A few days ago the kiddies at Fox & Friends went all limp because of a report that the American Olympic team would be donning berets as part of their official apparel. Steve Doocy and the others on the curvy couch were aghast that our athletic heroes were being forced to wear unpatriotic chapeaus from France that made them look foolish. But the Foxies apparently forgot that berets are also worn by some other Americans:

Now the outrage at Fox continues as reports reveal that the Olympic uniforms are being manufactured in China. Conservatives across the media landscape are slamming the decision to outfit our athletes in clothes produced by the same communist nation that produces almost all of the clothes that the rest of us wear – as well as our computers, cars, televisions, etc.

So now the right-wingnuts are in a frenzy because of the off-shoring of sports apparel. However, the Olympic Committee is privately funded. The decision to manufacture the uniforms in China was made solely by the Ralph Lauren Company for purely financial reasons. The Committee could have required sponsors to source all Olympic manufacturing in the U.S., but that would be the sort of “regulation” that conservatives adamantly oppose.

The evils of regulations are a core principle of the Republican Party and the right. But when they can exploit some purely partisan pseudo-patriotism in order to induce mouth-frothing anxiety from their glassy-eyed followers, then all of a sudden regulations are the American Way.

So which is it, Teapublicans? Blind adherence to pure free enterprise, or rational policies that advance the interests of all Americans? If you choose the former than STFU about Chinese-made Olympic wear. If you choose the latter than stop pretending that unfettered free enterprise is a sacred rite that cannot be defied.