lighted the deal.)

SAME OLD PATTERN: a STUPID and COUNTERPRODUCTIVE NATIONAL SECURITY DECISION is MADE IN SECRET, BLOWING OFF CHECKS AND BALANCES, , and the president's out of the loop.

Was W. too busy not calling Dick Cheney to find out why he shot a guy to not be involved in a critical decision about U.S. security? What is he waiting for -- a presidential daily brief warning, "Bin Laden Determined to Attack U.S. Ports?"
[see above Washington Post article, Bush prefers CIA intelligence briefings face to face 18 Jan. 2001]

OUR PORTS ARE ALREADY NEARLY NAKED IN TERMS OF SECURITY. Only about 5 percent of the containers coming into the country are checked. And when the White House assures us that the Homeland Security Department will oversee security at the ports, is that supposed to make us sleep better? Not after the chuckleheaded Chertoff-and-Brownie show on Capitol Hill.

"Our borders are wide open," said Jan Gadiel of 9/11 Families for a Secure America. "We don't know who's in our country right now, not a clue. And now they're giving away our ports." The "trust us" routine of W. and Dick Cheney is threadbare.

The more W. warned that he would veto legislation stopping this deal, the more lawmakers held press conferences to oppose it -- even conservatives who had loyally supported W. on Iraq, the Patriot Act, torture and warrantless snooping.

Mr. Bush is hoist on his own petard. For four years, the White House has accused anyone in Congress or the press who defended civil liberties or questioned anything about the Iraq war of being soft on terrorism. Now, as Congress and the press turn that accusation back on the White House, Mr. Bush acts mystified by the orgy of xenophobia.

Lawmakers, many up for re-election, have learned well from Karl Rove. Playing the terror card works.

A bristly Bush said yesterday that scotching the deal would send "a terrible signal" to a worthy ally. He equated the "Great British" with the U.A.E. Well, maybe Britain in the 12th century.

Besides, the American people can be forgiven if they're confused about what it means in the Arab world to be a U.S. ally. Is it a nation that helps us sometimes but also addicts us to oil and then jacks up the price, refuses to recognize Israel, denies women basic rights, tolerates radical anti-American clerics, looks the other way when its citizens burn down embassies and consulates over cartoons, and often turns a blind eye when it comes to hunting down terrorists in its midst?

In our past wars, America had specific countries to demonize. But now in the "global war on terror" -- GWOT, as they call it -- the enemy is a faceless commodity that the administration uses whenever it wants to win a political battle. When something like this happens, it's no wonder the public does its own face transplant.

One of the real problems here is that this administration has run up such huge trade and tax-cut-and-spend budget deficits that we're in hock to the Arabs and the Chinese to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. If they just converted their bonds into cash, they would own our ports and not have to merely rent them.

Just because the wealthy foreigners who own our debt can blackmail us with their economic leverage, does that mean we should expose our security assets to them as well?

As part of the lunatic White House defense, Dan Bartlett argued that "people are trying to drive wedges and make this to be a political issue." But as the New Republic editor Peter Beinart pointed out in a recent column, W. has made the war on terror "one vast wedge issue" to divide the country.

Now, however, the president has pulled us together. We all pretty much agree: mitts off our ports.