Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Free-Trade Schadenfreude

I feel sorry for Mark Penn. Really, I do. As everyone knows by now, Hillary’s chief strategist was demoted following news that he was working with Colombian officials to promote that nation’s free-trade deal. But, as the old saying goes, misery loves company.

With that thought in mind, can’t we all agree that Bill Clinton should immediately resign from Hillary’s campaign? Or at least be demoted?

After all — and to his credit — Bill’s been a big supporter of this trade deal for quite some time. Almost a decade, actually. In fact, a Colombian development firm based in Bogota paid him $800,000 for various appearances a few years ago. Nice chunk of change! Moreover, the ex-president has met repeatedly with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. One of those meetings actually took place at the Clinton home in Chappaqua, New York.

Let me get this straight: Bill’s been out and about, actively working on, supporting, throwing his weight around, and getting paid (handsomely) for his support on this Colombian trade deal. Just like Mark Penn.

Where’s Hillary’s outrage? And where’s Teamster James Hoffa now that we need him?