A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

Since 2001, Clinton has backed pacts with Jordan, Chile, Singapore, Australia, Morocco and Oman that were opposed by numerous labor, farming and environmental groups concerned that the deals contained insufficient safeguards for American workers and consumers.

As recently as November, Clinton supported a free trade agreement negotiated by the Bush administration with Peru.

Clinton's more recent critiques have cheered many trade critics, who long have complained that the pacts encourage companies to move jobs overseas.

But Clinton's campaign posture also has raised a few eyebrows. Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch division, a leading opponent of the structure of current trade agreements, said the New York senator apparently had shifted after getting "a lot of feedback from people across the country."

So she stopped being a free trader once she saw that it would get in the way of her political ambitions. Quelle surprise. I mean, one would never expect someone named "Clinton" to act like that.