Big Lizards:Blog:Entry “Does Charles "the Sauerkraut" Krauthammer Read Big Lizards?”

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February 28, 2006

Does Charles "the Sauerkraut" Krauthammer Read Big Lizards?

Hatched by Dafydd

(Heck, we already know Ann Coulter does -- she once quoted us nearly verbatim!)

Big Lizards, February 21st, 2006; UAE and American Ports: a Modest Proposal:

Both the actual national-security risk and also the political danger come, not from the ownership of the company, but rather from the day to day management -- the actual control of operations. The emirate wants the profits that accrue from ownership; rational Americans want to see control of the port, even the cargo areas, in friendly hands, preferably American.

This suggests a workable compromise: an American company should be chartered -- American owned and American managed -- that is a wholly owned but independently operated subsidiary of Dubai Ports... call it American Port Services, Inc., or somesuch name that makes clear the nationality; and then let all the actual management of the ports be handled by the American APS, not by Dubai Ports.

Charles the Syndicated Krauthammer, Special Report With Brit Hume, February 27th, 2006:

Brit Hume:

The question is, sometimes these issues disappear into... into the process, and they get off the front pages for a while. The question is, what effect would that have?

The Sauerkraut:

If public opinion stays three to one against it, it'll be in the news even if you revive it in six weeks. If the vote were held today, the president would lose on a veto. The question is, could he change that in six weeks? I think it's probably yes.

And he'll do it, not by argument alone, but by inventing a sort of a cover. And the cover I think will be a U.S. company which will run it on behalf of, uh, the UAE company, so that the profits end up in the UAE, and operations end up in America... and with a committee of America's security people's oversight inside the company, et cetera, reporting to Congress. Lawyers do this kind of stuff; that's why you have lawyers: invent an intermediary. And I think it'll be done. If the president comes up with a compromise like that, I think he'll win on a veto.

So what do y'all think? Did Old Doc Krauthammer come up with this modest proposal completely independently? Or did he follow a link from Whizbang or Power Line or Captain's Quarters all the way out to the boondocks of Big Lizards, then say to himself, "well dang! that sounds like a pretty good i-dee!"

Now if we could only train them to include a link when being interviewed on the air....

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, February 28, 2006, at the time of 5:08 AM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: robg

Some time after your original article I saw a link to a Michael Ledeen comment on the Corner in which he also proposed pretty much the same thing.

I, too, wondered if he got the idea from your post.

The above hissed in response by: robg at February 28, 2006 6:47 AM

The following hissed in response by: Cowgirl

No kidding! I heard Britt and Chas last night on Special Report, and wondered if they read Big Lizards! It was a deja vu moment for sure.

And yeh. They should run links to the blogs they got ideas from along the bottom of the screen instead of the headlines. Makes sense to me.

The above hissed in response by: Cowgirl at February 28, 2006 11:15 AM

The following hissed in response by: yonason

"Now if we could only train them to include a link when being interviewed on the air...."

Maybe they limit the number of links he can use per post?
(sorry, i just couldn't resist)

But, seriously, perhaps it's just a case if "great minds thinking alike?."

After all, it isn't exactly a verbatum quote, nor are all the details the same

As C.K. said, "that's what lawyers do." Phony front companies are very popular for evading taxes, and legal restrictions, etc. Also, I don't think he was referring to APS as the front co., was he? If not, then we already have enough distinction between the comments that he can't be plagerizing.

(1.idea not lifted verbatum from yours. 2.it's a concept that anyone familiar with how these things work could come up with. 3.he doesn't seem to limit the front company to APS)

Sure, it's possible. But it's nowhere near iron-clad.

The above hissed in response by: yonason at February 28, 2006 5:41 PM

The following hissed in response by: blueguitarbob

It seems congratulations are in order, Dafydd. Captain Ed also reports that DP World is proposing something identical to your "modest proposal":

>>After the completion of the deal, DP World also pledged to transform the American operations into a subsidiary that would have American executives at the helm in order to make the operations more palatable for the United States.

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/006413.php

No credit to you, however. I suppose you should be satisfied to have contributed to peace in our time. Peace is its own reward, you know...

The above hissed in response by: blueguitarbob at February 28, 2006 7:31 PM

The following hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh

Good heavens, folks, I have no intention of suing anybody!

I'm just a shameless self-promoter.

(I do actually wonder which famous people read Big Lizards, though. Just for my own egomania.)

Dafydd

The above hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh at February 28, 2006 8:20 PM