Haters on Haiti and other Haitian issues

Before I even comment on this right wing, so called Christian weirdo below of that fat load Rush, I must say this...
Send a $10 Donation by Texting ‘Haiti’ to 90999!!!

Update: This post was written on Sunday, $22 million has been raised by this fund raising method of texting to donate to the Haitian earthquake victims!

$10 is hardly anything, I just did the text and I can cover it when I pay my I phone bill! I just got a forwarded e-mail and my cousin is down their hustling his ass off trying to save lives while I am here with lots of sleep, food and water.

FYI. I talked to Dan today. He said that they only sleep 4-6 hours a day. Saving lives is their priority. (E-mail forward to my family from his wife!)

Pat Robertson and his millions of minions are proof of that fact that we are still missionaries in any sense we wish to be. His comment only reinforces for me the idea that we Americans believe, by the millions, that we have the right to make these judgments in the Name of God. Can you imagine the hubris here?

The Haitian crisis, their earthquake, has been a tragic event on an island which tragedy seems to be part of the fabric of its being. The United States has been quick to respond with military and humanitarian aid speaks well of this country, especially in light of a history of enlighten self interest on the island of Hispaniola. It should’t be any surprise that Rush Limbaugh has portrayed on this event as President Obama opportunity to parlay this for his own self interest for political gain. That much can be expected from the likes of someone like Limbaugh. Religious loonies Pat Robinson, an intelligent person and a diabolical communicator, came out with some craziness that the country of Haiti had made a pact with the devil. I don’t know what is scarier, that this guy has a huge following with people hanging on his every word like he has some historical insight on how this whole thing went down or that this guy may actually be so delusional he may really believe this dogma that he is putting out over the air ways!

I don’t know how much of an argument that I would make that the island isn’t cursed though. New York Times Op Ed columnist Bob Herbert observed in his column…

Enslavement, murderous colonial oppression, invasions by powerful foreign armies, grotesque homegrown tyrants, natural disasters — all you have to do is wait a while in Haiti for the next catastrophe to strike. On Tuesday, it was an earthquake that crushed the capital city of Port-au-Prince and much of its surroundings and raised the level of suffering and death to heights that defied comprehension.

“The world is coming to an end,” cried a woman in the midst of the carnage.

They rose up against the French and defeated the forces of Napoleon to become the only nation to grow out of a slave revolt. They rose up against the despotic Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier and sent him packing. Despite ruthless exploitation by more powerful nations, including the United States, and many long years of crippling civil strife, corruption, terror and chronic poverty, the Haitian people have endured.

Bob Hebert doesn't even mention that the people of Haiti have suffered a higher number of AIDS victims, a huge refugee population flooding into America and all of the angst that any refuge population faces when being the latest group of unwashed masses flooding to American shores. The AIDS issue is especially troubling in that a popular unenlightened view of AIDS breaks its victims into two groups, babies and those with blood transfusions with tainted blood are often "Innocent victims of AIDS", making gays, inter venous drug users and black Haitians (just by being on a impoverished island) "guilty victims" of AIDS by default. I have written on this issue when blogging about Arther Ashe and the whole guilty or Innocent thing with AIDS pisses me off.

If the Doomsday clock was running in the country of Haiti, it would be at about 30 seconds to midnight. As of January 14th, it is set for six minutes to midnight for the world.
This movie was based on a true story about Clarvius Narcisse. Who knows how much is true, changed for a Hollywood dramatic spin but it scared the hell out of me and Haiti seemed like a very scary place. Voodoo exists down there and is associated with that country more than any other place in the world, not that I want to support Pat Robinson's perceptive on this nightmare or imply that the people of Haiti have brought this on themselves. Nothing further could be true and as the death tolls numbers rise, the magnitude of this horror grows.

As the numbers of dead and injured in Haiti continue to climb, Lt. General P.K. Keen, the man charge of military relief efforts there says, “we are going to have to be prepared for the worst”. When I asked General Keen about death toll estimates ranging between 150,000 and 200,000 people, Keen said, “I think the international community is looking at those figures, and I think that’s a start point.”

FYI, Lt General P.K. Keen is no relation. God bless the people of Haiti!!!

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. P.K. "Ken" Keen, commander of Joint Task Force Haiti,salutes USS Bataan sailors in rainbow sideboy formation after landing on board, Jan. 25, 2010. The Bataan crew has been participating in Haiti earthquake relief efforts. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Christopher Carroll (Photo by U.S. Army)
U P D A T E...

...d a y s B 4 V a l e n t i n e ' s D a y

Last Sunday, I joined a friend of mine for a drink before the Super Bowl. I meet her at an get together she attends with a bunch of other women on Sunday afternoons. On this day they knitting bears to give those who are less privileged child in other countries. The cute little bears were ear marked for Guyana but with the crisis in Haiti, they may make down to the Island as a late Valentine's gift from these hard working knitters. Kim, the founder and director of Infinity Volunteers, and Nikki, were the group leaders of last Sunday's event and they knit in a coffee shop in the town that I live in on Sunday afternoons. The bears are just one small activity for Infinity Volunteers and their involvement in Haiti includes the group having been in Haiti volunteering their time and energy assisting the less fortunate. I was impressed with the volunteers commitment towards helping others and their numerous activities here in America and abroad. My writing a blog few people read and giving $10 to the Red Cross two weeks ago seems less noble than I perceived it a couple of weeks ago.

I will leave on this note, nobody says it better than Keith Olbermann when his is pissed off and indignant with the right wing rabble.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy