If you had the opportunity to save "hundreds of thousands, maybe millions" of AIDS sufferers in Africa and other poor countries, what would you do? A complete no-brainer, right? Why in the world is it even a question?

The sad answer is that our federal government has this exact opportunity this week, when private member's bill C-398 to enable this very outcome is voted on in the House. But the government has rejected such a bill before and intends to reject it again. Don't ask me why. There's no rational explanation, either of politics or public policy.

Hate may have lost the war for the presidency, but it may yet win the forthcoming battle for America. Barack Obama faces a second term in a country where almost half of the people not only oppose him but often fear and loathe him, while his political adversaries are determined to undermine his every move as they've done for the past four years.

At the same time, many of the President's supporters are deeply disillusioned, backing him largely to keep the Republicans out. Their 2008 Obama is no more. They see a new Mr. Obama, a stranger, a man they feel they know little about. Yeats knew: "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity."

While he was attending the recent summit of La Francophonie in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Stephen Harper also met with human rights activists. Here's what he told them:

"We're concerned about many things in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including ... violations of human rights… unfairness in some of the electoral process, but also we're particularly concerned about the worsening situation in the eastern part of country. Canada will be supporting additional initiatives to combat the barbarous acts of sexual violence against women that are occurring all too frequently."

It was no more than two years ago that Stephen Harper was enamoured of the United Nations. In fact nothing would do but that Canada simply must fill one of the rotating seats on the powerful UN Security Council. Exactly what Canada would offer in that valuable position was never known. Still, after a major lobbying campaign to garner commitments from UN member states, Portugal easily beat out Canada for the available seat.