Demagogue

If you're living as comfortably as most Americans are this holiday season, it's worth remembering that millions of people around the world are enduring some absolutely horrific conditions. Darfur is a case in point.

Fellow blogger Eugene Oregon provides constant updates on the situation there and on other regional events via the blog Coalition for Darfur.

In addition, Doctors Without Borders reports:

After a series of violent attacks over the past two months, at least 50,000 civilians in southern Darfur, Sudan, have fled to the arid countryside. Villages have been burned, civilians shot, water sources, and food stocks destroyed.

If you are in a giving mood and want to help relieve the misery of people in Darfur, consider doing two things.

1. Send a brief letter or email to your members of Congress telling them to do everything they can to publicly support U.S. participation in a multilateral action to end the violence. Yes, the situation is complicated, but sitting on our hands is simple, yet lethal.

2. Consider donating to one of the following relief organizations, each of which has received high marks for financial and organizational accountability:

* Save the Children

* Doctors Without Borders