Bush Admin Gives Canada and NAFTA the Shaft-a

I've noticed that this story has gotten zero play in the major US news sources, so I'm going to do my public service by pointing this one out:

NAFTA ruled that the US tarrifs on Canadian softwood imports were illegal, but the Bush Admin basically tossed that ruling aside like so much "due process" or "civil liberties." Let's just put that another way: NAFTA ruled against our tariffs, and the BushAdmin just gave NAFTA and Canada the ol' One Finger Salute. I've actually searched on the topic on msnbc, cnn, foxnews and even google news, and unless one is specifically looking for it, I can't see how anyone in the US would even know there was an issue. (Short of those who are in the lumber industry, or who are lobbyists for the same)

Let's keep in mind that we're talking, here, about the BushAdmin, who are the self-proclaimed champions of so-called "Free Trade." And their attitude towards the NAFTA ruling was: "Piss Off, Losers!" One would think this would at least rate a minor headline somewhere in the national media, no?

So, let's just summarize the Administration position on "Free Trade", why don't we?

1. When it causes the loss of domestic jobs and/or encourages human rights abuses in developing economies: "free trade=good, great, inevitable and absolutely necessary."
2. When it threatens the steel or lumber industries and their lobbyists: "whatever. Here's a quarter, call someone who cares, asshole!"

The main point, here, is that whatever they actually do, the national media is far more interested in covering missing white women or morbidly discussing the likelihood that the Space Shuttle is gonna blow it's ass up real good.