Surprise! But the senator’s campaign to help prevent and treat HIV in Africa cannot be gainsaid. It’s God’s work; and Santorum deserves real credit. One blemish: none of those people in Africa with HIV or AIDS is legally allowed even to enter the U.S. under our current immigration laws. Almost uniquely among Western countries, we are saying to the world that millions of Africans and others are unwelcome here because they have HIV. Leading African AIDS experts cannot even come to conferences here, if they’re HIV-positive. In fact, vast tracts of the continent are now banished from America. That’s a terrible signal to send when a critical element in the prevention and treatment effort in Africa must be to get rid of the stigma of HIV. Isn’t it counter-productive to say one thing and act, in our immigration laws, as if the stigma is justified?
DOWD AWARD NOMINEE: This one goes to Noam Chomsky. On the dust-jacket of his latest book, he has the quote: “Arguably the most important intellectual alive” – The New York Times. The full unDowdified quote … well, Oliver Kamm has the details. It’s a beaut.
The Dish 