Sorry, Attaturk, but I have to disagree with you about the bush inclusion. Was watching a rerun of the clinton/bush interview on meet the press just a little while ago. When asked what the pressing needs were in Haiti, bush said, “Security, water and food.” That order of priority pretty much says all one needs to know about the man. The only reason bush would get involved is to try to erase the memory of his incompetency wrt Katrina. And clinton certainly has dirty hands wrt his treatment of Haiti during his presidency. The very last fund I would donate to is the one with their names on it.

I, too, tend to disagree with Attaturk on this. I have made it a point to ignore any appearances/remarks by Bush for the past year. But I saw a clip of Obama, Bush, and Clinton, making the announcement about Haiti. Obama and Clinton were somber. Bush was smirking. Then I was channel surfing tonight, and came across MSNBC. And there was Bush. First of all, Clinton looked very serious. Bush was laughing. Inappropriately. He simply CANNOT look serious.

Isn’t it interesting that the right-wingers went NUTS when a Democrat even smiled, in the year after 9/11? Not ABOUT 9/11 — about anything.

I get as mad as the next guy about wimpy Dems — but if the media ever acted fair, maybe they wouldn’t be so cowardly. (I know, I know — chicken and egg.)

Obama is just helping Bush rehabilitate his image.

Should we also praise Obama for “looking forward” and not investigating even the most egregious of Bush’s war crime?

How bipartisan. Like Obama has done anything to cross Republicans since the campaign ended.

Normally, I’d say having Bush on board this effort was a great thing. His history with Haiti left something to be desired. There really do seem to be second chances in politics these days, as long as you’re not a populist.

Still, if he can use his connections to raise a buttload of money, it’s probably worth the embarrassment. I figure if the Haitians can live with it, I’m not going to argue.

With Malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds.

Ew, this medicine tastes awful bad. I mean, it makes Scott’s Emulsion seem like cotton candy.

Despite that, ten bucks from the cell phone just won’t cut it. Give ’till it hurts. If you have to, give to make Pat and Rush cry like babies. Even if you can’t give in a spirit of bipartisanship, give.

Bush crossed Rush? Any bets on when Bush will make his apology to Rush?

Frankly, I was sickened when Obama named these two to help raise money. Surely two other people, not nearly as tainted, could have been found to head the relief effort. Just becauses Bush is less crazy than Limbaugh or Robertson, doesn’t mean I would trust him (or Bubba) with two nickels. And, yeah, I can be disdainful all the damn time. When “they” would like to start playing nice, I’ll think about being less disdainful.

Still, if he can use his connections to raise a buttload of money, it’s probably worth the embarrassment. I figure if the Haitians can live with it, I’m not going to argue.

The questions being:

What is going to be done with that “buttload of money”?

Who says the Haitians who are currently in such horrible need are going to have any say in what will be done with the money?

clinton and bush are talking about rebuilding the country stronger and better……it’s a wee tad early to be talking about rebuilding. The focus should be on getting the people what they need right this very minute – food, water, shelter and medical attention. And if there’s any accuracy in what is being shown on the idjit box, that ain’t happening. Pretty obvious why the military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan have been such a total disaster from the get-go.

I am so utterly sick and tired of the irrationality, pessimism and nihilism of most fire dog lake comments. All the time. Obama has done *nothing* good apparently, no – not one thing.. even getting Bush involved in attempting to help Haiti is *SO* bad….awful indeed.

Your extremism and lack of moderation is ultimately no different from the same so amply demonstrated by the tea-bagging neo-cons. Jane H and her “I’m never happy, unless everything happens exactly I expected it to, despite the political realities posed by congress and an impossible economic climate… where is the Unicorn Obama promised me.. whine whine whine” attitude has finally caused this progressive to never want to visit this blog again…

At least the tea-baggers have one positive over (most of) those frequenting this blog, they know how to stick together when the going gets tough…

Tends to make one question whether the choice was made on any basis other than appearance and bipartisanship. :-(

He probably called both of them to his office and said “OK you two, you fucked up Haiti when you were here so go and do some bloody good this time”

Oh Bummah! is a bloody idiot with this bush thing but then he is really good at making bad decisions.

