Conservatives Put the Hate in Haiti
On Monday, January 11, PBS Newshour aired what may have been the most upbeat assessment of the progress in and future prospects for long-suffering Haiti offered in years. That 10 minute segment ("Despite Years of Crushing Poverty, Hope Grows in Haiti") revealed new investment, government improvements and signs of economic life in the Western Hemisphere's most impoverished nation.
24 hours later it lay in ruins. And even then, at the hour of Haiti's greatest need, leading voices of the conservative movement used that nation's catastrophe to peddle hatred of America's President and its neighbors.
Even as President Obama moved to rapidly mobilize a U.S. led international response to the devastation, Rush Limbaugh asked, "Did he apologize for America?" Limbaugh responded to the deaths of tens of thousands by announcing that Obama will use the tragedy to boost his credibility with "light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country."
Meanwhile, former Republican presidential contender and 700 Club host the Reverend Pat Robertson played blame the victim on a biblical scale. Robertson, who previously attributed natural disasters and terrorist attacks including 9/11 alike to his liberal political enemies, claimed Haitians are deservedly cursed:
"[S]omething happened a long time ago in Haiti and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. Napoleon the Third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, 'We will serve you if you get us free from the prince.' True story. And so the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' They kicked the French out, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free."
Leaving aside Robertson's butchery of history for the moment, even Fox News remarked on its shocking indecency. A stunned Shep Smith concluded, "Hundreds of thousands of desperate human beings need our help, our support, our money, and our love. And they don't need that."
Meanwhile, usual right-wing cheerleader Michelle Malkin to her credit left politics out of the discussion, praised President Obama's response and simply asked her readers to help the people of Haiti.
For resources on how to contribute to and help the Haitians, visit the White House, USAID, Red Cross, MercyCorps, the Los Angeles Times, CNN and MSNBC web sites.
|
I think that the Haiti people need to quit asking for help and just try to improve their life on their own. Earthquake or not the place was a dump and now it looks pretty much the same or better, especially with less citizens to feed.
Posted by Dani on February 11, 2010 3:44 PM