I hate it when big old dictators are reduced to a sniveling mass of tears–and that seems to be what John Edwards thinks will happen if he puts one of them on his “name and shame” list.


Edwards has proposed the U.S. draw up a “name and sahme” list to persuade countries to release political prisoners, according to a front page WaPo article headlined “Edwards Sets Self Apart on Foreign Policy.


You must read the entire piece, but here are a few tidbits:


Back to the Carter years: “[Edwards] also proposed linking U.S. aid on human right to progress on human rights and democracy–a practice that, if implemented, would most certainly disqualify many key U.S. allies, such as Egypt and Pakistan.”


(Note the “if.”)


Tried to Place Op-Ed on Terrorism Before 9/11: “In the summer of 2001, when much of the Republican and Democratic policy community was obsessed with missile defense, Edwards urged more attention to terrorism. The North Carolina senator had such limited luck pitching an OpEd article on terrorism to major newspapers that the piece, warning of poor cooperation among federal and local law enforcement, ended up in the weekly Littleton Observer, circulation 2,230 — four weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks.”


It might have been better to try to undo some of the Democratic strictures on intelligence gathering, but an editorial in the Littleton Observer is definitely the next best thing.


Do you get the feeling that the press likes Edwards?