Sexy Safire

Safire's column today is a real hunk of junk. Here screeches about Democratic protectionist, but completely looks over George W. Bush's own refusal to live up to his free trade rhetoric. If you will pardon my hyperbole, at every turn, this administration has done its best to thwart free trade. Remember, the President illegally increased the tariff on imported steel, reduced the Canadian lumber quota and signed a horrendous farm bill. The Republican party has never really cared about further integration into the global economy, the last Republican President to pass a multilateral trade agreement was Eisenhower What has John Edwards done to hurt the open economy? Given some speeches lamenting the loss of manufacturing jobs? And Kerry, what has he done wrong? Voted for NAFTA? Yet somehow they deserve all of Safire's righteous anger while his boy toy escapes unharmed. I've said it once and I'll said again, Safire needs to get fired, right after David Brooks.