Port-a-spin: "It's the Clinton-Bush conspiracy! AIEEE!!"

Cannon here: Strange news on the port-a-scandal front.

After the Republicans told W that the deal would never fly, the UAE decided to transfer port operations to "an American entity." At this writing, I cannot know if Dubai has simply decided to pick up its marbles and play elsewhere, or if a front company will step in to play the role of "an American entity."

However, I do know that Dubai has threatened to retaliate if the port deal breaks down. The money we pay for oil gets recycled into American investments; if Islamic states decide to take their investment dollars elsewhere, this country will be in serious trouble.

Many have commented on the sublime fashion in which the administration has slit its own throat. Such popularity as the Bush administration still possesses derives entirely from a Medieval-style hatred of Islam -- a hatred which various rousers of rabble have carefully cultivated within the Bible belt. As Juan Cole reminds us: In a poll taken after September 11, 2001, only 14% of the American people believed that Islam fosters violence against other religions. That number is now 33% -- a figure not far removed from the 34% approval rating W received in the recent CBS poll.

This rise in religious bigotry did not happen by accident. As the old song reminds us, you have to be carefully taught.

Now the conservative perception-managers simply have no idea how to spin the port deal. In Orwell's 1984, the citizens of Oceania could transfer their affections from Eastasia to Westasia in less than one week. But not even the most skillful Republican propagandist can pull off a similar trick in real life. They cannot convince their staunch supporters to trust an Arab government while relying on anti-Arab hatred to fuel their movement.

Although lord knows they have tried to do just that. I'm especially amused by their attempts to bring the Clintons into this morass.

Certain rightists (not least among them Matt Drudge) have taken every opportunity to remind us that Bill Clinton takes speaking fees from the leaders of the UAE. We are supposed to walk away with the impression that this mess is somehow all Bill's fault. Unfortunately, even the dimmest of the red state dimwits understands that Bill Clinton has no power. Besides, he came out against the port deal.

Other right-wingers are starting to abandon Bush. Those who jump ship tend to dive into the dark seas of conspiracy theory. And we're talkin' 'bout some really weird conspiracy theories. Yep, it's 1994 all over again!

Note, for example, this piece by Jerome Corsi, author of the "Swift Boat" attack book on John Kerry. His bottom line:

Maybe the explanation is that President Bush takes seriously the idea of establishing a Bush-Clinton dynasty and he just seized the opportunity to allow Hillary Clinton to move to the center, leading with Senate hawks who see the Bush administration decision as risking our national security by turning over control of our ports to an Arab Islamic state that is obviously too comfortable with terrorists.

(My emphasis added.) Gee. And there are people who say I occasionally go over the top.

You just know that the right is bailing on Dubya when they start hinting at vague, Illuminati-esque plots linking the Bush family to the dreaded Clintons. We heard a few riffs along those lines (more than a few, truth be told) during the 1990s. I thought that the "wingnut right" had retired the Clinton-Bush conspiracy meme in 2000. Now it's back.

I find Corsi's final paragraph more than a tad unnerving:

In "Atomic Iran," I specifically chose the scenario that terror sleeper cells in America would seek to obtain an improvised nuclear device manufactured in Iran and shipped into the United States in a container delivered to a New York area port. The Bush administration has been lax in patrolling our porous border with Mexico. Evidently, the Bush administration proposes to deal with our ports with a similar lack of concern that we are turning over operations of key American ports to what amounts to the government of Dubai. The DPW deal is giving me serious concern that we might see yet another prediction I made in "Atomic Iran" become reality.

This statement is neither prediction nor prophecy. It's propaganda. How could Tehran possibly benefit from a nuke smuggled into an American port?

Obviously, the leaders of Iran must dread the propect. They know full well that they would bear the blame for such a tragedy, no matter who the actual perpetrators might be. They know that any such disaster would initiate a nuclear war they cannot hope to win.

I'm tickled to see Corsi distance himself from W. I'm horrified to see him try to place "pre-emptive blame" for the next terror attack on Iran.