I think that Monkey has been considerably more refined about his comments than Rush Limbaugh or Pat Robertson, but basically he is in the same simian category.
Haiti has been an awful place for centuries and get very few breaks. When they do get a break, some asshole generals or dictator invariably seize the opportunity to screw the country further. I am all for making Haiti a full UN protectorate for 50 years. But I suppose that is out of the question as it is hardly the only such hell hole in the world.
“They are deeply insensitive,” said conservative commentator Pat Buchanan on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“The president speaks for the country when he says we’re going to go in there,” he said. “You want your whole nation, and it’s very positive. And I think Rush’s comments were cynical.”
Now, one of the board’s Buchanan-haters can pit him for NOT saying anything bad!
Hate Buchanan? Hate the author of “nattering nabobs of negativism”? “Pusillanimous pussy-footers”? Perish the thought! Such poetry as existed in the Nixon Admin was embodied in Pat Buchanan. He brought a grandeur to banality and hollow hypocrisy no one had attempted, let alone realized!
Plus, watching him roll over on his back like a puppy begging for a belly rub whenever he talks to Rachel Maddow…that’s just gotta be the cutest thing you ever did see!
I just read that the port (Port au Prince) is destroyed-there is no way to unload cargo ships. the airport cannot accept any more flights-there is no fuel left.
So this disaster is doubly bad-there is simply no way to deliver relief.
Meanwhile, the bodies of the dead are decaying-so there will likely be epidemic disease outbreaks. Truly a horrible disaster-this is what happens when a country is the victim of corruption, a kleptocrat upper class, no education, and devastated agriculture. Gangs of machete-weilding thugs are stealing food-can it get any worse?
I fear my soul is truly sick, or at least badly weatherbeaten, as I read this post repeatedly in hopes of savoring its sarcasm before realizing that there was none intended.
I was watching CNN, they showed people from Iceland, Belgium, and 3 other countries trying to get people out of the ruble, they said there was 30 countries in various places doing all they could with what equiptment they could bring in with the road situations, the ports blocked with debris; then I turned to Fox and the guy there was standing at one part of the city complaining that there was no one to help and the people of Haiti were doing their own digging. Fox does all it can to try to discredit the present administration and look for things to use to criticise. They would criticise God Himself if they thought he was a Democrat!
I was watching CNN, they showed people from Iceland, Belgium, and 3 other countries trying to get people out of the rubble, they said there was 30 countries in various places doing all they could with what equiptment they could bring in with the road situations, the ports blocked with debris; then I turned to Fox and the guy there was standing at one part of the city complaining that there was no one to help and the people of Haiti were doing their own digging. Fox does all it can to try to discredit the present administration and look for things to use to criticise. They would criticise God Himself if they thought he was a Democrat!
When it comes to helping, check out hopital albert schweitzer http://www.hashaiti.org/ This is a hospital that for the past 50+ years has not only provided medical care, but also has been the nucleus for improving the overal quality of life in their valley, by tree projects, water purification projects, job training etc. Currently they are one of the few hospitals in Haiti still functioning, and victims are still pouring in. Helping this outfit addresses both the immediate needs, but also is something that helps fight the general “shitholeness” that so defines Haiti.
What bugs me about judging the Haitians for their bad socio-political system is that some of us fortunate ones don’t realize how lucky we are. I figure we’ve been “human” for 50,000 to 100,000 years. In that time, we’ve gone through many variations of horrible, oppressive cultures, and it’s only in the last few hundred years that Freedom™, real Freedom that filters down to the masses, has developed. In my mind, we didn’t get it “right” until the last few decades (in the USA, at least). It’s taken hundreds of generations for us to get to a place where people can be born without a life sentence of poverty and slavery, and Freedom is a balance of political, legal and economic forces that have to be constantly monitored to ensure we don’t fall apart.
Anyone eating food and drinking water on a regular basis is already one of the most fortunate people in human history, and really has no right to criticize people for not throwing off the yoke of their oppressors. I mean, I’m intelligent, relatively healthy and hard-working and have some economic security, but I don’t kid myself. The largest contributor to my liveable lifestyle is having been born in the US in the 20th century.
This isn’t a situation where the Haitians need to “vote the rascals out.” To think that voting in Haiti is anything like voting in a first-world country would be laughable. If you want to critize them, criticize each and every one of them for not repeatedly running through a hail of machine gun fire to stab several dozen soldiers with a kitchen knife. Because that’s what it’ll take; if you’ve done likewise to earn your freedom, feel free to criticize.
I’d just like to point out that donating money isn’t the only way to help Haiti (although it’s certainly needed to recover from this disaster). Buying Haitian exports is a better way to help Haiti’s long-term prospects by building their economy and providing jobs. I encourage everyone to go out tonight and buy my favorite Haitian export: Pango Rhum. Yeah, I know I sound like a shill, but this rum costs $10 for a 750 ml bottle, tastes great and goes down smooth as silk. I’m going to stock up tonight, because God knows when they’ll be able to export any more.