[Mb-civic] Nicholas Kristof

[Mike Blaxill]

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/110605X.shtml

Bleeding Hearts of the World, Unite!
    By Nicholas D. Kristof
    The New York Times

    Sunday 06 November 2005

    In a country dispirited by political mud
wrestling, there was a spark of hope the other
day: a conference in which liberals discussed
international issues with conservative Christians
- and agreed!

    The conference, sponsored by Madeleine
Albright on the left and Senator Sam Brownback on
the right, underscored that we now have a
tantalizing opportunity. If only left and right
can hold their noses and work together, we can
confront some of the scourges of our time - sex
trafficking, genocide, religious oppression,
prison brutality - on which there is surprising
agreement about what needs to be done.

    Democrats have mostly watched the arrival of
evangelicals on the foreign policy scene the way
the Romans regarded the approach of the Visigoths
and Vandals, but that's a mistake. The growing
engagement of conservative Christians on
international issues is welcome because for the
first time it has turned the American heartland
into a constituency for foreign aid and
humanitarian action.

    A decade ago, the heartland was a force for
isolation. That's why Tom DeLay said foreign aid
meant "putting Ghana over Grandma," and Jesse
Helms referred to aid as "money down a rat hole."

    Now, in contrast, conservatives are leading
the charge on some of these issues. Regular
readers know that I'm no fan of this
administration, but there's no arguing with
facts. President Bush has almost tripled actual
spending on overseas development assistance to
$19 billion last year, compared with its trough
under President Clinton of less than $7 billion
in 1997, according to O.E.C.D. figures. (Mr. Bush
hasn't given nearly as much as he's promised, but
his broken promises still amount to far more than
Mr. Clinton ever gave.)

    Pushed by conservative Christians, Mr. Bush
is also doing more to fight both AIDS and sex
trafficking than any of his predecessors did.
Foreign governments are learning that the U.S.
now takes the slavery of 13-year-old girls almost
as seriously as the pirating of American movies,
and that's a step forward.

    So that's the context in which Ms. Albright
and Mr. Brownback (who call themselves "the
ultimate political odd couple") held their
conference, under the auspices of the Aspen
Institute. There was a voyeuristic thrill of
spying illicit love - as when Mr. Brownback
praised Hillary Clinton, who spoke on sex
trafficking, for her "outstanding job."

    And cooperation can achieve more than just
civility. Darfur is a perfect example of
left-right cooperation that has saved thousands
of lives, because the leaders in Congress against
the genocide are Jon Corzine, one of the most
liberal members, and Mr. Brownback, one of the
most conservative.

    Of course, they have their work cut out for
them: Congress just sent Darfur a "drop dead"
message by cutting funds for African Union
peacekeeping troops there. If Congressional
leaders let that stand, they should just rename
the bill the Genocide Enabling Act.

    What next? Ms. Albright and Mr. Brownback
agreed on a tentative agenda by coming up with a
list of "the Top 5 worst places to wake up in the
morning."

    Those are Darfur, North Korea, Burma, Congo
and northern Uganda. They're all neglected,
brutal spots. Congo, for example, is the site of
the most lethal conflict since World War II, with
four million dead since 1998.

    Another area ripe for cooperation would be
safe maternity abroad. For all the battles over
abortion and condoms, both sides can agree that
half a million women shouldn't be dying
unnecessarily in childbirth each year around the
world, when modest investments can save their
lives.

    Domestically, the obvious issue is prisons,
the nastiest places in America. A bipartisan
coalition won a landmark law against prison rape
in 2003, with evangelical leaders standing side
by side with Ted Kennedy at the signing ceremony.
The next step is the Second Chance Act, which
aims to reduce recidivism by easing the
adjustment from prisons into society. It stands a
real chance of getting through this Congress.

    Obviously, there are differences. As I see
it, conservatives have gravely undermined the
effectiveness of their programs against AIDS with
their squeamishness about condoms - but there's
still no doubt that the U.S. is doing far more
about the disease now than it ever did under Mr.
Clinton.

    Look, I think that Christian leaders on the
right like Senator Brownback, Frank Wolf in the
House and Chuck Colson are utterly wrong on many
issues. I probably wouldn't vote for them for
political office. But I admire them immensely for
their humanitarian efforts, and I might vote for
them for sainthood.

    Over the next year, Democrats and Republicans
will devote millions of dollars to heap slime on
each other. If they devote 1 percent as much
energy to cooperating on a few of these issues,
they'll make the world a much better place.
Bleeding hearts of the world, unite!