Thursday, February 23, 2006

Looking On The Bright Side, I Just Coined The Term "Art Malikalike"

Always good to see a bit of bipartisan populist xenophobia. Personally, I think it would be a terrible idea to allow non-US governments to control the security of US ports; fortunate, then, that that has nothing to do with what's actually happening. Obviously, it's tragic that the company in question will no longer be owned by a British firm, but we'll muddle through somehow. Presumably, now the company has been bought out by UAE interests, their staff of lovable Cockney barrow boys and chimney sweeps will be deported and replaced by sinister Art Malikalikes. (Well, he's British too, but his character in True Lies wasn't, and I think it's got a ring to it.)

Daniel Drezner talks sense in the meantime.

UPDATE: The Drezner comment thread is pretty horrifying, though. My favorite one begins:
There is no American company that can manage a port? Smells like an Abramoff type of deal.
That's right. We must act now before this company falls into the hands of foreigners, instead of the British! To judge by the handle "save_the_rustbelt", though, this commenter is quite accustomed to arriving late to political issues.