Republican-Run House Still Ain't Done Twisting The Dubai Knife

Karl Rove must be mad enough to chew neutronium right now. From Reuters:

The U.S. House of Representatives will forge ahead with a vote on blocking an Arab-owned company from managing U.S. ports, to ensure the firm sheds its U.S. holdings as promised, a leadership spokesman said on Friday.

The Republican-run House's refusal to back away from the showdown vote was another blow to President George W. Bush, who suffered a stinging defeat Thursday when Dubai Ports World said it intended to back out of the deal his administration had approved.

Although Bush insisted the other day that Dubai Ports World’s announcement to sell was a decision made by that company under pressure from Congress, it turns out that the decision was actually made by Karl Rove:

[A]ccording to Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, the White House instructed DP World to concede. Appearing yesterday on Fox News, Kristol said Karl Rove canceled the deal with a phone call on the night of March 8:

He made that veto threat then he went on the trip to India and went silent basically. Karl Rove calls the people in Dubai two nights ago and tells them pull the plug on the deal, and I think as a result, the president looks weak, frankly.

Rove, a so-called political genius, obviously thought this Dubai thing would go away once he ordered DP World to pull the plug. He must have forgotten that this is an election year wherein a lot of Republicans are trying desperately to distance themselves from a wildly unpopular president.

Karl -- I'm laughing at the superior intellect.