So this is what the Rove-UAE cabal thought up to keep the Administration out of trouble:
Bush Accepts DP World's Offer of Review
White House Accepts UAE-Based Company's Offer to Submit to Broader Review of Ports Deal
The Bush administration said Sunday it will accept an extraordinary offer by a United Arab Emirates-based company to submit to a second and broader U.S. review of potential security risks in its deal to take over significant operations at six leading American ports. The plan averts an impending political showdown.
...
The announcement means the White House likely won't face a revolt by fellow Republicans when lawmakers return Monday from a weeklong break. A united Republican Party can assert that its leaders both in Congress and at the White House have taken additional steps to protect national security.
In the next week, and in the next 45 days, the Republicans are going to try to bury the story, to show that they are taking "steps to protect national security," and probably to let the deal die after further review. Does this remind anyone else of the Harriet Myers strategy? "Let Harriet/Dubai Ports World propose this exit strategy, so that we get rid of her/them without looking like we've changed our minds."
Democrats must continue to attack this fiasco as a symbol of Republican incompetence and make the "Dubai ports deal" a major talking point for the '06 election.
Democrats must continue their plans to introduce legislation blocking the deal.
I believe the American people support killing this deal. The American people do not want a further review, especially one proposed by the Dubai company. They want this deal off the table. The Democratic party needs to stop the Republicans and the UAE from calling the shots.
Instead, they need to continue their plans to block the deal. Let the Republicans in Congress defend the DPW-proposed 45-day investigation. Let the Republicans call the Democrats' impulsive, closed-minded, and unwilling to investigate. That sort of depiction can only help the Democrats's traditional image of being the party of too-much-deliberation.
The Democrats must continually paint the Republicans on soft on National Security because they are for this deal.