Security of the ports is a red herring

Security of the ports is getting press b/c of several reasons:

• Bush and members of the cabinet were unaware of it
• a cabinet member will earn about 33 million in stock if the deal goes through

But probably the most important reason it's getting press is

• that it represents a flip flop on the security issue: that Dems are more concerned about security than the republicans.

And yet, this is the wrong reason to care about the security of the port. The more important questions are:

• Why would a foreign government want to own our port?
• And Why the heck are we selling American land to foreign governments anyway?

Consider this list of U.S. industy that shows the foreign ownership I gleaned from http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0227-20.htm:


Sound recording industries - 97%
· Commodity contracts dealing and brokerage - 79%
· Motion picture and sound recording industries - 75%
· Metal ore mining - 65%
· Motion picture and video industries - 64%
· Wineries and distilleries - 64%
· Database, directory, and other publishers - 63%
· Book publishers - 63%
· Cement, concrete, lime, and gypsum product - 62%
· Engine, turbine and power transmission equipment - 57%
· Rubber product - 53%
· Nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing - 53%
· Plastics and rubber products manufacturing - 52%
· Plastics product - 51%
· Other insurance related activities - 51%
· Boiler, tank, and shipping container - 50%
· Glass and glass product - 48%
· Coal mining - 48%
· Sugar and confectionery product - 48%
· Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying - 47%
· Advertising and related services - 41%
· Pharmaceutical and medicine - 40%
· Clay, refractory, and other nonmetallic mineral products - 40%
· Securities brokerage - 38%


Could we be facing an invasion here? Considering that corporations have more power than the common voters, and considering that we do have a very kick ass military, no country would be able to succeed in a military attack against our country and win. But they could do it through the market place.