I have been avoiding political diaries, but I could not resist writing this one.  The sight of former Pres. Clinton pleading that he is "not a racist" is very disturbing. 

Clinton at first said he did not want to rehash events of the past year because it "interferes with the issue which is who should be elected in November." But then he offered a lengthy defense of his own role and chastized the media for its coverage.

When asked, "Do you personally have any regrets about what you did, campaigning for your wife?" Clinton, at first, answered, "Yes, but not the ones you think. And it would be counterproductive for me to talk about."

But then he added, "There are things that I wish I'd urged her to do. Things I wish I'd said. Things I wish I hadn't said.

"But I am not a racist," he continued. "I've never made a racist comment and I never attacked him [Obama] personally."

Obviously, there were very many accusations of racism hurled at him (and at Sen. Clinton) during and after the campaign (sorry, I am not going to provide any links).  And obviously, some of those accusations must have hurt.

And so, it is worthwhile to consider what Pres. Clinton has been upto since leaving office.  Here are just two examples:

Malaria:

I am sure that many of you, dear readers, have traveled to a third world country in pursuit of some noble goal.  I am sure that some of you, as part of routine precautionary measures, have taken anti-malarial drugs while preparing for those travels.

Well, those anti-malarial drugs are great for you, but deadly for the "natives" ~ it breeds a stronger, deadlier malaria; and the natives cannot afford the drugs for the most part.  The right solution (in my opinion) would be to take your chances with the disease, and to be prepared to take the appropriate medication if you do get sick.

Along these lines, the Clinton foundation just announced that a 30% reduction in the the price of the anti-malarial drug ACT  Sadly, malaria is a disease that afflicts only the 3rd world.  Thus, malaria research is not very high on our priorities, even though malaria afflicts 350 million, and kills 1 million people every year. Thus, it is quite refreshing to see any major US politician talk about malaria ~ it afflicts only about 1000 people every year in the US.  It is even more refreshing to see him talk about it in Liberia... a country founded by freed slaves returning from the US.

And while we are discussing this, we should also give some kudos to the companies that worked with the Clinton foundation on this issue.  These companies are based in India, China, and the Swiss company Novartis.

Former US president Bill Clinton announced Thursday a deal with six pharmaceutical companies from China and India to cut the price of a leading malaria treatment by 30 percent.

The firms have also reached an agreement to lower the price volatility of artemisinin, the key raw material for artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), by 70 percent, said Clinton, whose charitable foundation helped broker the deal.

"Nearly every life lost to malaria could have been saved with access to effective medicines," Clinton said in a statement.

"Today's announcement is an important step forward in global efforts to increase access to affordable and effective malaria treatment," he said.

"I applaud the commitments of these companies to lower volatility in this market and offer low and sustainable prices that will save more lives."

The companies taking part in the agreement include the Mumbai-based firms Calyx, Mangalam, Icpa and Cipla as well as China's Holleypharm in Chongqing and PIDI Standard in Guangzhou.

The deal will make the lower prices for the drug treatment available in 69 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Clinton Foundation said.

The price of artemisinin, a plant extract used to make anti-malaria drugs, has fluctuated by more than 700 percent due to a rapid but uneven increase in demand, the foundation said.

The Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, the leading ACT supplier, absorbed much of the financial impact of the fluctuation to shield patients from higher prices, it said.

AIDS

We all know (or should know) the work done by the CLinton foundation on AIDS. 

The Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) strives to make treatment for HIV/AIDS more affordable and to implement large-scale integrated care, treatment, and prevention programs. Since its inception, CHAI has helped bring AIDS care and treatment to over 750,000 people living with HIV/AIDS around the world. Its activities have included AIDS care and treatment in Africa, including the brokering of drug distribution agreements. During President Clinton's 2006 trip to Africa, CHAI signed agreements with several new countries. Over the course of the past year, CHAI increased the number of partner countries and members of the Procurement Consortium, which can purchase AIDS medicines and diagnostic equipment at CHAI's reduced prices, to 66. CHAI launched the Pediatric and Rural Initiatives in 2005 to focus on bringing AIDS care and treatment to those most often marginalized-- children and those living in rural areas. CHAI also negotiated agreements that reduce the prices of second-line drugs and rapid diagnostic tests. In May, 2007, CHAI and UNITAID announced agreements that help middle-income and low-income countries save money on second-line drugs. The partnership also reduced the price of a once-daily first-line treatment to less than $1 per day.

The model used for AIDS is similar to what they are using for malaria: (a) use volumes to negotiate lower rates (b) approach "generic" drug makers in India and China for lower cost generic drugs, thereby bypassing the more expensive treatments suggested by US and European companies.

But I have so many black friends

I am sure that the cynics will view any good work done by Pres. Clinton as another example of a racist making a claim that he/she cannot be a racist because he/she has so many friends of the race towards which he/she supposedly has a prejudice against.

So be it!