Nor could Bush deny the offensive lack of transparency, which excludes both Congress and the public from all SPP plans. Congress doesn't like to be ignored: 21 Republicans and one freshman Democrat recently sent a joint letter to Bush voicing "serious and growing concerns" and urging him not to "agree to any further movement in connection with the SPP."

The House further manifested its annoyance at the lack of transparency by voting 362-63 to adopt an amendment by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., to prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for SPP working groups or to create NAFTA superhighways.

Bush pleaded that he believes in "trade," "dialogue," and "working with our neighbors" to "work out common problems." So do we all.

U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins supported his boss with an interview in an Ottawa newspaper. He ridiculed "conspiracy theories" and used another cheap debating tactic: setting up a straw man that is easy to knock down.

Wilkins implied that the purpose of the three-amigo summit in Montebello was to prevent potential threats "like those posed by pandemic flu or improperly labeled foods, for example, from penetrating our borders."

However, the current threats from pandemic flu and improperly labeled foods come from China, not Canada. The biggest North American threat of "penetrating our borders" comes from people, i.e., illegal immigrants.

As the first big visible step of North American integration, the Bush Transportation Department announced Aug. 17 that it will soon give the go-ahead to allow 100 Mexican trucking companies - with an undetermined number of trucks - to have full access to all U.S. highways and roads. This is an outrageous case of Bush thumbing his nose at the House of Representatives, which voted 411-3 on May 15 to prohibit the entry of Mexican trucks.