The Rabid Badger and the Canadian Boomerang
We've been lectured at great length as of late about the Obama campaign's craven desire to be all things to all Canadians when it comes to NAFTA. Funny thing is....?
The Canadian Press — Canada's domestic equivalent of the AP — is reporting that the original source of the leak was Ian Brodie, chief of staff to Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. And as it turns out, Brodie's original conversation with reporters focused much more on Hillary as the candidate whose people were reassuring Canada that the anti-trade rhetoric was all just campaign talk."He said someone from Clinton's campaign is telling the Embassy to take it with a grain of salt," said one participant in the conversation. The source added, "someone called us and told us not to worry."
Oh really. Gosh. What a surprise.
--
To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
- Harley's blog
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Conservative Prime Minister. Hmm, who does he want to win?
This is a transparent, and successful, attempt to embarrass both Democratic candidates. They walked right into it.
--The other day I heard that ignorance and apathy are sweeping the country. I didn't know that, but I don't really care.
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)I would suspect it is someone who isn't going to hammer Canada over NAFTA, er someone who supports free trade.
--“Let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”
John F. Kennedy
January 20, 1961
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| parent )Is Hillary a panderer or a protectionist? Which is it? Were the Canadians lying about these two actually saying something reasonable and reassuring to a huge trading partner, or do these two clowns actually think they can mess with a very successful agreement? :^)
--The ultimate result of shielding man from the effects of folly is to people the world with fools. -Herbert Spencer
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)Being in favor of reasonable environmental and labor standards in trade deals does not make someone a protectionist.
If you really insist that it does, then I am pretty sure I could label you as a protectionist since I bet you wouldn't favor unrestricted trade with a nation that had an economy fueled by slave labor. And if you're a protectionist then, due respect, you've watered down the term to meaningless. Please, let's use protectionist to refer to advocates for tariffs or quotas, as is the common understanding.
--Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
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| parent )if it benefits him, it's good. If it doesn't, it's bad. Everything else is just labels.
--I blame it all on the Internet
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| parent )Nor did he even engage in them? This story actually has very little to do with him. But he's certainly on the record regarding NAFTA and outsourcing and traded agreements generally. You are free to draw your own conclusions.
And given the electoral importance of Ohio? I'd expect John McCain's position to become a little more, uhm, nuanced over time. Like many of his other positions.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )other than the future hammering?
--“Let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”
John F. Kennedy
January 20, 1961
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| parent )did the Clinton Campaign make any denials about the conversation?
--“Let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”
John F. Kennedy
January 20, 1961
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)And contrary to what Harley said, Clinton was in the original story that ran last Wednesday. The Clinton campaign immediately emphatically denied it:
The "immunity" part makes the denial pretty convincing.
Of course, probably the only real difference is that Clinton's Canadian contacts are more reliable and discreet. But that's the difference between a rookie and a vet.
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| parent )I'm assuming they'll be asked about it today. This story just broke last night.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )This says something about candidates who make belligerent statements about Canada in public, then send back-channel emissaries to make soothing noises to its officials. This FUBAR happened with an ally and friend, and it doesn't send an encouraging message about how the top two Democrats will handle foreign policy with non-allies and non-friends.
--"I want America to know that I'm, like, totally ready to lead." -- Paris Hilton
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)Not to sully (heh) your candidate, but really, folks, c'mon. Does anyone really think that discussions like the real or imagined one a BO campaign member had with a Canadian don't go on all the time? Diplomacy in large part is the art of appearing to do one thing while doing another, often conflicting thing. Business for smoke-filled rooms, not noon in the town square. The art of not just compromising, but of each side making that compromise look like a complete victory to their watchers at home. The Joe Wilson fans here can ask him if you don't agree with me.
I'd be surprised only if stuff like this wasn't happening. If BO is elected, he better have some quality head fakes and be pretty good at Three-Card Monte if he's going to last long in the company of people like Merkle, Putin, Chavez, Ahmadjinebad, and whoever is running Israel that week.
