Managing the Ports – I don’t know about you, but I literally have no idea how the major U.S. ports are run or managed. If I had been forced to guess prior to all the fuss, I would’ve said that the ports were run and managed by the local city government. Turns out that private companies run most of the major ports of the world, and just like other companies, these companies get bought and sold. It also turns out that while these companies do manage these ports, they do not have anything to do with securing them. The DHS, Coast Guard, and other law enforcement agencies are in charge of securing the ports, and this will not change regardless of who purchases the managing rights.

So, does this mean I have no problem with a company from the UAE purchasing the management rights to our major ports? Again, I really don’t know enough to make a intelligent argument either way. My guts tell me that it is very possible that something could go awry here, but my brain tells me that most of our military ships have been docking in ports managed by this company for years without any problems. The deal is certainly worth another look, but I don’t think the hysterics were warranted.

Bryant Gumbel: Racist – Gumbel put both of his feet into his mouth last week when he said the following on his HBO show Real Sports:

Finally, tonight, the Winter Games. Count me among those who don’t care about them and won’t watch them. In fact, I figure that when Thomas Paine said that “these are the times that try men’s souls,� he must’ve been talking about the start of another Winter Olympics. Because they’re so trying, maybe over the next three weeks we should all try too. Like, try not to be incredulous when someone attempts to link these games to those of the ancient Greeks who never heard of skating or skiing. So try not to laugh when someone says these are the world’s greatest athletes, despite a paucity of blacks that makes the winter games look like a GOP convention.

First off, Gumbel has a right to his opinion about whether or not the Winter Olympics are good, bad, or indifferent. However, imagine for a moment if, instead of Bryant Gumbel, Rush Limbaugh had said “So try not to laugh when people say these are the world’s greatest quarterbacks, despite the paucity of whites that makes this group look like a Harlem street corner.” Heaven and Earth would tremble from the ruckus raised by Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton, the MSM demanding that Limbaugh be fired, tarred and feathered. However, I believe because Gumbel is black, no one has said a thing. I haven’t seen anyone talk about this on CNN, MSNBC, Dateline NBC, 48 Hours, or Nightline. Sharpton, Jackson, et al have remained silent as well. Why is this?

Well, Gumbel has made racism in sports into a cottage industry from which he makes a very good living. Problem is, when you make your living finding racism in everything you see, eventually you are going to find racism in everything you see, whether it is there or not. If you examine what Gumbel said, it is apparent that he thinks that because black athletes, for whatever reason, are not present in high numbers at the Winter Olympics, that you can’t consider those who excel at the Games to be the World’s best. He’s wrong, of course, as sports is really one of the few endeavors there are where the only thing that matters is performance, and the best performance is the best performance, regardless of the race of the athlete. As far as I know, there is no international conspiracy which is preventing blacks from taking up hockey, downhill skiing, curling, or speed skating. In fact, I have no doubt that if blacks were to participate more in Winter-type sports, a large number of them would be very successful. Just ask Grant Fuhr or Shani Davis.

Next is the fact that Gumbel injects politics into the whole discussion by bringing up the GOP. Forgetting for a moment that the GOP has nothing to do with Olympic sports, other than to slam the GOP for perceived racism there really isn’t a single reason to mention them. In fact, people like Jackson, Sharpton, and yes, Gumbel, who make a living out of convincing the rest of the world that racism is behind each and every actual and perceived wrong in America have a very strong interest in fanning the flames of racism. Keeping racism alive keeps them in demand, and keeps the money pouring in. Before you dismiss this, think about it for a minute: If Jessie Jackson couldn’t show up every time a black person cried racism, what would he do? The lifestyle he leads isn’t affordable on a minister’s salary, and most churches don’t have TV cameras.

Anyway, Gumbel got a free pass from the media this time around. I just wonder what he’ll have to do to actually get someone in the press angry at him. Vote Republican?

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 24th, 2006 at 6:27 pm by Nick, and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.