When Tigers Eat Their Young.

1) Frobes.com: Update 2: Frist Calls for Halt to U.S. Ports Deal
2) CNN.com: Suit Seeks To Block Arab firm's takeover of U.S. port operations
3) CNN.com: President Bush is facing political pressure to block a deal that would give a United Arab Emirates-based company management of six major U.S. seaports.

The issue is not that a Muslim/Arab company would be in charge of our port security the issue IS that ANY private company would be in charge of out port security. This is the perfect case to reinforce the principle that some enterprises belong either under a government agency and/or an authority.
The libertarian, and apparently the neo-con, viewpoint that free enterprise must be 100% falls flat on its face when confronted with matters such as this. Domestic security must not now and not ever be the provenece of a private company. The stakes are too large to allow, even in theory, that profit may fall second to security.

For some reason Secretary Michael Chertoff's reassurances on this issue are not that reassuring.

"We look at what the issue of the threat is," Chertoff said. "If necessary, we build in conditions or requirements that, for extra security, would have to be met in order to make sure that there isn't a compromise to national security."

It would be nice to believe that more traditional conservatives/Republicans have chosen to join us in the reality based community, at least on this issue. Questioning Shrub's ill-conceived plan to sell off our security to the highest bidder is not a Democrat or Republican issue. It cannot be defined or discussed as a Progressive vs Conservative issue. This is an issue that extends and expounds on the failures of this administration to do what they purport to be so strong on, national security. Newly minted New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez

"You can't just simply tell us, 'Trust us,' " Menendez said. "We trusted the government response to Hurricane Katrina -- and the people of the Gulf were largely left on their own."

One could argue that presidential hopefuls, like Pataki and Frist, are distancing themselves politically from the Shrub implosion, but that might be too cynical of me. I could also suggest that Congressional Republicans like Lindsay Graham, usually Shrub's Gunga Din in the Senate, are scared spit-less of the November mid-terms.... oh you get the picture. Senator Graham (SC-R) and Rep. Davis (VA-R) did offer up these tid-bits though:

Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina said on Fox News Sunday that the administration approval was "unbelievably tone deaf politically." GOP Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia said on ABC's "This Week," "It's a tough one to explain, but we're in a global economy. ... I think we need to take a very close look at it."

Reactions:
1) YA think Lindsey? We on the other side have been saying that for almost 6 freaking years!
2) Yeah Tom that would be nice from your side.... FOR ONCE!