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point of being invited down to the Texas home of the president. Mismanagement of the news couldn't get much worse from a 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue perspective.
Then along came the selling of port management to the state owned company of Dubai. Despite being heralded as an ally of the United States, Dubai was home to two of the terrorists of 9/11 and has supported terrorist groups in the Mideast. One can understand the outrage, justified or not, of the American people and congress when the administration went ahead business as usual and signed over control of six American ports to Dubai.
Justified or not, safe or not, what was the White House thinking? Did they not have a clue the American people might be just a little upset? Didn't anyone in the West Wing think this might be a public relations disaster?
When news of the transfer leaked out and the ensuing firestorm spread, the administration's response was to threaten a presidential veto of any congressional action threatening the deal. Again, just the opposite response needed. Members of the president's own party jumped ship like rats at port. Then the White House said the deal was fine as it had been reviewed by several department heads. Twenty-four hours later it was revealed none of the aforementioned department heads had looked at the Dubai deal. Then the White House said the president himself had not looked over the deal.
Chaos. In the old days Karl Rove would have delivered this latest scandal to the history shelves with a ribbon tied around it and the public would never be the wiser. But it seems as if Team Bush is suffering from scandal fatigue and new blood is needed to manage the White House spin before next November's elections get into full swing.
Without that needed change the White House can count on a thinning of the GOP herd in both the House and Senate next November.
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