I owe my new New Zealander friend

at least one more mention, due to my horrible typo. The Probligo does wonderfully thoughtful and [I fancy myself a sort of Cheesehead John Cleese] balanced critiques of events in New Zealand and the World. I believe he's a lefty, but a very thoughtful one. [Okay, what's another word for that?]

BTW, I can't believe that our government finds it essential to put our nuclear warships in at Auckland and would hold up a free trade agreement over that. [I can't quickly find a link for that, I wonder if he has one. Ah, here's one. Thank you Google.] Especially with a country as free as New Zealand. Free trade is vastly more important than military prestige. Oh, here's another fascinating story on the subject. Especially the

Conclusion

As The Wall Street Journal recently noted, "The loudest proponents for free trade the U.S. and the leaders of the European Union -have refused to open their markets to New Zealand's best products." American protectionism has not escaped the attention of the world. Clearly, the crumbling credibility of U.S. commitment to trade needs to be addressed. With only 3 out of the 131 trade and investment agreements in the world, the United States needs to keep its commitment to free trade by liberalizing its market and by seeking bilateral trade agreements to expand opportunities for American producers. Negotiating a trade agreement with New Zealand will start this process and build on a longstanding friendship.

My emphasis.

BTBTW, what do all those Ds mean?

Note to self: watch this page: Heritage Foundation: Trade and Economic Freedom