Good morning, all.

Michael Gerson of the Washington Post wants you to believe Sen. Saxby Chambliss and six other Senate colleagues are holding African AIDS victims hostage for the sake of politics. In an essay he penned yesterday, Gerson argues that The Coburn Seven (a group of senators including Chambliss headed by Sen. Tom Coburn) are blocking reauthorization of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

In a way, that’s true. But not really new.

Perhaps lost among an endless sea of primaries and natural disasters, you may not have been following the PEPFAR debate. Announced by President Bush in his 2003 State of the Union Address, PEPFAR fights HIV/AIDS primarily in countries with epidemics. These are mostly, though not exclusively, in Africa. As we speak, reauthorization of the program is under consideration in the U.S. House and Senate focusing on two bills which make changes to the program.

And in those changes The Coburn Seven see problems.

Last month, Coburn (R-Okla.) widely circulated a letter among senators saying he would block attempts to pass both House (HR 5501) and Senate bills (S 2731) reauthorizing the president’s popular program. According to CQ Politics, Coburn wrote that the PEPFAR reauthorization bills “contain dramatic policy reversals coupled with irresponsible spending levels,” adding that the “combination prevents our support for reauthorization of the program that, until now, has been a rare model of foreign aid success.” He wanted to preserve a requirement in the existing law that 55 percent of PEPFAR funding be spent on treatment for HIV/AIDS and prevention of mother-to-child transmission. He has introduced a bill (S 2749) that would maintain the requirement and expand HIV testing.

That’s the plan Saxby is backing. Not that you could completely tell that fact from Gerson’s hyperbolic essay. By way of example, a chunk:

How much do seven members of the U.S. Senate weigh? Eyeing them - Tom Coburn, Jim DeMint, Jeff Sessions, Saxby Chambliss, David Vitter, Jim Bunning, Richard Burr – I’d guess they probably come in at about 1,300 pounds. These are the Republicans who have signed a hold letter, preventing action on the reauthorization of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Even so, you'd think that a few million of these wasting bodies would weigh more on the moral balance than seven senators. But so far, you’d be wrong.

OK, those are powerful, emotionally charged words to lead off your op-ed piece. But what do they mean? Not much. In a debate already overflowing with emotion (mainly sadness and frustration, but we’re seeing a growing sense of hope), essays which play to the fringe crowd, but don’t exactly get the facts straight help a grand total of zero.

Sad thing for Gerson: Beneath a lot of overstatement, he raises some of these key, philosophical questions. They just got lost in all the noise.

I think the point he makes about the limits of what the GOP considers “pro-life” are worthy of debate. A chunk: … Each of the Coburn Seven counts himself pro-life. If a bill came to the Senate floor that would save millions of unborn children, one assumes that pro-life members would push to improve it, accept a few necessary compromises and then enthusiastically support the legislation. It is difficult to imagine why pro-life legislation involving millions of Africans should be viewed differently.

That’s worthy of discussion. Another Gerson chunk points to those examples: … And the senators are concerned that AIDS funds might be used for things such as abortion referrals and needle distribution, though the legislation doesn't mention these possibilities. So they are pushing for the extension of a superfluous spending mandate requiring that at least 55 percent of PEPFAR resources be used for treatment, on the theory that this will starve "feckless or morally dubious" prevention programs. …

Let’s hope that’s not the case. Let’s hope that these senators see human life as far more important than scoring points back home in some Quixotic “cultural war.” I think they do.

This morning, Coburn responded in an essay for Real Clear Politics. In it, he again makes some nice points in defense of his stance and scores the debate’s bet line with a Katrina quip at the administration. A chunk:

… Part of Gerson's moral outrage is focused on my controversial stance that AIDS treatment dollars be spent on treatment. I want to preserve PEPFAR's original formula that sends at least 55 percent of all dollars to AIDS treatment so widows and orphans and actual patients, not program officers and consultants, will be the primary beneficiaries of the program. This formula is made all the more important because the new authorization calls for a three-fold increase in funding from $15 billion over five years to $50 billion over five years. Moreover, this smart and well-designed policy, which Gerson once supported but now scorns, is a major reason why PEPFAR has been a Marshall Plan-like response, rather than a Katrina-like response, to the AIDS crisis in Africa.

Believe me, I’m the first guy to shout down Saxby on countless issues (let’s start with his war voting record vs. his personal war dodging), but on this one, I think the guy is looking to put the best plan in place. Don’t count me as 100 percent certain yet. There are still a lot of questions about The Colburn Seven’s objections that I would like to see clarified. And if this thing ends in shelving the program for a year (or worse shutting it down), then I’ll be first in line to help throw each of these guys out of office.

FIVE-MINUTE READ

Stumbled onto this brief footage billed as 16mm color amateur film of scenes around Athens made by Joel A. Wier who was, at that time, Athens Housing Authority executive director as well as Athens Chamber of Commerce director (1931-1949). This short clip is excerpted from the full film (approx. 45 minutes) and is silent. Get a little more detail over at the site. In fact, if you have days to kill, take a moment and tour through recorded Georgia (and Athens) history at the University of Georgia Libraries Media Archives. It’s an amazing collection. I spent the last 30 minutes living, thanks to a WSB-TV newsfilm, Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes arriving on campus in January 1961. Enjoy. … Here’s a nice little excerpt from the new book “No Regrets: The Best, Worst & Most #$%*ing Ridiculous Tattoos Ever. Funny stuff (especially knowing many of them are walking around this town). If you’re pressed for time (or are a visual learner) check out the the tattoo gallery. This is the kind of stuff we need to be covering for SPOTTED. … Like Papa Bear, Colbert admits to some sins in his past as well. … Dear Whores of Revelations. I just wanted to drop a not to say I’m sorry. Vote McCain. Love, John Hagee. Black and women, please wait for your apology. … Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman remains firm in his belief that exposing Rove is ‘worth every day in prison.’

* * *

Take five minutes out of your day to join Executive Editor Jason Winders here each morning. Stand up and be counted.