For a concept whose roots date back to the early 1930s and the last time this country found itself in as deep an economic funk as it is today, the "Buy America" provision in President Obama's stimulus package has roared back onto the American industrial/manufacturing scene with lightning-rod quickness and controversy

Red, white and blue through-and-through, the provision has stirred a hornet's nest of high emotion, self-righteous rhetoric (both pro and con), a Congressional Steel Caucus hearing and electronic mailboxes full of letters to the editors of publications across this country and the world. "Buy...