Demagogue

This is a perfect example of empty blather that is, nonetheless, guaranteed to draw applause. Tuesday night in his SOTU address, President Bush declared:

Keeping America competitive requires us to open more markets for all that Americans make and grow. One out of every five factory jobs in America is related to global trade, and we want people everywhere to buy American.

With open markets and a level playing field, no one can outproduce or outcompete the American worker.

Please. Does the White House think every American is an idiot? Given how dramatic the hourly wage gaps are between workers in the U.S. and similar workers in China, Mexico or India, the American worker is clearly at a competitive disadvantage.

So why do members of Congress (and many Americans) welcome it when our president tries to pretend otherwise? Why is this a guaranteed applause line? Because we want to believe it's true?