the cleptocracy

i have been saying it for months, maybe years: the only difference between the current bush administration and the ferdinand marcos administration in the philippines is laura bush probably doesn't have 3,000 pairs of shoes. well, that and george (the tanned vampire) hamilton doesn't seem to be hanging out with dubya all that much. anyway, the current administration is nothing but a bunch of crooks that are in it to make money for themselves and their giant corporation friends. case in point: halliburton. 'nuff said.

so, ever since this dubai ports debacle broke in the news, i have been asking, "where's the money? what fobs (friend of bush) are getting rich off this?" well, i think i just found them, and they're all related to treasury secretary john snow and railroad and shipping conglomerate, csx. here's an interesting blog post or two pointing out the connection between snow, csx and dubai ports world, who just bought p&o.

in february 2005, csx sold their ports business called, csx world terminals, to dubai ports international for more than $1.1 billion, see page 3 of csx's 10K.

dubai ports world was later formed from the dubai port authority and dubai ports international terminals.

a dubai ports world executive was appointed by dubya on january 24, 2006 to be our country’s maritime administrator, in charge of our nation’s ports, among other things.

dubai ports world just purchased p&o on february 13, 2006. snow’s treasury department just gave the ok on the p&o sale to dubai ports world. john snow, current treasury secretary, was chairman and ceo of csx until he took the treasury job in january 2003.

so, basically, you work for a big company, then you get put into a position of power in the administration where you can use your power to do favors for that company and its friends. that’s how it works. at the very least, you have a glaring conflict of interest.

there’s also an interesting carlyle group connection, although they don’t seem to be directly related to the dubai port deal. interesting to note that csx is also in bed with the carlyle group, which is, in turn, in bed with the bush family. it’s how dubya will make all his money...when daddy bush shuffles off this mortal coil. you will remember the carlyle group from the infamous michael moore movie, Fahrenheit 9/11, they are longtime fob's. in fact, dubya used to sit on their board (until he was asked to leave) and daddy bush was a “senior advisor” until he retired in october 2003 and is still a shareholder. in addition to the substantial saudi connections to carlyle, the group is also making a ton of money off the united arab emirates, who invested about $8 billion in the carlyle group in 2005, through the uae government backed company, dubai international capital. in february 2003, csx sold the majority interest of their container shipping lines, called csx lines, to the carlyle group, forming a joint venture called horizon lines, which was later sold. see page 4 of csx’s 2004 10K.

have you heard anything about this on the msm? no. only knee-jerk, racist hysteria about arabs being in charge of american ports. and the msm and republican lapdogs are doing exactly what bush’s handlers want. they don’t want you looking at the real issue, which is how the bush administration are using our government to make themselves and their friends rich. wake the fuck up, people.