Interesting defense of unilateralism as a last resort by Howard Dean in USA Today today. My support for his fiestiness, and left-liberal clarity is beginning to wilt a little under the weight of some of what he has been saying. There’s a difference between a conviction politician and someone who’s just wacko. Bush planned an invasion of Iraq because of psychological problems? There was no middle-class tax cut, but I’ll try and retain part of it in my upcoming tax plan? I’m committed to staying the course in Iraq but also running ads decrying candidates who had the temerity to vote for the actual funding for it? Oy.
THE HIV BAN: I recently wrote briefly about the injustice and cruelty of the ban on any HIV-positive visitors, tourists, or full-fledged immigrants. Jonathan Rauch has just written a much more detailed and sane piece, exploring this piece of discrimination. It’s a must-read. If the administration really supports compassionate conservatism in immigration, this is a real test of their seriousness. If legal immigrants can show they will not be a public charge because of their medical condition, they should not be discriminated against just because they have HIV. And even those conservatives who first endorsed the ban have now begun to come around.
THE GERMANS AND IRAQ: Even the Saddam-backers have begun to notice improvements:
Business is booming especially with no taxes to pay. Office furniture is currently in high demand as new companies are being established all over. … There are modest loans from the occupational authority for those seeking to start a small business. … In Baghdad the internet cafes are shooting out of the ground like mushrooms. Even in distant small towns you find some.
That’s from the Berlin Morning Post.
The Dish 