The port controversy (ships, not wine), while appearing to cause discomfort for the President, is providing discomfort to a presidential candidate who is married to a former president. As usual, they were playing both sides of the fence and are dealing with the consequences of inconsistency. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has criticized the President over the issue. She either did not know, or did not think we would find out, that hubby was involved in the deal.

Bill Clinton evidently advised Dubai on the deal when he was traveling to Pakistan. He also tried to get the UAE to hire his former press secretary, Joe Lockhart, as a spokesman for Dubai Ports World. According to Robert Novak, other Democrats aligned with the Clintons also lobbied for DPW. Clinton owes Dubai a favor. It contributed to Clinton’s library in Arkansas (no jokes please, we already did all those). It also paid him big fees to come and speak there.

Novak, in a column posted yesterday, makes a great point. How will Bill’s dealings impact Hillary in her campaign for president? The answer is, no one knows until it happens, because no one, including Bill, knows what Bill will do, and no one but Bill knows what he has done that has not been discovered yet.

The possibilities are endless.

As a "Take It Or Leave It" exclusive, my correspondents in Washington have obtained tapes from the NSA of Hillary talking to Bill long distance in Pakistan about the problem. Here is the transcript.

Hillary: Bill! Why didn't you tell me you had lobbied Dubai on this deal?

Bill: Hillary, I swear I did not have relations with that country.

Hillary: You are going to ruin everything. How can we be president again if you screw things up? You do want to be in the White House again, don't you? After all, we still have a lot of their furniture.

Bill: The White House is kind of stuffy, but I did want to be in the Senate Wives Club.

Hillary: What did you say?

Bill: I'm sorry, you're breaking up. Phone service here is cut off by the protestors. It's President Bush's fault. (static noises)