The decision was made by an interagency committee led by Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt. The group included officials from 12 departments and agencies, including the departments of Defense, Justice, State and Homeland Security, as well as the National Security Council and the National Economic Council.

I think if there’s one thing we might agree on, it’s that a committee chaired by a Bush deputy secretary and whose members are drawn from among other Bush administration political appointees is probably not apolitical.

In fact, the President faces a political dilemma: Does he do the “right thing” by accepting the findings of the apolitical agency responsible for clearing the deal or succumb to political pressure to prevent Arabs from owning certain port facilities simply because they are Arabs? Here we see that the President’s weakened political standing has republican lawmakers running scared for their own political lives. When given a choice between staying with the party leader who brought them to the dance and staying at the dance, the fearless followers (not surprisingly) choose to stay at the dance. The big question is whether the Democratic Party can come up with a viable plan to persuade the voters to change their dance partners this November. We’re still waiting to hear more from the party’s leaders than “please send us more money;” where is that unifying message promised by Howard Dean?