Well.  The President has strongly indicated, during a press junket on board Air Force One, that he will veto any attempt to block the Dubai Port deal.

But the troops aren't standing strong behind him on this one.

Make the jump.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN White House reporter, said this about the President's public statements:

He would veto any legislation to hold up this deal and warned that the United States was sending mixed signals by going after a company from the middle east when they said nothing when a British company was in charge.  He goes on to say that it is the lawmakers - members of Congress - that have to step up and explain why a middle eastern company is held to a different standard.  He also took issue with a reporter's question aboard the plane saying what is the - kind of the politics of all of this - and he says that this is not a political issue.  

Clearly, Tony, we've all been waiting to see what the President was going to do, what he would say, and how he was going to come out on this issue.  He has spoken very strongly aboard Air Force One essentially saying he would veto any legislation that would put that deal on hold.

In another shocker, Dennis Hastert has issued a "strongly worded" letter encouraging the President to back away from the port deal.  Via Ed Henry at CNN:

Even as the President is now declaring that he wants this port deal to go through and that he would veto any legislation the Congress passes to try to block the deal, CNN has also just learned that the Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, a key Republican ally of the President, of course, has just fired off a letter to the President saying he should halt the port deal.  He's saying he should also "conduct a more thorough review of the matter before it goes forward."  Hastert is also warning that he might introduce legislation if the President does not follow through on that.  

This letter almost directly mirrors... what Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist sent to the President earlier today.  A prepared statement - not a letter - a prepared statement telling the President - complaining - that there had been very little Congressional consultation in this whole process.  Also complaining about the potential security ramifications of having this Dubai company actually take over the operations of US ports.  Senator Frist had also basically said it's time to halt this deal otherwise he will introduce legislation.  This is coming after rank and file Republicans all up and down the East Coast of the United States, in port cities from New York to Florida, today and in recent days calling for the deal to be halted.  

And finally, Republican senator Susan Collins today, Chair of the Homeland Security Committee, she's saying she'll introduce a resolution of disapproval of this whole port deal.  That's another problem and headache for this White House.  

And finally, Senator Chuck Grassley, key Republican - Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee - just within the last hour put out a statement blasting this entire deal.  You see the President digging in, but Republicans on Capitol Hill really pushing back hard.  This a tremendous political headache for the White House.

My emphasis added in both excerpts.

Whew.  Lots of DVR transcribing there.  A few random thoughts:

1. Presidential arrogance, apparently, pisses off more than just Democrats.
   
2. This is the next "Harriet Miers" effect, only this time common sense will win out over ideology.
   
3. Why the HELL is the President so dogmatically sticking to this deal??

Sheesh.  Nice to see them fracturing so publicly on this.  The President has his pants around his proverbial ankles.

The talking heads on CNN are now talking about the unexpected "tsunami of opposition" to the port deal. I suppose it's only unexpected if you don't keep u with the news and statements of other public figures, both Democrat and Republican.

Update [2006-2-21 16:27:44 by RenaRF]: PRICELESS - Jack Cafferty's comments on CNN just now:

Wolf, this may be the straw that finally breaks the camel's back, this deal to sell control of six US ports to a company controlled by the United Arab Emirattes. There are now actually Senators and Congressmen and Governors and Mayors telling the White House "you're not gonna do this." And it's about time. No one has said "no" to this administration on anything that matters in a very long time. Well this matters. It matters a lot. If this deal is allowed to go through, we deserve whatever we get. A country with ties to terrorists will have a presence at six critical doorways to our country. And if anyone thinks that the terrorists, in time, won't figure out how to exploit that, then we're all done. Nothing's happened yet, mind you, but if our elected representatives don't do everything in their power to stop this thing, each of us should vow to work tirelessly to see that they are removed from public office. We're at a crossroads - which way will we choose?

Here's the question: What should be done to stop a deal that would allow an Arab company to run US Ports??

Click here to send an email with your thoughts to Jack Cafferty.

My emphasis added. Send Jack an email - the question, and its setup, were awesome.