Bush is Right

Ok, so did a snowball survive in Hell or something? I mean, seriously, I think I actually agree with President Bush.

In the last few weeks it was announced that a foreign company would take over management of several major United States ports. The company, Dubai Ports, got the gig from a British owned company. Unfortunately, for Dubai Ports, a major political firestorm ensued. Why? Because the foreign company is based in an Arab country, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Both Democrats and Republicans, as well as many of the major media outlets, condemned the deal and said that it was a threat to our national security. They often spoke in code by saying that “foreign companies shouldn’t be allowed to run ports into the United States.” What they really meant was that Muslim nations shouldn’t run our ports.

But watch out, Mr. “we’re gonna fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them over here” Bush stood firm against both political parties and brazenly stated that he would veto any Congress backed legislation that would block the Dubai company from taking over the port management (it would be his first veto since being President). The whole concept of Bush pushing for the deal to go through is kinda ironic since the “them” he wanted to fight over “there” are terrorists, and the 9/11 terrorists attacks that Bush built his strong image on was largely intertwined with the UAE. Two of the hijackers from 9/11 were from the UAE, and large quantities of money that helped fund the attacks was wired through the UAE.

And just like that, when Congress was going to pass legislation to block the deal (basically forcing Bush to put his money where his mouth is), Dubai Ports pulled out of the deal and promised to turn the ports over to a United States’ run company. And can I tell you, I was greatly disappointed, ‘cause I wanted to see this whole thing play out in the government.

So let me just dispel a lot of the stupidity I’ve been hearing coming out of the mouths of much of Congress and reading in the paper and watching on the news.

•Although the vast majority of Arabs are Muslim, they are not the same thing. Arab does not mean Muslim, Muslim does not mean Arab. In fact, the nation with the largest Muslim population isn’t even Arab, the southeast asian country Indonesia is home to the most Muslims.
•All Muslims are not terrorists, and not all terrorists are Muslims. (see “The Vortex” Sept. 9th and 18th of 2004 posts)
•Statements like “foreign countries/companies shouldn’t run our ports” are ludicrous because over 80% of USA ports are currently run by foreign companies. Furthermore, there simply aren’t enough USA companies to run all of the ports
•Yes the UAE is one of three countries to support the Taliban, but how easily have we forgotten that the USA largely created the Taliban and trained them in the 80’s when we were still engaged in the Cold War with Russia. So the monster that the UAE supported was a USA production.
•Islam is a religion, not a country. So even if we espoused the silly logic that all Muslims are terrorists, then no matter who is running the ports (USA included) we are increasing the risk of a terrorist attack simply by having the ports to begin with.

On top of the obvious misconceptions, prejudices and downright sillinesses of those who were against an Arab nation running the ports, Bush is right about this one for several other reasons. One of my biggest complaints about the Bush Administration is that we have alienated ourselves from the rest of the world, and we certainly haven’t been the best at making friends in the Arab world. It is true that a hand-full of countries are our allies in the War on Terror (eg Saudi Arabia and Jordan), however that is largely only at the upper levels of those governments. But by treating Arab nations like the UAE in the same way that we treat other foreign nations (like the British who ran the ports before Dubai), it would help foster better relationships between the USA and Arab nations.

And let’s just be real here, we need oil, and the UAE has a lot of it. And I’m sure Bush is well aware of that.

So now I wonder what’s going to happen with these ports that Dubai is turning over since they specifically stated that they were going turn them over to an American company. As I pointed out before, there aren’t enough American companies to even cover 20% of these ports, so who is going to take over the ports now?

Maybe, just maybe they (Dubai Ports) are pointing out the fact that we don’t have the capacity to do so, and are essentially calling our bluff (i.e. “if you want American companies to run these ports, then go find the companies to do it”).

Bottom line is that this prejudice against Muslims has to stop. It’s silly and it’s only creating a deeper rift between us and people of a religion that we should be trying to better understand instead of blindly condemn. And as with all things, we have to remember that people are people, no matter the race, religion, gender, etc. So, we should respect all people the same.

-Maelstrom

Crash and the Academy Awards

Thanks for the comments about my last post (which was like a month and a half ago). Anyhow, the most recent comment posted questions the validity of Crash as an insightful movie. So I will go along with the comment, which was posed in devil’s advocate form, and address it.

For starters, if you don’t think that OVERT racism exist today, then you need to walk in my shoes and experience what I frequently experience; as well as listen to the racist things I hear people say all the time. And trust me, I can’t believe that in the year 2006 people still say and do some of the things they say and do, purely based on race.

Secondarily, if the only points about race, that you recognized in Crash, were the overt points, then you need to go watch the movie ‘bout 2, 3, 7 more times. I haven’t seen the film in months, but I can instantly think of 3 occurrences in the movie where the racial issue addressed wasn’t clearly apparent (or OVERT) , and took the inference of the viewing audience to decipher (thus exposing that we all hold on to some racial notions in our head…which is the point of the movie).

The quickest (to explain) example I can give occurs towards the end of the movie with Larenz Tate’s and Ryan Phillipe’s characters in the car. There was nothing OVERT about Phillipe’s actions. The viewing audience had to assume what he was thinking about during the exchange with Tate’s character after he had already pulled the trigger.

Totally Covert.

Point being, the movie was excellent because it addressed both the overt as well as the covert. The things that I’m shocked people do 35+ years after the Civil Rights movement (the overt), as well as the things that keep the prisons full of black men who make up less than a 5th of the population or keep minorities from being President/VP/Congressmen/etc (the covert).

Excellent movie…go see it ‘bout 2, 3, 7 more times!

Here’s what I wrote the day after the Academy Awards (see, I’ve been writing, just haven’t posted the many things I’ve written).

I’m glad that the Academy got it right this year. Yup, in case you missed it, Crash won the Oscar for Best Picture Sunday night during the 78th Academy Awards. Of course I was delighted since I think that the movie certainly warranted the award. It was quite a shock as evidenced by the reactions of the Academy when Jack Nicholson announced the winner. But yeah, I’m glad.

Unlike most years, I actually found the courage within myself to sit through the entire show; and boy am I glad that I did…I needed to see 3-6 Mafia win that Oscar for the Best Original Song in a Movie, It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp. There’s absolutely nothing like them performing the very, uh, moving song, and then winning the Oscar. Their acceptance speech had to be the greatest acceptance speech in the 78 year history of the event. Neither the Academy nor the American public was ready for that.

I must say that I enjoyed Jon Stewart as host. He was funny, charming, and had several creative ideas as host. I also enjoyed George Clooney’s acceptance speech. It was well stated and the essence of his speech was put into good context. But dude, what was up with that silly acceptance speech music that the orchestra played in the background of everyone’s speeches. How annoying?!!!

Finally, I can’t write a silly post about the Oscar’s without mentioning the showstoppers. There were 2 really hot Latinas that really sizzled on the red carpet. Jessica Alba looked like a goddess, and Salma Hayek was absolutely stunning. Seriously, just one word to describe them both: WOW!

-Maelstrom