"If anyone says something about my surname, I say we are not related. I am ashamed," he said.

It's not clear whether Washington ever really learned the lesson of Rwanda, but it's quite evident that Hollywood got it with "Hotel Rwanda." Those touched by that 2004 film, which powerfully dramatized the ethnically motivated mass killings there in the mid-'90s that were all but ignored by the world, are determined not to let another African genocide occur unopposed.

This week, Hollywood's campaign to raise awareness about the civilian slaughter continuing in the Darfur region of Sudan was put in full view at the Directors Guild of America premiere of "Darfur Now," a comprehensive and pointed documentary on the war raging between tribes in the East African country. (Relief organizations estimate that between 200,000 and 400,000 people have been killed, while more than 2.5 million have been displaced.)...Read More on LA Times...

Reports said the staffer grabbed one girl by the throat and threw her against a wall. The woman, who has not been named, has also been accused of sexually fondling at least one pupil.

To listen to the Democrats grilling General Petraeus, you get the idea that the United States cannot afford to continue its military involvement in Iraq much longer. It's too risky and too dangerous. Besides, what does Iraq have to do with 9/11?

Incredibly some of the same fellows who want rapid, if not instantaneous, withdrawal from Iraq are pushing for the United States to get militarily involved in the Sudan. Here is presidential candidate John Edwards, writing in the September-October '07 issue of Foreign Affairs. "President Bush should convene an emergency meeting of NATO's leadership to provide assistance to a UN deployment of 3,000 troops, backed by logistical, operational and financial support. NATO must establish a no-fly zone over the region to cut off supplies to the brutal Janjaweed militias and end the Sudanese government's bombing of civilians in Darfur....The United States must make a decisive new commitment to employ the extraordinary assets of the U.S. military--our airlift capabilities, logistical support and intelligence systems--to assist UN and African Union peacekeeping efforts in Darfur."

John Edwards' presidential candidacy is based on the idea that he is the champion of the poor man and the littlest guy. In reality Edwards is no friend of the poorest of the poor, and his policies would actually end up making poverty worse. It would be one thing if John Edwards courted the union vote by saying that he wanted to defend the interests of guys who make $15 dollars an hour. This is basically what Pat Buchanan says. Buchanan's argument is that he cares about working-class Americans and not particularly about anyone else. This, however, is not Edwards' position. Edwards speaks of the elimination of poverty as a moral ideal, and he portrays himself as the candidate most compassionate and most committed to the ideal.

The U.N. Security Council approved a 26,000-strong peacekeeping force for Darfur. The force is the more... first joint peacekeeping operation by the African Union and the United Nations.

George Packer of the New Yorker finds that George Bush just had the best week of his presidency. Packer, a fierce critic of the administration, found four things to like about Bush's recent performance -- his strengthening of sanctions on Sudanese companies, his request that Congress double funding for global AIDS programs, his decision to have diplomat Ryan Crocker meet with an Iranian diplomat, and his criticism of conservative critics of the pending immigration reform legislation.

The first two actions are consistent with a humanitarian spirit that has long-animated the Bush administration. For example, the president has frequently called for significant increases in the funding of global fight against AIDS, as in his 2003 State of the Union address when he proposed a tripling of such assistance. Indeed, I've been told (off-the-record) by leaders in humanitarian efforts on behalf of Africa, that Bush has been the best friend that continent has ever had in the White House. I guess it took Bush's negotiations with Iran and bashing of conservatives for Packer to notice.

Packer doesn't explain why he thinks the meeting between Ryan Crocker and an Iranian diplomatic was a good idea. Perhaps this view is well enough entrenched in certain precincts of Manhattan that it requires no defense. In my view, though, the meeting signaled U.S. weakness at a time when Iran needs to see signs of strength. President Kennedy once said, "let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate." I suspect that Bush authorized Crocker's get-together out of deference to the State Department, not fear. However, it's unlikely the Iranians will perceive it that way. Here is a fuller discussion of why Bush erred in agreeing to these negotiations.

Finally, Packer is delighted that Bush attacked "the demagoguery of right-wing critics" of his immigration reform package. Packer fails to explain what is demagogic about conservative criticism of the 400 page legislation -- this looks like another instance in which Manhattan orthodoxy substitutes for analysis. As I argue here, the administration's criticism is not justified.

President Bush probably takes no comfort in knowing that if he demonizes those who normally support him, he can get half a good word (Packer's praise is full of enough caveat to maintain his standing in Manhattan) from one member of the liberal intelligentsia. If Bush does, he should read the rest of Packer's piece in which he endeavors to consign the Bush presidency to the dust-bin of history. That effort will be the subject of my next post.

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