Obama’s advisor: Blame Canada!

Austan Goolsbee, Barack Obama’s senior economic adviser, is trying to get out an embarrassing situation by playing dumb and blaming our biggest trading partner and most friendly neighbor - Canada (AP via Fox News):

Barack Obama’s senior economic policy adviser said Sunday that Canadian government officials wrote an inaccurate portrayal of his private discussion on the campaign’s trade policy in a memo obtained by The Associated Press.

The memo is the first documentation to emerge publicly out of the meeting between the adviser, Austan Goolsbee, and officials with the Canadian consulate in Chicago, but Goolsbee said it misinterprets what he told them. The memo was written by Joseph DeMora, who works for the consulate and attended the meeting.

Goolsbee disputed a section that read: “Noting anxiety among many U.S. domestic audiences about the U.S. economic outlook, Goolsbee candidly acknowledged the protectionist sentiment that has emerged, particularly in the Midwest, during the primary campaign. He cautioned that this messaging should not be taken out of context and should be viewed as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans.”

“This thing about `it’s more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans,’ that’s this guy’s language,” Goolsbee said of DeMora. “He’s not quoting me.

“I certainly did not use that phrase in any way,” Goolsbee said.

So now, in order to prevent anyone from looking behind the curtain for the truthbehind the Audacity of Hype, Goolsbee would rather set off an international incident with Canada.  Either that, or he is a complete ignoramus on political matters.

Why do I say that?  Take a look at this piece of the story:

He said the visit lasted about 40 minutes, and perhaps two to three minutes were spent discussing NAFTA. He said the Canadians asked about Obama’s position, and he replied about his interest in improving labor and environmental standards, and they raised some concerns that Obama sounds like a protectionist.

He said he responded that Obama is not a protectionist, but that the Illinois senator tries to strike a balance between the economic struggles of working Americans and recognizing that free trade is good for the economy.

“That’s a pretty ham-handed description of what I answered,” Goolsbee said of memo’s account. “A: In no possible way was that a reference to NAFTA. And B: In no possible way was I inferring that he was going to introduce any policies that you should ignore and he had no intention of enacting. Those are both completely crazy.”

“In no possible way was that a reference to NAFTA”?  Is he kidding?  The entire question came out of a NAFTA discussion.  Moreover, Canada is the largest exporter to us, and we’re its biggest export market – and someone of Goolsbee’s stature should know that.  It is impossible for any Canadian official to have a discussion on trade, politics, and the American presidency without it impacting NAFTA.

If Obama or his staff had even the most limited foreign policy experience, they would know this.  They would understand that you can’t speak about NAFTA in any way without Canada getting nervous.  To imply that the Canadian consulate is making stuff up is hardly the way to address that problem.

The late Patrick Moynihan once famously said of Jimmy Carter, “Unable to distinguish between our friends and our enemies, he has essentially adopted our enemies’ view of the world” (NRO).  Obama clearly has the first troubling part down.  Do we really want to have him complete the sentence, and repeat history, in the White House?