To be fair to you, I don’t really know much about what Leon did, excepting that he was rather noisy and pretty ineffectual – the AIDS rollout in the WC seems impressive.

My best recollection of Leon is that he opposed the Equalisation of Rates to the point of challenging that at the CC and that he stood out against the DP/DA policy on the death penalty.

Maybe he was effective in his opposition to Mbeki around the HIV/AIDS/ARV matter – I was really not listening to him.

My point exactly.

OK, I take it you give some credit to TL for standing up to TM on some issues, other than HIV. (I am braced already for a very vehement denial on this one.)

But that is not the point here. What – specifically — do you think TL have “done” on the HIV issue. I take it you are aware that:

1. TL spoke out vociferously and endlessly against TM’s denialism.

2. Under TM’s leadership, the DA rolled out what was lauded as a remarkably effective ARV program in the WC.

Maybe he should have joined TAC marches. But I fear the TAC leadership would not have welcomed his wholly delegitimising presence with much enthusiasm.

Hello Dworky.

How are you?

Did you get your condoms?

P.S. Maggs: If you want to know why white liberals hate being called racist, just think about why highly repressed homosexuals make the most toxic homophobes.

“you withdraw your all-encompassing allegation” – nope. I stand by that. We, all of us, did not do enough. Those who think that they did enough can collect their Noddy badges.

There are a few people who I think made great efforts, including the TAC and one fired Minister of Health – those are the exceptions who established the rule.

I think Tony Leon did abdicate his power to Mbeki in respect of the AIDS issue – there’s a lot more that he could have, should have, ought to have done, but didn’t.

Maggs, may I take it that your cute smiley-face means you withdraw your all-encompassing allegation that “We, all of us, abdicated our personal power to Mbeki”?

Tony Leon never “abdicated his personal power” to Mbeki, did he? Or is liberal vermin just not encompassed by the collective pronoun?

“BTW what is it about being labeled racist that makes strong people run for cover?”

Maybe, in the case of liberals that, in their naive little liberal bleeding hearts, it is just about the worst thing you can be called. Ditto perhaps for other targets of Mbek-ite accusations of racism, Cronin (socialist), Davis (social democrat)?

“I don’t suppose you give them any credit, do you?”

I, and many others, moaned and bitched quite a bit too – that was not sufficient.

Whatever it was that we did was not enough.

While I am not advocating violence or anarchy, we can take a cue from the various townships that have made a case for their plight.

Even those who argue that Mbeki was “dispossessed” or ANC leadership and removed from high office cannot argue that enough was done to stop the madness of AIDS denialism.

BTW what is it about being labeled racist that makes strong people run for cover?