The Party's Over

New York Daily News:

The White House is quietly pushing a Dubai company to "significantly restructure" and partner up with a U.S. outfit to keep the port deal from sinking, sources told the Daily News yesterday.

"It's in the hands of the company now. ... They're going to have to significantly restructure," said a Republican source familiar with White House expectations

This is why:

The Bush Administration's decision to allow DP World to operate key US ports is a profound mistake, and I am doing everything I can as your Congressman to overturn this misguided deal. I truly regret that it is necessary for me to oppose our President and fellow Texan, but this agreement is outrageous and it should be reversed. The United Arab Emirates owns DP World, and I agree with House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter that the UAE cannot be trusted. When we are at war with Islamic extremists committed to America's destruction, we cannot allow any aspect of seaport operations to fall under the control of a Muslim nation with a long history of collaboration with Islamic extremists. In a time of war, our security must not be entrusted to ANY foreign nation. The decision to contract out US port operations to the UAE makes as little sense as contracting out US border security to the Mexican government.

If the President vetoes a Congressional bill to overturn the UAE port deal, I will vote to override his veto.

That's part of an e-mail from John Culberson, my U.S. representative. A more rabid Bush and DeLay supporter would be hard to imagine. And how disappointed is he in his President? The rest of the e-mail tells the story:

I am also working hard to overturn the Administration's decision to leave our southern border virtually unprotected. I have been one of the principal leaders in the House at designing and passing legislation like the REAL ID Act and the Border Security Act, which passed the House in December 2005. I am also working hard to block the Administration's efforts in the Senate debate on this bill to legalize the millions of illegal aliens in the United States. It is very frustrating and upsetting for me as a Texan and a Republican to be opposing my Texas Republican President on issues like border security when he should be leading the charge to protect our borders. I am fed up with the Administration's deliberate refusal to enforce our immigration laws, and I intend to use every legislative, political and legal tool at my disposal as your Congressman to enforce our immigration laws and bring law and order to the border as quickly as possible.

I authored a successful amendment to the Border Security Act to send $100 million to the locally elected Sheriffs in each of the border counties from Brownsville to San Diego so they can hire enough Deputy Sheriffs and build enough detention beds to enforce the law and to arrest and house the illegal aliens, drug dealers, smugglers and terrorists who are walking across the border unobstructed every day. I know that our Texas border Sheriffs will bring law and order to the border very, very quickly once they have the money they need to deploy and equip deputies.

Which just illustrates, to my mind, what a yahoo this guy is. But then it gets interesting again:

Situations like these show the wisdom of our Founding Fathers in designing a federal government with three branches, and Congress must fulfill its obligation to represent the nation and stand up to the executive branch or the judicial branch whenever necessary. Republicans in Congress, especially in the House, have been doing our best to enforce immigration laws and to protect the borders, but we are meeting staunch resistance from the Administration every step of the way. As Texans, we are obligated to fight for our state when the President proposes a hurricane relief package that provides no relief, none, for his fellow Texans who opened their hearts, their homes and their wallets to help our neighbors in Louisiana. On top of that, the Administration has largely ignored the devastation caused by Hurricane Rita.

You can see where this is going. When somebody like Culberson is hearing about the disappointments with hurricane relief, you know the situation is bad. I would even say, worse than I realized. Notice how he conflates the two:

Protecting our borders and stopping the flood of illegal aliens and dangerous criminals is my single highest priority in Congress. I will also be working diligently in the weeks ahead to overturn the UAE port deal, and to ensure that Texas is fully and fairly reimbursed for the costs we have incurred from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

I am very grateful for the privilege of representing you in the United States Congress.

John Culberson
Member of Congress

Representatives know where the hot buttons are with their constituents, and Culberson is clearly responding to his constituency. I don't know how strong his re-election bid is, but he clearly wants to strengthen it by not running on Bush's coattails.

Sidney Blumenthal quoted Karl Rove, 2 years ago at the Clinton Library opening ceremony, declaiming: " 'I change constitutions, I put churches in schools ...' Thus he identified himself as more than the ruthless campaign tactician; he was also the invisible hand of power, pervasive and expansive, designing to alter the fundamental American compact." Not any more, Mr. Rove. Not any more.