Must read

A magnificent, tone-perfect essay by Star A. Decise at The Enigmatic Paradox on the incredible political and public relations bumbling of the Bush Administration regarding the pending sale of shipping operations at six major American seaports. Money quotes:

Criticism, though perhaps xenophobic and racist, is spreading like a bipartisan brush fire fed by gale force winds. It's uniting politicians who share almost nothing except an uncontrollable addiction to television cameras. The public, predictably, is responding to deal as if being asked to kiss a rattlesnake on the lips...

It's the latest political blunder by an administration that used to have the deft touch of a violin virtuoso. But in recent months Bush and company have seemed to have more in common with political suicide bombers. In one decision after another, they've sabotaged themselves and wounded their natural allies, provoking a backlash that increasingly threatens their stranglehold on Congress...

[The White House] seems increasingly out-of-touch with the public pulse and seemed to only make matters worse by claiming the president wasn't even aware of the transaction until critics found it useful as ammunition for political attacks. As Democratic criticism has become a bipartisan Congressional rebellion, Bush's remaining legislative agenda has turned into little more than the Washington equivalent of a Dear Santa letter.