Friday, February 24, 2006

Knee "Jerk" Profiling

Has anyone other than me noticed the irony of this port purchase business? There is so much "spin" the bottle is going to break. Ah, yes, it is an election year.

This time I have to agree with the President - even if he is now hovering behind the excuse he just found out. First of all we are not selling our ports to anyone. There are several companies throughout the world who lease facilities within ports in a multitude of countries. Shipping companies tend to deal with these "circuits", if you will, for the sake of effieciency. DP World just happens to be a Dubai company. The operations they purchased, P&O, is a British Company. Bidding against them was a Singaporian company.

I don't know if I can simplify this or not but I'm going to try. Much as if you have a Ford and have a problem, you know there will be Ford maintenance no matter where you go and that's where you'll bail into because you know the company, the product and the procedures. Okay. Now lets say you have a Toyota. Same holds true. But it's (gasp) a foreign car! The dealer, however, probably is an American. Get the picture?

Now to an actual point. This seems to me to be corporate profiling taken to the nth degree - because its an UAE country and they're the ones tied to terrorism. No matter they have no part of port security - but they are Arab.

Now if it holds true at that level, why don't we profile in our airports where you and I are constantly mugged, our nail clippers confiscated and grandmothers and babies subjected to pat downs for which you would get your face slapped on a date or be accused of child molestation if baby sitting!

It is not in the nature of our culture to strap bombs around ourselves with the intent of blowing up anything. Maybe even the most neandrathal of our men in our culture don't buy into the 70 virgins in heaven bit. Heck, in this day and age it's hard enough to find one on earth!

So why the double standard? Is it because we are such sheep we don't mind being bullied because "they're keeping us safe" and the congress can placate themselves in spite of their own lack of reasonable thought? The economic ramifications, let alone the continuing downward spiral of our worldwide reputation and status, will be something that will take decades from which to recover.

But then all this breast beating comes from the same bunch who get an 800 page bill at 8:00 in the morning and a vote is called two hours later. That's how bridges to nowhere get built in Alaska, rainforests in Iowa and gasoline soars to $3.00 per gallon. We deserve better - but then we do elect them.

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