Miscellaneous Friday: Haiti, Racism, Failure

What The Hell Are They Waiting For?

We're now approaching 72 hours since Haiti experienced a 7.0 earthquake (because it was so close to the surface, seismic specialists say it was more like a 9.0 out of a total possible 10.0 on the richter scale). The prevailing wisdom is that people begin to die off in large numbers if they do not receive food, water, and medical help within 72 hours. Relief workers from nations around the world have flown in rescue and search teams, food, water, doctors, medical supplies, all to help the people in Port au Prince Haiti who have been suffering for 72 hours, many of whom are buried inside buildings but might be saved, many of whom have crushed intestines and eyes and limbs. They need help. What the hell are they waiting for?

As far as I can see, Obama has done nothing more for the people of Haiti during the first 72 hours than George W. Bush did for the people of New Orleans during the first 72 hours after their disaster. Maybe Obama has given a few sincere-looking speeches, but he has done nothing to help those people. Doing something means more than just giving a speech. Why don't Barack and Michele take Air Force One and fly over the rubble of that poor island, look out the window, put a "sincere and concerned" look on their faces, and use it as a photo op?



Bill The Ladies Man And His Stupid Friend

Bill Clinton, the philandering nafta guy who sent all our jobs to third world countries then invested in third world countries to reap the bounty of his treason, has been made co-responsible with that moron and murderer George W. Bush to handle the relief efforts. God help the people of Haiti with these two in charge: a greedy perjuring philandering narcissistic egomaniacal pissed-off emperor-who-would-rule-the-world and his stupid friend. Bill Clinton is already using his appointment to try to schill for his foundation, going onto national TV and telling people that instead of sending money to the well-established and experienced disaster relief and assistance groups of the world (like Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, and Unicef) they should send money to Bill Clinton. Or send to the Bill Clinton Foundation where he can control it and use it however he wants. Doesn't he have enough money already?

Neo-Liberal Or Neo-Imperialism: Same Difference

I woke up this morning to some high-level racist in our government speaking on NPR and saying that he hopes this earthquake will be a wake-up call to the people of Haiti. After all, he said (ignorantly or deliberately lying) that country has a history of instability and corruption in their government. Pssst! Hey bud! Over here! The U.S. is the one who keeps overthrowing their elected governments, one after the next, and arming gangs of death squads to create instability. And the western nations steal all their resources. Duh-uhh!


Racism: Black People Are Scary

I turned on the national TV this morning. I kept seeing the crawl letters say "Haitian aid workers fear for their lives!" I thought yeah, I'll bet the people inside Haiti fear for their lives because they are being left to die while the aid workers sit on an airport tarmac. Afraid of exactly what? Nobody's been attacked. No evidence of any violence. So what exactly is the basis for the aid workers "fearing for their lives?" I think it's racism. They're afraid to go into the city, because there's so many black people there. Like Detroit, kind of.

I saw a reporter last night telling a scary story. Oooooooo! He said that he heard (urban myth) that some guy loaded bottled water and food into a van and drove into the city, opened the back of his van and handed out the water and food. The men, the stronger people pushed in front and the women and older people were left in the back (like trying to get tickets anywhere in the U.S.). Then when the van was empty, some people got angry!! Ooooooo!

Isn't that a scary story? All these Big Black Men. Angry Black Men. So I waited for the rest of the story. What happened? What's the punchline? Did somebody shoot someone, slap someone, shove them? Steal the van? Knives, guns, bombs, grenades? Nothing. The end of the story was that some of the people who did not get food or water got angry. That's it.

You leave me without food or water for 3 days, I'll show you what angry looks like. The point of the story, as far as I could say, was simple racism: Ooooo, those black men are scary. And this was reported on national TV.

Here's the problem with this story: Anderson Cooper is all over Port au Prince, walking, mingling, broadcasting. How come he can get in there and the entire U.S. government, and all the international relief agencies are too scared to do anything? If it was white people dying of hunger and thirst, I have no doubt nobody would be sitting at the airport. They'd all be in Port au Prince, whether they had to hike in, land in helicopters or otherwise.

The U.S. Has Taken Control Of Haiti. Stop Denying It.

I heard quite a few America representatives saying "we are in charge of everything," followed by somebody else saying "we are not in charge -- the GOVERNMENT OF HAITI is in charge." Except everybody in the Haitian goverment is apparently dead except the U.S.-selected puppet president. And where exactly is he?

I think he's been "detained" at Guantanamo where some Blackwater thugs are breaking his fingers one by one until he signs an agreement turning all the resources of his country over to American corporate interests. I think that behind the scenes, the "representatives" of the U.S. are telling this guy that they will keep all the aid tied up at the airport until he signs. What difference does it make to them if a few million black people die? None at all, from what I've seen.

