Rehash

Let’s visit a couple of old stories since the Bush administration isn’t in the headlines this morning with new scandals. Although, as Jack Palance answered Billy Crystal’s query, “Killed anybody today, Curly?” in “City Slickers”, “…the day ain’t over yet.” On February 24th I sent an e-mail to international bookie PaddyPower to see if it was giving odds on the date when President Bush would back out of the Dubai deal. PaddyPower got back to me a day later saying, "Unfortunately we will not be able to offer a price on this particular market at this time." I had picked March 15th and March 17th as good bets for the actual date. As it turned out, it was March 9th. But, as we all knew would happen, the Bush administration made a face-saving deal with the UAE. It was Dubai that seemingly backed out. I say seemingly because we still haven’t heard the end of the Dubai deal. On March 9th, the UAE’s state-owned company DP World said it would bow to US political pressure and “transfer” (whatever that means) the ports in the Dubai deal to a “US-owned entity” (whatever that is). This morning the Miami Herald reported, “An e-mail raising questions about when -- or if -- Dubai Ports World would sell its interests in a Port of Miami-Dade terminal operator fueled some lawmakers' concerns that the Arab company isn't serious about divesting its U.S. operations. “In an e-mail discussing the upcoming budget for the Port of Miami Terminal Operating Co., an executive of P&O Ports North America -- which was bought by DP World -- addressed the controversy over the sale. “The e-mail states: ’. . . unless one or both of our esteemed partners have separately advised you that they plan to sell their interests, you should assume for your own purposes of managing the company that ownership of POMTOC is not going to change,’ wrote P&O Ports North America general counsel Robert Scavone on Monday. ‘And even if they do plan to sell, that would probably take a while . . .’ “Facing a likely defeat in Congress, DP World said last week it would sell its U.S. operations to an American company. “But the Arab company offered little detail about how or when it would sell, and some lawmakers were skeptical whether the divestiture will take place. “Skeptics include one of P&O's partners in POMTOC, Eller & Co., which has been fighting to stop the sale. "This was another trick on their part, to pull the wool over our eyes," said Eller attorney Michael Kreitzer.” And then we have the Claude A. Allen story. What a little beauty it is. Maybe I love it because some of my fave movies are about twins. Bette Davis in “A Stolen Life” (1946), for instance. They had to split the screen exactly in half back then and film first the one twin and then the other and splice the halves together. Even using the old-timey technology “A Stolen Life” is a wonderful tearjerker. And then there is Jeremy Irons in the marvelous and grisly “Dead Ringers” (1988). That movie used newer and awesome technology which allowed Irons to walk behind himself as twins. So, when the story about White House advisor Claude Allen’s theft arrest blossomed with an “evil twin”, I was captivated. Oh boy! Floyd the evil twin did it. And even Claude and Floyd’s stepmother Renee Allen said she assumed Floyd-the-rotten was the guilty party not Claude-the-perfect. What could be better? The good and pious Claude A. Allen who worked his righteous ass off for the GOP (as in, sitting at the right hand of Jesse Helms, Clarence Thomas and George W. Bush) had a mirror-image twin who was as black hearted as Claude was pure. Yummy! Alas, Claude himself blew the possibility of the evil twin doing the credit card scam. The March 11th New York Times reported, "Mr. McClellan (White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan) gave this chronology: On Jan. 3, Mr. Allen discussed the incident with Harriet E. Miers, the White House counsel, and told her that he had been returning merchandise and there was confusion with his credit cards because he had moved many times. He assured Ms. Miers that the matter would be cleared up.” Within days Claude Allen had resigned his White House post. Is there a good George W. Bush twin living in Canada? Will he come back to Washington DC and save the world? Nah! If he’s the good and smart twin he’s already had plastic surgery and changed his name.