At least the tea-baggers have one positive over (most of) those frequenting this blog, they know how to stick together when the going gets tough…

Lemmings

Bush was laughing. Inappropriately. He simply CANNOT look serious.

Some people laugh when they are nervous and or lying or they laugh when they are sticking it to people. Bush smirking is a tell. I’m not sure wether the tell means Bush was nervous, lying or sticking it to people or all three but that smirk never means the world good.

despite the political realities posed by congress and an impossible economic climate

Unfortunately the teabagging neo-cons never bother to take those realities into consideration.

Child.

Cruise ships still find a Haitian berth

Luxury liners are still docking at private beaches near Haiti’s devastated earthquake zone for holidaymakers to enjoy the water.
The 4,370-berth Independence of the Seas, owned by Royal Caribbean International, disembarked at the heavily guarded resort of Labadee on the north coast on Friday; a second cruise ship, the 3,100-passenger Navigator of the Seas is due to dock.

The Florida cruise company leases a picturesque wooded peninsula and its five pristine beaches from the government for passengers to “cut loose” with watersports, barbecues, and shopping for trinkets at a craft market before returning on board before dusk. Safety is guaranteed by armed guards at the gate.

To paraprase Chomsky:

“Clinton and Bush were the pricipal torturer’s of Haiti during the past 20 years.”

The absence of why Haiti is in such utter misery screams to be told to the grazing sheeple. All they hear is Rush and Pat, and many are repulsed to be sure.

Haiti’s proximity to Cuba, the earlier slave revolt and independance, set the stage for gunpoint democracy, Papa Doc, Ton Ton’s, Bush’s banning of international aid, and the exile of Haiti’s democratically elected President to Africa.

Read Mountains Beyound Mountains or The Uses of Haiti for some background

Hey how come there is a troll here early in the morning. I thought Palinistas were not supposed to get up until noon.

Happy MLK Day one and all from snowy NH.

I am so utterly sick and tired of the irrationality, pessimism and nihilism of most fire dog lake comments

No no no! Us not Rational please point out where we are wrong.
Pessimism? No we had high hopes for Obama 3, 4 am Seattle time we would be out here shooting down the latest GOP lie about Obama all throughout the campaign. We worked to end the Wars, we worked for National Healthcare (the Public Option was a compromise), we wanted a real job stimulus, we wanted help for people losing their homes.
We stayed quiet as Bankers got Bonuses and GM workers got laid off and their Pensions took a hit.
Nihilism nope we threaten Obama has got to fix things or we stay home. After all name just one reason that Obama has given us to go out and vote.

That’s pretty thoroughly disgusting….but not much more so than Americans who have the money greasing palms or sending in mercs (and you know that’s what they’re doing) to get their loved ones out. Yeah, I know that’s one of the purposes of the State Dept (getting Americans out of tough situations) but still and all the same, it still rankles. And sure, I wouldn’t feel that way if I were one of the US citizens trapped there but still………

If Shrub wanted to rehab his reputation, he could publicly and clearly dress down Robertson and Limbaugh for their despicable, inhumane statements. But since he has never done anything I think he should, I’m not holding my breath.

At least the tea-baggers have one positive over (most of) those frequenting this blog, they know how to stick together when the going gets tough…

Tea Baggers stick together thats a virtue? Change the language How about Tea Baggers get played by the GOP? Just like their Grandfathers who voted for Reagan did when Reagan, Bush, Bush 2 16 years worth of Republican Presidents could not stack the Supreme Court and end Abortion?
Us we will not get played like the Baggers we are not Rubes Obama can take us for a ride for 1 year and thats it!

That’s a brilliant bit of name calling, but Attaturk writes this post every weekday morning at the same time. Or, are you referring to one of the commentors who agrees with the theme of the post?

After all name just one reason that Obama has given us to go out and vote.

He gave me plenty of reasons to go and vote next time around. Not for Democrats or Goopers mind you but for decent, honest Progressives.

