Where's John McCain?

By way of STLtoday.com comes an article this week on the largest takeover bid ever in the beer industry. Jeremiah McWilliams reports

InBev of Belgium has launched an unsolicited bid to take over St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos., the brewer of Budweiser and the country's biggest beer maker. The $46.3 billion bid — amounting to $65 per share, in cash — would transform the industry, creating a global brewing behemoth selling about one-fourth of the world's beer.

Apparently, Missouri politicians, including Governor Matt Blunt and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, are not amused, unsurprising given the probable impact on the metropolitan region.

Neither is Lou Dobbs. On the 7/7/08 edition of "Lou Dobbs Tonight," Dobbs noted, following a report by CNN correspondent Carrie Lee, "the madness created by free trade and the millions of jobs that have been lost. I hate what they call free trade. I prefer desperately fair trade." Lee's report included video of Senator Barack Obama commenting

I don't think that we can pass a law to prevent Budweiser's shareholders, Anheuser- Busch's shareholders from selling their company. That's part of the free market system. I do think it would be a shame if Bud is foreign owned.

Like most of Obama's relevant remarks these days, that's bland and inoffensive. However, it would be fascinating to hear a reporter, any reporter, asking John McCain his opinion of the takeover attempt. As Lee explained:

And that's the interesting thing. We hear from Obama and not a peep out of McCain. Keep in mind that his wife, of course, a very large shareholder in Bud stock, also owns a distributorship. He's been a free trade advocate. He also has some financial gain and he also has the tradition of patriotism, though, to contend with as well. So a little bit of a tough fight to be with.

That's right. McCain can support the causes of patriotism and of American workers- or of free trade and Cindy McCain's enormous fortune. It's his choice- if someone dares ask him about it.