The Dubaiya Ports Debacle

The New York Times has an interesting story today on the latest chapter in the long slide of the Bush administration.

That would be the firestorm over the Dubai Ports World deal, which is being dubbed "Dubaiya" by less charatable commentators such as yours truly. The excerpt below notes that the conflagration was fueled by what might be loosely called the "new media."

The story of how President Bush, who has staked his political fortunes on his reputation for protecting the nation, was blindsided by the port security issue did not begin in Washington. When the news first broke, two weeks ago, the attention of the national news media was largely consumed with other matters, including Vice President Dick Cheney's accidental shooting of a fellow hunter.

But pressures from far beyond the capital forced the spotlight onto the Dubai deal. Fueled by a backlash on conservative talk radio and taunting by liberal blogs and comedy shows, the national outcry seemed almost organic, a bipartisan chorus that grew ever louder over the span of a week, reaching a cacophony that President Bush and members of Congress, besieged by calls from constituents, could not ignore.