Not to hijack the better points of the article, because it's a good one, but this line is telling:

"The White House’s efforts to portray the treaty as critical to national security simply underscores its inability to make a case for the agreement on the basis of economic benefits."

If you can't make a cogent argument, just flail your hands about and yell "National Security!" You wouldn't dare try to impede national security!

Those two words are what remain of Bush's "you're either with us, or against us" brand of patriotism, but it has a choke hold on the U.S. I cannot understand why otherwise smart people continue to let "national security" dissuade all common sense in everything.

Edit: "Investor-State Dispute Settlements" make me want to throw up my hands and move to Mars. I can't fathom how anyone can accept calling ISDS "national security" as anything but pure, black-tar hogwash.