I’ll be on Tucker Carlson’s PBS show tonight, discussing the changing world of HIV in America. An update on my own situation: two days ago, I gave blood to test for drug-resistant strains in my virus. I’ll do the same again in two weeks. Meanwhile, I’ve opted for a tough five-pill daily regimen. I took my first dose last night. So far: no side effects whatever. That’s new for me. But it’s still early.
MARRIAGE IN CALIFORNIA: A proposal to legalize marriage in the legislature just failed by four votes. But a majority of legislators backed it. A sign, I think, of the times – and the inevitability of equality in states where the religious right doesn’t hold sway.
EMAIL OF THE DAY: Here’s a point worth reiterating:
Interesting points on secularism. One thing worth considering is how to reconcile the modern state with the liberal desire for neutrality. It seems to me that the more the state does (which is another way of saying the more things we as a society decide to do collectively) the harder it is to be value-neutral.
Absolutely. That’s why a belief in neutral government is deeply linked to the idea of limited government – far more limited than the statist free-for-all that we have today. And that’s why George Bush has been so damaging to the principles of limited, neutral government. He has both massively expanded government’s reach and size, while making it far less value-neutral. He has deployed the old methods of the big government left for a religious agenda. His assault on classical conservatism is therefore perhaps more profound than those of the left – because he has also given it the imprimatur of conservatism.
The Dish 