Matthew J. Stinson takes a stab at Republican-controlled protectionism featuring America’s favorite cheap luxury food: shrimp. Citing an article on shrimp tarrifs, he concludes:

For all the talk I’ve heard recently about the battle for the soul of the Republican Party (see Sullivan, Andrew), comparatively little attention has been paid to trade issues.

Let’s set aside the deficits, gay marriage, and questions about President Bush’s policy on the war, the main issues that seem to be agitating and confusing the GOP base. A case can be made for most of the President’s dithering on these issues, but no case can be made for the President’s trade policy. More than anything else, the Bush administration’s failure to promote free trade represents the abandonment of core Republican principles. On this issue, Bill Clinton was more of a Republican than Bush.

— Matthew J. Stinson: Protectionism and socialism, sitting in a tree …

If the only tie that binds resonable Republicans of varying opinions of different issues is free trade — and these days it seems to be the only one — it is under constant attack by a President who, increasingly, is being called a Republican In Name Only. And if this is the compassion that comes with his conservatism, it’s compassionate towards less people than he may have intended.

Viva el camaron, it will, once more, be the stuff of snobs across the country. Besides, jobs are more important than cheap shrimp, right? Right?