Americans build the Chinese army...

I am not very optimistic after hearing Bill Gertz on the Drudge radio show last Sunday evening.

In short, Mr. Gertz made the case that American consumers are funding the rapid expansion of the Chinese military through our purchases of the Chinese made goods being sold by Walmart.

Now, my of the Bush apologists on the right claim that a strong China is in the best interests of America, but I wonder if the parents of the men who will die fighting the Chinese Army will agree. After all, the Bush adminstration has said that we will not permit Taiwan to be reincorporated under the Chinese government via military force.

This puts us at an interesting crossroad, especially as Bush continues to push CAFTA to the American sheeple.

Is it really in the best interests of our future as Americans to continue exporting our manufacturing capabilites to 3rd world countries run by dictators and/or communists in an attempt to bolster their economies at the expense of our own?

It's clear that NAFTA failed on many levels, clearly shown by the huge trade imbalance between the United States and Mexico. Workers in blue-collar areas such as North Carolina, Ohio, and the rust belt may begin looking outside the Republican party as they value federal policy which favors employment opportunities over a conservative social agenda.

Either way, the mindless "free trade" rhetoric coming from Bush and some of his neo-con utopians must be confronted and shown to be as hollow as it really is. Otherwise, Americans will be in for a rude awakening when we become overreliant upon foreign made goods and unable to sustain ourselves without them.