A BuzzFlash Reader Contribution

CONTRIBUTOR ARCHIVES  

The Bigger Picture on Ports

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Chris Goldberg

A lot of people – especially Republicans – are surprised by Bush’s bizarre insistence that a foreign government with ties to Al Qaeda be put in charge of six of our largest ports including in New York City.

And one of my biggest critics suggested that “liberals” are mad about the deal only because Bush supports it, and if the roles were reversed, we’d be arguing that the United Arab Emirates was being unfairly “discriminated” against.

These attitudes show a lack of understanding for what Bush is all about – and a real lack of understanding of what progressives, or so-called “liberals” stand for. These people don’t get what Bush really “values” and they sure don’t have any clue what WE value.

I would be against this deal NO MATTER WHO supported it.

1) As a New Yorker and an American I think it’s OUTRAGEOUS that Bush would gamble with our security by allowing a questionable foreign government to control our ports - located just blocks away from where I live.

2) As a progressive, I think this deal is totally predictable and fits into EVERY SINGLE action of the Bush Administration - who has shown itself unconcerned about our security. This fits the right-wing agenda perfectly: privatize everything, outsource everything and make the government responsible for NOTHING.

We’ve seen it consistently from Day 1 from George Bush.

-They dismantled FEMA, packing it with incompetent cronies and outsourcing its duties to private industry who care more about profiting for themselves than providing service to the American people. The result? The Katrina Disaster.

-They outsourced almost every duty in Iraq (and the Katrina cleanup) to private businesses like Halliburton and Bechtel, awarding them billions of dollars in no-bid contracts (paid for by us) and not holding them accountable through scandal after scandal of defrauding American taxpayers. The result? The Iraqi Debacle.

This is the Republican philosophy at work.

They say they’re against “big government” – so they outsource all of the government’s functions to private companies – almost always their friends, relatives, and cronies – who then aren’t held accountable, screw everything up, but make billions of dollars for themselves.

This system of crony capitalism is the driving force of EVERYTHING Bush does and proves how little he cares about our security.

Profit for the few - over the security of the many. That is bedrock Republican philosophy.

So what would be the progressive philosophy?

In the port situation we COULD have the US government run – or carefully oversee – our security and we COULD provide good jobs and benefits to thousands of American citizens with a real stake in keeping this country free from a hidden nuke.

Under Bush’s system, more than 90% of the containers coming into the ports are still not checked. And now Bush wants the government of the United Arab Emirates, home of two 9/11 hijackers and with ties to Al Qaeda, to do the job. Why? WHY?

It’s a good business deal for him and his cronies. That's it.

But is it good for America? Who cares? Not Bush.

How can anyone argue that the Republican philosophy makes us safer than the progressive philosophy on this issue? (or any issue?)

We can do so much better than this. A progressive government would make America safer. A Commander in Chief instead of a Commander in Crony would make America safer.

Issues like this demonstrate clearly why I support the impeachment of George Bush NOW. It's vital to our survival. Every day we keep him in office is a day we are less safe.

Chris Goldberg

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION

Chris Goldberg worked as a field organizer in Miami in the 2004 Presidential Election Campaign. He works in the entertainment business and is writing his first novel.