If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, It's a Photo Op!

I don't often get the chance to praise President Bush, but his meeting the Dalai Lama in defiance of the Chinese, qualifies as praiseworthy. Some might question whether it is prudent, given that China holds the mortgage on the United States just now, and given that we are seeking their cooperation over a wide range of issues, from North Korea to Burma to Iran. Still, it was a meritorious act. The Tibetans have suffered greatly at the hands of China, and their plight deserves attention and respect.

Or at least I think it is meritorious. One never really knows. The timing of such events is never accidental and precisely what political purpose there may have been, I do not know. But taking the affair at face value, we can join the President in welcoming the spiritual leader of Tibet.