I'm going to have to side with Bush (Dubai Ports World)

There, I said it.

Though this remains conditional support. You hear that Dubya?! Your approval rating is at an all-time low (34%), and though I don't approve of you in any sense, I'm backing you on something that a lot of your racist, dumbass supporters do not.

As I'm sure everyone has heard at least a little bit about, the British company (P&O) which operates ports in the U.S. cities of New York, Newark, Baltimore, Miami, New Orleans, and Philadelphia, was purchased by Dubai Ports World. Dubai Ports World is a company from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), but specifically the sheikdom of Dubai.

So, what is all the hooplah about? People are freaking because they think that having our country's in and out holes controlled by a foreign company is bad for national security. At first, I jumped on this bandwagon as was as pissed as the next guy. But then I got to thinking. Let me organize in points.

1. Then, I found out that these ports were ALREADY controlled by a foreign company. The only difference is that this company comes from an Arab country. That is the only difference.

2. People claim that the UAE is linked to terrorism. While that may be, there are already tons of terrorists in the US and Great Britain. And while I don't have anything to back this up, I really doubt that the UAE terrorists are from Dubai. Dubai, while part of the UAE, operates pretty much as its own country. This is information I've received from a former roommate and another friend, both of whom live Dubai. Dubai is very secular and extremely rich, probably the richest city on earth. To give you an idea of how rich, watch the video on this link. They are building a city of islands in the shape of the world in the Persian gulf, and this is the second such project... The city of Dubai is very tolerant of foreigners, and I believe well over 50% of its population is foreign. And, since Hong Kong was reacquired by China in 1997, its probably the closest thing we have to a free market economy. I've also heard that Dubai treats Americans like kings over there. I was told a story about an American driving more than double the speed limit without a valid license. He showed the police officer his US Passport and the cop did nothing more than take his phone number. I've heard other stories as well.

3. It's a company, not a country. If you take issue with a foreign company controlling our ports, maybe the Brits shouldn't have had it before. And I'm willing to bet that both companies had a large number of investors from the Muslim and non-Muslim world.

4. Finally, blocking this deal would be really bad for business. You are showing that we discriminate against Muslims in our business world, and people will wonder if their investment is safe in the U.S. If I'm a super rich Muslim, I'm putting my money somewhere else. And that's a lot of money not getting invested in us. I read in the Chicago Tribune that area surrounding the Persian Gulf alone is worth about $1 trillion. To put it in perspective, that's like 10% of our national debt... WOW... or for you non-economic people, enough money to buy 1 trillion Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers at Wendy's.

For these reasons, I side for the moment with George W. Bush. Trust me, I'm dying to be convinced otherwise. I keep soaping down my body, but the dirty feeling isn't going away.