Labor Sec. Perez: Foes of Pacific trade deal are laboring under a misconception

[Jim Lane]

14. We read his comments but can't evaluate whether they're true.

If your view is that anything a public official says is true, then, frankly, we have nothing to discuss. We're considering a comment in which an appointed official supports the agenda of the politician who appointed him. Most of us, reading such a comment, want to evaluate whether and to what extent it's accurate.

In this case we would do that by reading the proposed agreement.

Except we can't do that. It's secret.

Therefore, we comment on the secrecy instead of on the (hidden) substance.

Incidentally, whenever there's an anti-TPP post based on a leak, the Obama-can-do-no-wrong crowd shows up to say that it's just a leak and might not represent the final and therefore any criticism is impermissible. Question: If, before the release of the final proposal, criticism is premature, then doesn't it follow that praise (such as Perez's) is also premature?