A scourge older than recession

A report from today's New York Times offers a reminder, and I think one may have been necessary, that there remain far worse things in the world to worry about than our own many problems in the United States. Distracted as we are by deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan, how the nation is going to emerge from the worst economic slump since the Great Depression, or what socialist-subliminal zombie magic President Obama attempted to work among schoolchildren today, a new body count from the old enemy famine and drought is emerging in Kenya. Parched for multiple seasons, different ethnic groups in Kenya have been driven by the crisis to fight among themselves for the rare, remaining arable land while Western aid groups refrain from a deep rescue effort because of the chaotic political culture that currently prevails. Let's hope they overcome their queasies or Kenyan politicians come to their senses before the dying persists much longer. It couldn't hurt if America and other Western powers could forget their own troubles long enough to recognize real suffering when they see it and respond appropriately to same.