The Dubai Ports world Deal debacle has shined a new and much-needed light on the dirty little secret of our open-door policy to America's enemies: out of the thousands of cargo conatainers which enter our ports every day, only a tiny fraction of them are actually opened and inspected by customs officials before they are sent on to their various final destinations in the rest of the country. This was the case before 9/11, it's been the case since 9/11, and it will remain the case for the foreseeable future, regardless of whether port operations are managed by P&O, DPW, or even Halliburton for that matter.It's really the Coast Guard and Customs that are responsible for Port Security. In fact, it is the Customs and the Coast Guard who are responsible for Port Security, and the Bush administration and the Republican Congress, in turn, are responsible for seeing to it that the job gets done.They've been pathetically derelict in this duty.The good news is, there's something we can help do about it:
The Teamsters and Independent Truckers should refuse to transport all uninspected cargo containers from our seaports.
The rest of us should support them in this and get their backs.
Democratic Senators and Representatives should publicly, and vocally support this action. They should attach riders to fully fund a 100% inspection regime to must-pass budget legislation.The democratic party and liberal organizations such as MoveOn, and liberal blogs such as Daily Kos should organize fundraising to support the truckers in the inevitable legal action against them which will result from this action. We should gather at the ports en mass to physically block the gates in order to ensure that Not One uninspected container leaves the premises.
This is the best way I can think of for us Joe and Jane Sixpacks to send a firm and clear message to BushCo: If you won't do what it takes to keep this country safe, we'll do it ourselves!