Bush 1 - Fancy cheese 0

Of all the litany of bad things we expected Bush to do before leaving office (like pardoning Libby, making it legal for corporations to steal the bone marrow of your children, or mandatory daily ape attacks) I don't think too many people had money on "fuck with the fancy cheese industry". But then again, we don't think outside the box like George Bush does and apparently he hadn't gotten in his quota of French mocking activities for his second term.

This seems an unlikely spot to fight a trade war. The United States, it turns out, has declared war on Roquefort cheese.

In its final days, the Bush administration imposed a 300 percent duty on Roquefort, in effect closing off the U.S. market. Americans, it declared, will no longer get to taste the creamy concoction that, in its authentic, most glorious form, comes with an odor of wet sheep and veins of blue mold that go perfectly with rye bread and coarse red wine.

The measure, announced Jan. 13 by U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab as she headed out the door, was designed as retaliation for a European Union ban on imports of U.S. beef containing hormones.

Besides, they said, Roquefort is only one of dozens of European luxury products that were attacked with high tariffs. The list includes, among other things, French truffles, Irish oatmeal, Italian sparkling water and "fatty livers of ducks and geese".

Now you know the horrible truth as to why you can't enjoy the traditional American breakfast of Irish oatmeal, foie gras, and Roquefort. Nice to see that the world sets it's import tariff policies around dissing a famed national food from another country because they got snooty about one of yours. Perhaps we need another round of Freedom Frying and Liberty Cabbagery to teach them the error of their ways. Equally funny is the hopes of the French that Obama will devote some time to righting this cheese diss. I'm sure it's #3 on his list, right after "1.unfuck economy 2.unfuck those wars". Maybe #4.

Also, this gives me a chance to post this:

Pretend it's a metaphor for our trade policy.