Monday the trade Neanderthals in Congress rejected endorsement of Vietnam’s entry into the World Trade Organization.

It was slopped through a lame-duck committee and Congressional Republicans and Democrats voted against bringing Vietnam into the world trading system. They wanted to shut Vietnam out. And keep all the trade to themselves. Problem is, it takes two to trade, so we all are dimished by keeping a good trading partner out. Vietnam went from zero trade ten years ago to our 16th largest trading partner. What a lousy way to treat a country we’ve made money off of and they’ve done the same from through the miracle of capitalism!

This is a communist country whose leadership saw the error of its communist ways in 1989, as the rest of the Asian Tiger states in its region grew and prospered – Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and others. And above all, as China grew. That prompted the Viets to reform, to open up to the rest of the world and allow capitalism instead of collectivism. That is completely to its credit, heaven forbid North Korea do such a thing and get a clue from Japan, China and South Korea. The Vietnamese were a lot smarter and knew what was good for them and their people. That’s why they took up trade.

When I visited Hanoi in 1998, I saw a booming economy with most everyone poor but busy. It was just like the rest of Asia but there were no shantytowns. In addition to the humble everyday aspects of Vietnamese culture (such as the world’s best food from even the humblest stalls), I saw many pretty things expanding. Pretty cafes, indigenous designer shops, art galleries. It sounds very yuppie but it wasn’t, the place didn’t look like other places in a cookie cutter way, it was just gorgeous due to capitalism all in its own unique and Franco-indigenous way.

Now this idiot congressional trade vote has happened, sending a message to the world that the U.S. is closed for business. And wants only crummy substandard Ohio factory consumer goods done by overpaid union labor, $30 a hour for turning gears, no education necessary, from the kind of factories that have not been upgraded or invested due to vast union pensions for Americans to have to buy. And as for lower prices, fuhgeddaboutit. It wants inflated prices, shoddy goods and lack of choice. Anything to hit back at China and Walmart. Vietnam, though it isn’t China, looks close enough.

This bodes ill for the more desperately needed trade pacts in our hemisphere, like CAFTA, Colombia and Peru. Today, President Uribe of Colombia is flying up to Washington to plead his case. I don’t have high hopes for him, based on this kind of disgraceful performance on Vietnam, begrudging it trade and telling it to go back to communism.

Congress should be ashamed of itself.