At Least the Streak is Over

All right boys and girls, settle down. I know you've been dying to show that you are an equal branch of government, but you are taking things a bit too far.

After all, it was you, the majority leadership in particular; that decided the president's every wish was your command. It only took you six years to finally realize that you've been taken for a ride.

You are to be congratulated; it took courage to stand up to him. But you showed him. You finally put your foot down and said: "Enough is enough!"

You're angry; hurt, and bitter, but you did have some responsibility in this relationship. You have been an enabler.

Ah, but there is nothing like a commander-in-chief with approval ratings rapidly heading south of Truman and Nixon to help you locate your lost copy of Gloria Gaynor's, "I will Survive."

Since we're speaking frankly I must confess that I am tainted by a little cynicism.

On the surface, this Dubai port deal was bad. The thought of some of our ports being in the hands of a foreign government that seemingly had some connection to the Taliban seems to be the height of absurdity.

How else should one react? There has been so much reckless 9/11 flag waving to an electorate, many of whom, wrongly believe Arab and Muslim are interchangeable nouns.

Therefore, the ports being run by a government owned company from United Arab Emirates or Iran sounds the same. But we know better, don't we?

As a policy, this was no big deal. Regardless of the outcome, as a matter of national security the Dubai port deal pales in comparison to the vulnerability of all of our ports. Correct me if I am wrong, but nothing is being done about that.

Politically speaking however, this may be the blessing that every Republican in Congress, running for reelection this year, was hoping for. The White House served this one up on a silver platter.

The lack of oversight reminds people of the NSA eavesdropping; the president being unaware regurgitates Katrina; and his veto threat brought to mind Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.

For Democrats, they have an opportunity to demonstrate their war on terror bona fides. You Republicans have an issue that places some distance between the president and yourselves. Not to mention the secrecy and arrogance, which seems to be the administration's raison d'etre.

Don't get too giddy with excitement; it is always easier to demonstrate courage when public opinion is on your side.

Now that the United Arab Emirates company that was attempting to take over management operations at the six U.S. ports has announced that it will divest itself of all American interests what will you do for an encore?

I chuckled when I read Speaker Hastert's comments: "We will continue to use our best judgment on how to protect the American people."

Too bad some of that courage wasn't on display when you needlessly acquiesced to the president's desires to send our troops into Iraq. You have allowed the "few bad apples" alibi to remain as this country's definitive word on torture, when there is a paper trail that suggests otherwise. You have remained silent as the president defines NSA eavesdropping as a false choice between safety and civil liberties.

Do you really believe that standing up for six ports can erase the damage that six years of providing the president with a free "reign" has caused on the domestic and international fronts?

If successful, all you have really done is beat a weakened president at his own game. You have used fear to appear strong on national security.

But don't let me rain on your parade. You have at least stopped the 72-month streak of being the branch of government that passed the president's every request. Next time, would it be too much to ask that you did it for something that really mattered to the American people?