Rovian Plot

If I was going to write a political conspiracy story about the UAE port deal, it would go something like this:

Port security in the U.S. is generally perceived as weak, but it's not enough of a hot-button issue to get Congress to approve funding to improve it. The company that is running 6 U.S. ports is being acquired by a Middle Eastern company that is more moderate than most, but still an Arab nation influenced by Islam.

In an effort to bend Washington politics to the administration's will, a deal giving control of operations to the UAE company is fast-tracked through the cabinet and, just prior to it being final, leaked to the press. Almost every congressman and senator, including those in the administration's own party, condemn the deal citing national security concerns. In addition, the mainstream and alternative media unite to question the deal. America's anti-Arab passions are exposed with even the most tolerant lefties saying that the Arab company is held to a different standard.

The Arab company delays the deal and in the following 45 days, a senator from a Southwestern state with presidential ambitions and a congressman from that same state propose a multi-billion dollar spending package that will provide the security that all U.S. ports need. With their comments about the importance of security on the record, most congressmen and senators have no choice but to vote for the bill, which the president quickly signs into law.

In the aftermath of the port security bill, the Arab company is quietly given the contract, port security is increased, and the Arab street becomes more fully aware of America's anti-Islamic attitudes.

Too bad it's all just fiction...

Rove
Ports
UAE

My Brother-in-Law Supports Denmark

My brother-in-law turned out for a peaceful demonstration in support of Denmark today. He's in the seventh picture from the top of the post.

His email said that this was the first time he's demonstrated since the 60's (he's much older than me).

Ain't That the Truth

Americans work more, seem to accomplish less

Here's some money quotes:
"We never concentrate on one task anymore. You take a little chip out of it, and then you're on to the next thing," Challenger said on Wednesday. "It's harder to feel like you're accomplishing something."

"The irony is the very expectation of getting more done is getting in the way of getting more done," he said. "People are stressed out."

"There's a sense that no matter how much I do, it's never enough," he said.

Dilbert's Wisdom for New Grads

Dilbert is like a support group for office slaves. At least we can feel as though we aren't alone. For those of you who have never worked in an office environment, here's a taste.

All You Really Need to Know About Radical Islam

Is right here.

Courtesy of Powerline.

I Know You Are But What Am I?

In a throwback to schoolyard days, an Iranian paper is going to solicit tasteless cartoons about the Holocaust in an attempt to goad the West into hypocrisy.

My prediction: It won't work. Come on Persia, the Jews have been persecuted for centuries. Do you really think they are gullible enough to fall for this little ploy. Sensible heads, more of which exist in the West than in the Middle East, will call this childish and crude, but no embassies will be burned or cartoonists threatened.

If you are offended by someone's depiction of your religion, protest, peacefully, and boycott and make your displeasure known. This is how the fanatical Christians in the U.S. do it. No one stormed the offices of NBC or threatened the producers of Will and Grace with death. Instead, they applied the economic and political pressure and got something they wanted.

Sure, there was a time when Christians burned heretics (real or otherwise) at the stake for saying or writing things considered to be blasphemy, but we've grown up and understand that the best way to validate a belief is to challenge it. If it stands up for 2000 years, it's probably a pretty solid belief.

Whether this was the right thing to do for NBC is a separate debate, but it shows a nice contrast of how Christianity is about 700 years ahead of Islam in terms of a civilized religion.