Making Hay of Haiti
The humanitarian disaster still unfolding in Haiti should be cause for everyone to rally to help. President Obama has pledged $100 million in immediate aid. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has been deeply involved in Haiti, has flown back from a diplomatic trip in Asia to help coordinate relief efforts. Bill Clinton, UN Special Envoy to Haiti, has been raising money and also coordinating relief efforts.
Aid agencies in Haiti said this morning that the death toll is at least 50,000 and could be 100,000 people before week’s end. There is currently no water or sanitation, which means the threats of disease, compounding the already ghastly injuries, are manifold.
In such a circumstance where the suffering is so extreme, it’s difficult to comprehend the comments of Rev. Pat Robertson (Haitians ‘made a pact with the devil’: Pat Robertson )and Rush Limbaugh (Rush Limbaugh on Haiti).
Robertson isn’t new to assertions that natural disasters are a result of God smiting the wicked. He made similar claims after 9/11 and said Hurricane Katrina was the result of New Orleans’ acceptance of homosexuality.
Nor is Limbaugh new to hatemongering.
What is shocking, however, is that in the midst of so much real and truly horrific suffering in one of the poorest nations on earth, anyone would try to use such tragedy for their own mean-spirited ends and to make political hay.
As vile as Robertson’s “pact with the Devil” comments were, Limbaugh’s statements were that much more incredible. Asserting that Obama was using what the UN has called the worst humanitarian crisis in the western hemisphere in more than 30 years to “boost his credibility with the black community,” Limbaugh said (be sure to listen to the video) Obama was “showing off” his “compassionate” and “humanitarian” credentials to court favor with “light and dark-skinned blacks alike.” (This after his snide comment that Bill Clinton should “avoid the prostitutes in Haiti.”)
Limbaugh went on to complain that Obama took “three whole days” to address the Christmas Day terrorist attack. (It should be noted that George W. Bush took six days to address the shoe bomber incident and then proceeded to ignore every suggestion from national security advisors on the subject.) Limbaugh said Obama responded to Haiti “within hours.” Limbaugh queried if Obama’s priorities were straight.
Obama’s are. Limbaugh’s aren’t.
In case Limbaugh’s message isn’t clear it’s this: Obama doesn’t care about terrorism but he cares about poor black people. Fie on Obama, saith Limbaugh.
The Christmas Day attack was thwarted. The most serious injury was to the would-be bomber. More than 100,000 people may be dead in Haiti and three million are affected. Obama chose not to repeat the Bush failure during Katrina.
There’s a time and a place for partisan attacks. This ain’t it. Robertson and Limbaugh deserve all the ire they receive from these comments. If it weren’t for free speech, they would be ousted from their respective positions for such vile commentary. The sad thing is, people are still listening to them and nodding right along as the men, women and children of Haiti suffer. Robertson and Limbaugh have clarified it with exquisite precision what is wrong with the extremist wing of the conservative party in America: heartless to its core. It makes one wonder who really has made a pact with the Devil. —VAB