I get it. Atta J. Turk made a pact yesterday with Ol’ Scratch that, if the Vikings really stomped the Cowboys this time, he’d pen words of tepid praise for the W, and post them on FDL.

Favre favre, favreity favre-favre, favreful favring favrosity favre favre.

Jimminy cricket I would never call our beloved Atta anything but super. NO the troll/Palinista lurking in our midst is @ #9.

However I do believe that Attaturk is dead wrong in this instance. Bush should not be seen or heard from again until he is being shoveled 6′ under.

I wish George W. Bush health and long life. May he endure, like Herbert Hoover, into his nineties as the symbol of Republican malfeasance and incompetence.

Obama can take us for a ride for 1 year and thats it!

In three days it will indeed be one year and I am still waiting for Oh Bummah! to do one bloody thing that he promised during his campaign. He is a great con man, paid by big InsurPharma, that has taken all our money and hopes and dashed them on the floor.

So, we should wait to contribute time or money to help Haitians until we are satisified with all of the individuals leading the efforts. I think #9 did support the theme of the post and notes similarities with the excuses, venom, and bile with which the teabaggers respond to anything by anyone. They’d probably love to do something useful also, but it might go to ACORN.

A Rahm Troll who cares the fact that Obama has to campaign to keep Ted’s seat shows that the Dems are in trouble and can even a Rahm Troll deny that Healthcare is a big reason why? The Rahm Trolls need to tell Rahm yelling at us won’t change our minds nor will being snotty.
Present a case with reasoned arguments and maybe some snark (that always helps) that might change our minds otherwise Buzz words that sound like they came straight from Newts GOPAC media training school to use to describe Democrats like irrationality, pessimism and nihilism or dismissive words like child won’t win us over we are not GOPers who change our minds to side with bullies.
And unlike Rahm’s Democrats we will fight back. Rahms Dems only fight with us because they think we are weak and they can bully us.
But notice neither GOP, Dem or MSM ever engage our ideas except to lie about them, I smell fear:)

There are plenty of charities to give to but if Bush is involved in any way do you really want to give? I think #9 is wrong about the Lake.

and notes similarities with the excuses, venom, and bile with which the teabaggers respond to anything by anyone.

The Tea Baggers lie we don’t or we admit when we are shown to have made a mistake ( something I have done on occasion) and now you and #9 are saying we can’t be angry?
Are we suppose to be happy that we will be forced to buy health insurance and it will cost more and provide less
benefits than any other healthcare plan on the planet on a dollar basis?

Good morning, pups. It’s [sigh] The Pasty Little Putz and Krugman this morning. The Pasty Little Putz addresses “Internet Politics From Both Sides Now.” He states that Republicans have gained some advantage in Internet campaigning since the 2008 election, but now their constituency might be headed for a letdown. From the Putz’s lips to God’s ear… Prof. Krugman, in “What Didn’t Happen,” says President Obama’s troubles result from misjudgments: the stimulus was too small; banking policy wasn’t tough enough; and he didn’t shelter himself from criticism.

Here they are.

The coffee, tea and hot chocolate are ready and the biscuits are out of the oven. It turns out that 64 doesn’t feel any different from 63. At least I didn’t blossom forth with a whole new collection of aches and pains! Have a great day.

You’re apparently the one saying that anyone who disagrees with your opinion is a troll, and can’t be considered progressive. When I began reading and commenting on FDL, at the beginning of 2007, there was a widespread understanding of the damage the Bush Administration was doing to the U.S. and the world, but there was a general respect and room for reasonable disagreement between commentors who considered themselves liberals, progressives, Democrats, and democrats. Most to that respect is now gone. So have a lot of commentors and readers.

I’m with you, the whining on the Lake has gone to new depths with this one.

ding

There is definitely a feeling among Rhamites that we should fall into line like “good Democrats”. Bush was/is the Big Evil and therefor anything that Oh Bummah! does is good, well compared to bushy it is. The problem there is that we are not going to fall into line and blindly vote for candidates just because the Dems are not Goopers. This administration is going to have to change the direction in which they are going if they expect anywhere near the voter turnout they got in 2008r.