A question: How many jobs are the unions claiming we lost to Canadians? I always thought the big issue was jobs moving south, not north. And if I'm right, might it not be a good idea in the long run to readjust the Mexican part without changing Canadian trade deals? IIRC they are one of the largest importers of American goods.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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)But the way this rolled out just strikes me as bizarre. Just in time for the primaries. But with a rather, uhm, majolr component left out. The Clinton campaign beat this story to death -- and did so while knowing they engaged in exactly the same behavior. (Well, slightly different. They initiated the discussions. The Canadians contacted the Obama advisor.)
And I'm guessing this half of the story gets far less play than the first. Perhaps because we expect it from the Clintons.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )coverup, or something like that
--“Let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”
John F. Kennedy
January 20, 1961
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| parent )This wasn't a crime, of course. But rather a Canadian political aide calling the Obama campaign and someone else leaking a characterization of that conversation. There is some dispute as to what they discussed. It was clearly a mistake -- tho' tomsyl makes the case re diplomacy, etc. But, as mentioned elsewhere, it had nothing to do with Obama. It became part of a very bad week that preceded the primaries, was seen as an indication of either hypocrisy or incompetence re the Obama team, and the Clintons absolutely pounded them on this right up to March 4th (you can find some of Trickster's posts on this for the breathless tenor of their Clinton response).
I just find it odd that the fact that the Clintons were engaged in identical behavior -- except in their case, they initiated the conversation -- and yet that somehow wasn't revealed (by the conservative pols north of the border) until after the primary.
Or maybe it's just bad luck. Obama, like most successful candidates, has been very lucky along the way. Last week? Not so much.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )See above. There's no nefarious before primaries/after primaries distinction. The story on both came out at the same time.
Also there was a pretty significant difference in the tenor of the denials.
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| parent )Is that a vet move or a rookie move in your estimation?
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )Nice try at changing the subject, though.
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| parent )Again, you amaze me. But I'm going to change the subject anyway. Here's Bill Bradley on the Clinton Library:
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )Political correctness? Anyway, that's where the bulk of the moolah for the Shrine to Bill came from IIRC. Not that they'll ever need anything from the next Administration . . . . like, say, lifting the seizure order entered against of Prince Bandar The Duplicitous's US property. The Saudis are nothing if not law-abiding.
--Even a dead midget is far from light. - Confucius
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| parent )Yglesias mentioned that in his own comment on Bradley's statement. But hey, like the tax returns, this stuff is too complicated for us to know about.
Clinton Rules.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )it was someone from the Obama Campaign (a senior official) making nice with the Canadian Consulate in Chicago.
--“Let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”
John F. Kennedy
January 20, 1961
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| parent )My point is that the original leaked story, and the one Hlllary tattooed on her forehead for all of last week, suggested that Obama had made private assurances to Canadian officials about his NAFTA statements. Even John McCain took a few whacks at this pinata.
Turns out it was a diplo at the Canadian Consulate who reached out to an Obama campaign official, they had a conversation, and the details of that conversation are in some dispute.
Turns out the original assurances, thus far not disputed, were in fact made by the Hillary Clinton campaign to Canadian pols.
Setting aside the real story here -- Canadian pols tamper with US election -- yes, I'm curious to hear the response from the Clinton campaign. But I'm guessing you won't hear much from McCain.
After all, like most Republicans, he'd much rather face HIllary in the general election.
--To think is not enough; you must think of something -- Jules Renard
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| parent )carving out Obama from the Obama Campaign organization good show. But the Obama Campaign first denied that a meeting ever took place, once that was proven an incorrect statement velocity took over.
I prefer, Canadian pol responds to hammering statement on NAFTA and reminds the Yanks who has the oil reserves.
--“Let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”
John F. Kennedy
January 20, 1961
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| parent )