Phony Rescue Photo-Ops: Here We Go Again

What about the phony U.N. "rescue" we saw yesterday. I think it was like the Jessica Lynch deal, or Pat Tillman story: a photo op staged to make the U.S. look good, despite the fact that we are doing virtually nothing to help the people of Haiti. Here's how it went.

Some rescue group from Virginia (I assume all good guys) went to a U.N. building in Haiti, and the TV cameras showed up just in time for some dude to stand up from inside the building and walk out. Not a scratch on him. Not even any dust, no cuts. His hair wasn't even mussed. But a conveniently-gathered crowd cheered, and he put his hand up into the air in a fist in a sign of triump and walked out looking like he'd just had a good night's sleep, a big breakfast, and a shower and a shave. I have a vague recollection that a tattered American flag was hanging somewhere nearby, prominently featured in the photos. I think the whole thing was staged. And better still: he was white. We saved a white guy. One more for our side!

I've also seen some news about some white girls. The media just loves to see white girls saved.

I've also seen some photos of long lines of Americans at the airport being put on planes and evacuated. I have nothing against rescuing Americas from a disaster zone. But how is it that the U.S. manages to go find them, transport them to the airport, but we can't seem to drop some boxes of antibiotics, bandages, IV solution, to the many hospitals and medical clinics operating around the city?

When Black People Do It, It's Called "Looting."

Everybody's talking about violence, rioting. Have you noticed that when black people scrounge around a disaster area to find food and water for themselves and their community, it's called "Looting."

But when white people scrounge around a disaster area to find food and water for themselves and their white community, it's called "acting heroically." They get onto TV shows at the end of the year: "America's Heroes." "This white person broke into a store and got water and food and saved many lives. We salute him as one of America's Heroes." But the black people, they're looters. Throw their black ass into prison.



Black People Are Violent! [Oh Yeah? How Come It's Always The White Dudes Who Start The Wars?]

All I keep hearing is a fear of violence. Gates said something this morning about hoping to avoid violence. All the media is talking about it. All the U.S. response forces are doing nothing, we are told, because of a fear of violence by the people in Haiti.

But there hasn't been any yet. How can the U.S. justify doing absolutely nothing to help, when there hasn't been any violence? How can they claim a fear of violence? Other than just relying on racism: black people are violent, everybody knows that.

That's the explanation that's being used for the failure to do anything to help these poor people. We are told that all the relief agencies are "afraid." I don't believe it. I think the U.S. won't let them go into the city. I think that the U.S. wants to drag it out until the point that people do start rioting, because then they can land tens of thousands of Marines to occupy the city, drive out the Haitian people into the surrounding countryside, level the city, rebuild the roads and infrastructures, and turn the brand-spanking new clean city over to multinationals under 100-year leases of all the water front. Dubai will own the port. The Hiltons will own all the beachfront and all the hotels. Maybe Trump can build a golf Resort and Trump Tower. I'm sure Clinton and Bush will get their share.

People Of Haiti: Hide! They're Sending Hillary

Hillary Clinton just announced that she is going to Haiti to meet with the U.S. military. What? I think I know what's going on. Everybody from the U.S. is just sitting on the airport tarmac. So Hillary will arrive on a big airplane, wearing a fatigue jacket, and will duck down and run across the tarmac as if the scary black people from Haiti might shoot at her. She can redeem herself about that whole "running across the tarmac under sniper fire" lie that she told so many times in the past. Then she will survey the people sitting on the tarmac, say "carry on," and leave.

If it was up to me, I'd send that John Wayne dude, General Honore, the same guy who made things happen, finally, in New Orleans.

I'm a little tired of sincere pronouncements out of the White House. Let's see some action for a change.

That Bigotted Cracker Pat Robertson Can Kiss My Catholic Ass

Can you believe that Pat Robertson? He said the people in Haiti all made a pact with the devil. They are devil-worshippers. They deserve to be killed in an earthquake. Did you know that the Haitians are 80% Catholic? So, in other words, this ignorant cracker just called my Irish Catholic relatives devil-worshippers. I think the Pope should order a hit on this ignorant white trash. Or better still, somebody could do an extroardinary rendition on the dude and drop him into the middle of Port au Prince. With a big sandwich-board around his neck that says "I hate black people."

The Majority Democrats Have Spit In Our Faces And Deserve To Lose

And as for that Massachusetts senate seat election next week which, if the republicans take it means the healthcare bill dies, that's okay with me because the healthcare bill is nothing more than a corporate give-away. It would be nice to see the Democrats get smacked down for their sell-out of the working people. They've done nothing to help us, they've offered nothing, they should lose.