The petulant-child-in-chief

Most of you, I'm sure, are familiar with shrub's immature explosion the other day when, under repeated questions concerning half a dozen retired generals' calls for Rumsfeld's resignation, W came out with, "I'm the decider, and I decide what's best!"

What a hoot.

As a tribute to that wonderful momeent, check this out.

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Another thing I've found interesting while Chinese President Hu Jintao's been bouncing around the country is that representatives of major manufacturers keep complaining that China's not doing anything to address the enormous trade deficit between our two countries.

There's one story about that here.

The question I'd pose to these reps who keep whining that China won't do what we want is very simple: why should they?

The only thing they stand to gain, perhaps, is the temporary goodwill of a nation that's viewed on the international scene these days as a musclebound bully who yells and yells until everyone on the playground finally just gives up and lets him have his way. Their economy is on the upswing for the first time since the early twentieth century, so why the hell should they stop now? Just because we want them to?

To think that China would dance to our tune is not only asinine, it's dangerously ignorant. It means that our officials and lawmakers refuse (the yahoo story refers to a number of congressmen who are pushing legislation to level out the trade deficit via embargos and tariffs and whatnot) to consider the point of view of our soon-to-be-more-powerful brethren to the East. And if our leaders continue to act in this fashion, it will only be to our detriment.

That having been said, I could really go for some egg rolls. Extra sweet and sour.