The Politics of Ports

Here's House Majority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, in the Washington Post on the move to set up a vote next week on legislation to kill the Dubai ports deal, despite the fact that the administration has agreed to a new 45-day review of the deal:

"There are two things that go on in this town. We do public policy, and we do politics. And you know, most bills at the end of the day, the politics and the policy kind of come together, but not always. And we are into one of these situations where this has become a very hot political potato."

I'm not completely naive; I know that votes are sometimes taken purely to score political points. But aren't you supposed to at least pretend that there's some principle at stake?