A question of priorities

I cam across these two stories today

GOP moves to kill deal about the Dubai Ports World deal, and

Republicans Kill Request for Spy Program Inquiry - Los Angeles Times

Where are our priorities? From everything that I've been able to gather, there is no greater security risk for the ports under DPW than there is under the current management company, which is also foreign owned. But because the dread word "Arab" is involved, everyone is making all the political hay they can out of it.

On the other hand, warrantless domestic spying sounds so innocuous. After all, they're not likely to be spying on me, are they?

It's a lot easier to make a case against the DPW deal in a sound bite that resonates with the average American. But we need to move away from sound-bite politics. While I'm ambivalent on my feelings about the DPW deal, I can't see how anyone can, in good conscience, not support an investigation of the wiretapping. This "compromise" that's been worked out doesn't address the core issue at all. It only applies to future wiretaps. The laws may have already been broken need to be addressed. This goes to the heart of what I think makes the "American experiment" of such value. If the checks and balances put in place by the constitution aren't working, then we are in serious trouble as a nation.