Over the past 8+ years, this blog has welcomed readers from the White House, State Department, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Commerce and numerous Virginia-based servers the origin of which one can only guess. Perhaps policymakers even read what is written here -- I do not flatter myself.
But when I see, the day after a pointed question asking when Secretary Geithner will "press China on trade," an article entitled, "U.S. to Press China on Trade Geithner Will Seek Freer Markets in Beijing Talks; Euro Crisis Damps Yuan Issue," it is almost as if this maverick voice in the wilderness has been heard.
Alas, not. A search of "geithner press china trade" returns articles delineating administration plans to influence China from late 2008, at which time Mr. Geithner was installed as Secretary of the Treasury. I do not even wish to search for the names of other Secretaries in conjunction with "press china trade," or any confluence of similar words. That would be a sheer waste of time. We all know how "pressing" this issue has been for this (and other) administrations.
[For those not born and raised in the U.S.: Maverick, in the link above, is a cartoon character, the silent, ever-nodding in agreement sidekick to Yosemite Sam. A lovable character, co-starring in "Oily Hare," one of my personal favs. However, a maverick is really an unbranded animal, free to roam the range, from which the term has come to mean "a free-speaker" in the best American sense.
