but is he special enough?

Although he was not named head of USAID, Paul Farmer is now the deputy special envoy to Haiti - "assisting" Bill Clinton in his special United Nations appointment focused on Haiti. Exactly what that role is, no one can say...probably not even the envoys themselves. It's easy to be cynical and chalk this up as another bureaucratically driven attempt to make it look like something is being done about a situation (Haiti) that no one has any real clue about what to do about. But I've gotten really tired of being cynical - so I think I might try being hopeful instead...not naive, but a a little hopeful that Paul Farmer, someone who has done a lot of good for lots of people in Haiti and other corners of the world (not that I or anyone else always agrees with how it is done), can manage to facilitate a little more good with this extra title after his name.