The Port Deal: National Racial Profiling?

The Zero Point has a good overview of the background on the potential transaction of Dubai Ports World, based in the UAE, purchasing P&O Steam Navigation Co., based in London. (P&O currently controls security for several major sea ports within the U.S.)

I believe that, because this is a transaction involving national security, much more scrutiny is required on the part of the U.S. in order to approve such a transaction. And while I don't have all the facts, right now I would not be comfortable approving the transaction.

While I find myself aggreeing with the Democrats on this issue opposing the transaction (although Democrats want to nationalize ports, which I do not), there is another more interesting point. Democrats and their ACLU friends have always followed the line that racial or ethnic profiling is wrong and illegal. They believe that 85 year-old American Granny should be checked in the airport security line as thoroughly and often as 25 year-old males from Saudi Arabia.

Yet profiling is exactly what is going on here. British-owned P&O has controlled port security in the U.S. for years and we never heard a loud outcry. Yet now because P&O would be controlled by a company from an Arab nation (UAE), everyone is screaming about security issues. Rightly so, in my opinion, but I'm also in favor of profiling, while most Democrats do not.

Ultimately this transaction will be blocked because the GOP can't be seen as weak on security. But let's call this what it is - racial/ethnic profiling. And we should be comfortable with it.