Wow. I'm so used to the insane talk that passes for intelligent discourse on the Sunday bobblehead shows, it took a minute for it to sink in: I'm hearing an actual discussion on American industrial policy? But yes, indeed I was.

It was a few years ago at a Campaign for America's Future conference when I finally learned that every other industrialized nation had an industrial policy -- that is, their governments made long-term plans that involved actual government supports and trade protections to support specific industries deemed important to their nation's future.

In case you haven't noticed, we don't do that. And our lack of leadership has led to profit-driven offshore manufacturing instead of good American jobs.

So I was very excited to see Leo Gerard, president of the United Steel Workers union, invited onto the roundtable at This Week with Christiane Amanpour.

Leo's a little low-key, and he was too polite to interrupt the usual blowhard assertions of Mort Zuckerman, but he made some good points (he corrected crazy Grandpa McCain's earlier statement that iPhones and iPads were made in America when they're made in China) -- including the idea that we've channeled our best and brightest into the financial services industry instead of mechanical engineering. (Zuckerman said no one makes students choose a career. Gerard said the chance of earning eight million a year does.)

Anyway, I think that's two weeks in a row that a voice from labor appeared on This Week. Thank you, Ms. Amanpour.