If there is any doubt whatsoever that trade policy is going to be the ugly stepchild of the incoming Administration and that Barack Obama will play both sides on the issue, such doubt is resolved by the fact that the President-elect chose to counterbalance the selection of a pro-free trade United States Trade Representative in Ron Kirk with an antediluvian protectionist in Hilda Solis for Secretary of Labor. On a related point, the fact that Solis supports the odious card check bill does not and should not cause people genuinely interested in the health and vitality of the American economy to be enthusiastic about her appointment, though I am sure that power-grabbing unions are even more thrilled than the mainstream media makes them out to be in its stories.