November 15, 2016
The NYT bizarrely equated trade with trade agreements in an article on a debate within the Democratic Party over its future policy course. The piece referred to Senator Bernie Sanders’ opposition to recent trade pacts then presented a quote from Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper:
“I don’t think you can be anti-trade…In the modern world, we need consumers overseas for our products as well.”
Of course Sanders has never indicated he was against trade, nor has any prominent figure in this debate, so as presented, Mr. Hickenlooper’s comment is essentially a non sequitur. In fact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the trade deal most in the news at present, actually contains major protectionist measures in the form of stronger and longer patent and copyright related protections, arguably it is supporters of this pact who can most accurately be called “anti-trade.”
Anyhow, if Mr, Hickenlooper is effectively speaking in non sequiturs it would be appropriate to call attention to this fact. After all he is identified in the piece as being “mentioned as a possible 2020 presidential candidate.”
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