This may be old news to everyone else, but in my media semi-bubble here I didn't know about it until I saw this AP dispatch in the local paper:
The memo is the first documentation to emerge publicly out of the meeting between [Obama's senior economic policy 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.
"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," the memo said. "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." …
Goolsbee "was frank in saying that the primary campaign has been necessarily domestically focused, particularly in the Midwest, and that much of the rhetoric that may be perceived to be protectionist is more reflective of political maneuvering than policy," the memo's introduction said.
But as noted above, Goolsbee was quick to correct the memo. So no matter how bad this may look on the surface, it's not the case that Barack Obama is a posturing, cynical, lying bastard who's manipulating people's dire and deteriorating economic situations in order to gather power to himself, after which he'll stab them in the back. And so it would be wrong wrong wrong to take that conclusion from it.
No, the biggest question this raises for me is: how can we stem this tide of misunderstood memos? Because it really is throwing a monkey wrench into the process of transparent democratic governance, and undermining what should be a sacred trust in our duly-elected officials. I'm not sure how to end it permanently, but until we do find that solution, I think it's clear that the only prudent approach is to disregard any inconvenient truths revealed in unguarded settings and instead listen exclusively to ex post facto denials and so-called "spin control" (or "truth revelation", as I like to think of it) by official spokespeople.
[ As another example of this threat, consider my statement that posting would be "light to nonexistent" this week. I actually meant "continual and maybe even incessant," but my remarks were taken completely out of context by the charlatans who run this site. ]
The Distant Ocean 
This also reminds me of the concern some felt — Jonathan Ned Katz wrote about this in his book Love Stories, with a straight face (you should excuse the expression) — that Walt Whitman’s poems about kissing young men, holding hands with them, sleeping with them, etc. might be misunderstood. Much as poor Larry Craig was misunderstood a century later.
LikeLike
I don’t understand what the point of the meeting was. Canadians need to be told that our Presidential candidates are full of shit? As if people the world over didn’t already know this? I know the thought processes work a little slower up north due to the lower temperature, but really…
And what else did Professor Goolsbee have to reassure his Canadian friends about? That Old Yeller was just a movie, and they didn’t really shoot the dog in the end?
LikeLike
SteveB: Well, it’s news to a lot of Obama supporters as well (or not news, I imagine, since I’d guess they’re mainly taking my advice about shutting our ears to these unfortunate misunderstandings). So you can’t really blame the Canadian government. After all, the guy’s convincing.
LikeLike
I’m Canadian, and was an intern in our country’s embassy in DC last summer. From what diplomats there told me, your politicians are ALWAYS telling us these things. Usually it was something to the effect that when they talked about border security, they were really just talking about Mexicans, but didn’t want to sound racist, or that whatever plans they had for trade, they had no plans to restrict trade from Canada, because it’s not controversial.
Sometimes these conversations are started by Canadian officials, after scary speeches by politicians about shutting down the borders or something. Since most of our trade is with you, we’re pretty vulnerable to any disruptions and heading off the potential for trouble is the main role of Canada’s diplomats in America. Ditto for border traffic restrictions, because most of our trade with you is dependent on land border crossings.
US protectionism is our number one fear and foreign policy priority, so they’re quick to investigate any scary noises.
So, Obama’s not alone, though I suppose that’s not exactly a comforting revelation, if it was a revelation. Those most prone to this are those from States that border Canada (eg. Illinois and New York), but most will do it, from what I’ve been told.
LikeLike