I once blogged ( favorably) about my Guv snubbing Consul General Jean-Luc Sibiude of France, by denying a meeting. John Miller, thinks this may have started a trade war.

"Two weeks later, Jean-Francois Boitton of the French embassy in Washington, D.C., retaliated. "I draw from your comments," he sniffed in a letter to Owens, 'the conclusion that I should strongly discourage French firms from considering investing in a state where they are not welcome.' He went on to write that the governors of Maryland and Mississippi recently 'extended a warm welcome to French investors.'"

As a free trader, I roll my eyes at economic blackmail. As a proud resident of the State of Colorado, though, I am ready to rumble. "Not one penny for tribute!" (Miller debunks this great quote in the article--it appears Pickney never said it. Oh well, c'est la vie).