Tony Blankley takes umbrage at perceived charges from "free market and other conservative commentators" of nativism and Islamophoiba leveled at critics of the controversial port deal. "With 70 percent of the public in opposition to the port deal, this is as searing a criticism of American tolerance as ever has been hurled from America’s cultural or political opponents over the years. No Soviet propagandist or third-world revolutionary has more stingingly libeled the American people."
Mr. Blankley, a columnist and man of intellect I highly respect, is exaggerating the substance and effect of conservative criticism. Conservatives such as myself, in my view at least, have criticized the rank hypocrisy on the part of liberals, not conservatives, who have opposed this deal yet, as I said in a previous post, "cry injustice" when young Arab males are the subject of greater scrutiny in airport security screening. Conservatives don’t squirm at a limited level of profiling and support a form of it in this prospective port deal and, ergo, are entirely consistent. We believe as a matter of practicality that security threats of a specific terrorist nature are more likely to emanate from Arab males (I believe there is a more likely general threat posed by all young males, of all colors and ethnicities—Jose Padilla and John Walker Lindh bear this out) and, in extension, from Arab countries.
Personally, my main criticism of the port deal’s critics is not that they are motivated by any prejudices or unfounded fears, but they are motivated by un-substantive political concerns (outflanking President Bush on national security or establishing their independence from him). No one seriously accuses the American people and legitimate critics, such as Mr. Blankley, of nativism or Islamophobia. The American people are a tolerant, broad-minded people, and their concerns with this deal are much more substantive and legitimate than the concerns of their leaders in congress.
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