President Bush is proving to be his own worst enemy. At times, it is as if he labors through the night to divest himself of any semblance of concern (read: respect) for those who fought to get him elected.

The latest example of said propensity is his dogmatic support of the United Arab Emirates-owned Dubai Ports World takeover of U.S. ports.

President Bush has expressed concern over how the Arab world would view the scuttling of the ports sale deal. I submit he should be more concerned with how the Americans who put him in office view the deal.

He has repeatedly claimed the sale in no way presents a threat to our security. He has tried to quell the rising tide of criticism by selling the public on the United Arab Emirates being a strong ally in the war on terror. Maybe they are, maybe they aren't, but to put that line of reasoning into a more appropriate context, it is important to remember recent history.

Charles "Lucky" Luciano – the Godfather of Godfather's and progenitor of modern organized crime, i.e., the Mafia – struck a deal with U.S. military intelligence during World War II. Luciano agreed to provide assistance by having the Mafia watch our ports and waterfronts for any indication of compromise by the Axis (Germany, Italy and later Japan). The Mafia boss also agreed to furnish intelligence for the United States as our units moved through the Italian peninsula. After the war, he continued to assist military intelligence, providing information on the communists infiltrating resistance groups and the local government.

Luciano even went so far as to have the other notorious criminal, Dutch Schultz, murdered because Schultz was determined to assassinate New York prosecutor Thomas Dewey. Amazingly, he protected Dewey from Schultz even as Dewey was prosecuting him.

In return, Luciano was permitted to run his criminal organization from prison, and still later, as part of the deal, he was released after serving 10 years of what was to have been a 30 to 50 year sentence.

The point of this little historical stroll is that Charles "Lucky" Luciano did not stop being what he was, nor did the mutually beneficial detente between himself, the prosecutors and the government change his character. He helped because it was in his best interest to do so. The Mafia had been relentlessly persecuted by fascists and, thus, they hated fascism with a passion only they could fully appreciate.

Ergo, while Dubai may well be doing everything the president says, that still doesn't make them our friends. They are exceedingly wealthy criminals with terrorist predilections at the very least. If there is one lesson to be learned from Luciano and those like him, it is that the leopard not only doesn't change its spots, it cannot change its spots.

When the president seeks to reassure us on this deal – we would be fools to not look to the Southwest at the endless stream of illegal aliens crossing our borders. As he seeks to reassure us, does he expect us to forget that the overwhelming majority of the 11-plus million illegals came here – and continue to come here – on his watch? As he assures us that this is a good deal (lopsidedly for the UAE), he omits that he has made similar arguments pursuant to Mexico.

Yet on a regular basis, Vicente Fox blasts America and her people while doing his level best to countermand our lawful immigration policies. Complicating things even more are the capable anti-American, anti-Constitution American Civil Liberties Union and liberal courts. Now the president wants us to forget that not only are Mexicans proudly coming here illegally, but that Qurans and other Arabic paraphernalia are also being found along the same paths illegal Mexicans are using. Will he next ask us to believe the Mexicans are converting to Islam?

We didn't elect Bush to be a globalist – we elected him to continue the tradition of Ronald Reagan. A reader wrote in response to my column, "Giving Away the House," that the quid pro quo for selling off American assets to foreign-owned companies is that some of the deficit dollars sent abroad will end up back here vis-a-vis the purchase of productive assets, property acquisitions, etc.

Our mutual point of contention is that because of those we have elected, we find ourselves in this situation. Simply put, gratuitously spending what they don't have has not only jeopardized our economy, it now threatens our security.

President Bush has an obligation to protect America – trying to convince us that a bad deal is good is not the right way to do it. The UAE has a spotty record and an incestuous relationship with terrorist elements.

We should be thinking of America first. I should also say that while the president may need cold water splashed in his face to wake him up, the leprous liberals – who are jumping on the anti-ports sale bandwagon for political gain – are complicit in the threat to American security. When I look at them, I see terror with English surnames juxtaposed to Arabic ones.