Appearance and bipartisanship seem to have been the only criteria. Haitians have been eating dirt pastries for years while the good ole u.s. of a was off killing people of color in various places around the world. Does the MSM mention what u.s. trade policy has done to impoverish the Haitian people? Hell no. Once again no accountability from the powers that be. Instead of being given the truth about the cruelty of our policies, we are spoon fed the idea that American generosity knows no bounds. While the generosity part may be true, the impoverishment that Haitians live in daily should have been addressed years ago.

In 1990, GOPAC, which worked with Republican candidates across the country, sent a memo titled “Language: A Key Mechanism of Control” to GOP contenders. The memo started,
As you know, one of the key points in the GOPAC [training] tapes is that “language matters.” In the [GOPAC] video “We are a Majority,” Language is listed as a key mechanism of control used by a majority party, along with Agenda, Rules, Attitude and Learning. As the tapes have been used in training sessions across the country and mailed to candidates we have heard a plaintive plea: “I wish I could speak like Newt.”
That takes years of practice. But, we believe that you could have a significant impact on your campaign and the way you communicate if we help a little. That is why we have created this list of words and phrases.

The positive words were hardly surprising; they included “caring,” “freedom,” “liberty,” “moral,” prosperity,” and “strength. But the “contrasting words”–which GOPAC said should be applied to Democrats and their proposals–were rather hard-edged: “betray,” “bizarre,” “cheat,” “corrupt,” “destroy,” “disgrace,” “greedy,” “incompetent,” “intolerant,” “radical,” “shallow,” “sick,” and “traitors.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames/24751/gingrich_izing_public_broadcasting

My bold in Private Newt is honest. We should look for words all the GOPers repeat often because I bet the list has been updated.
Get some examples on video maybe a special google search to somehow look for GOPers saying certain words
how many times and then we point out limited vocabulary, a lack of diversity produces the same stale thoughts,
or they could all be reading from a list.

I read your comment last night, on the post critiquing the U.S. efforts. I agree. People who have never been within 500 miles of any kind of massive emergency effort were nit picking and seeing conspiracies in the military air traffic control procedures.

I agree with the trolls on this one. Bringing Dubya in helps raise this issue above the partisan bickering. You don’t have to hate Bush for every move he makes. Some of you sound like the Clinton haters of the ’90s.

You tell me, has this place always been like this? I mean I get “critical thinking” but the constant bitching about everything is deafening. Then we have this one clown who is here this morning who loves to crank up his baby-killer shit every so often just to piss people off. Fuck it, I need to walk the dogs.

LOL,

It was the split-screen of Prince and Bud Grant that brought it all together for me.

War criminals aren’t all bad.

So what if Bush killed a million and displaced millions more?

He was the POTUS.

POTUS can do no wrong.

Look forward, not backward.

We have a lot of [edited by mod] with our drug/economic policy.

We can’t afford to focus on ‘Rule of Law’ when it comes to war crimes.

Only children and imbeciles take that shit to heart.

We’re America, goddammit!

Obey!

Hate is the operative phrase and you nailed it!

Boy this place is going to be AWESOME on Wednesday morning if the polls are right in Mass.

Every step he takes
Every move he makes
Every vow he breaks
Every smile he fakes
Every claim he stakes

You’re apparently the one saying that anyone who disagrees with your opinion is a troll

Nope make an argument to change my mind make it a good one #9 led off with 3 insults irrationality, pessimism and nihilism Plus a You People attack generalizing most of us as bad people of most fire dog lake comments.

Your extremism and lack of moderation is ultimately no different from the same so amply demonstrated by the tea-bagging neo-cons.

Her argument falls flat we want the war over we want healthcare we don’t want Obamacare we are not extreme we are the majority view in the polls. If we are the majority view we are the Moderate view the extremes Left and Right branch off from.

Jane H and her “I’m never happy, unless everything happens exactly I expected it to, despite the political realities posed by congress and an impossible economic climate

#9 has never seen Jane happy I have:)

despite the political realities posed by congress
We have a super majority in the House, the Senate we only need 51 votes if the GOP wants to filibuster we can make them actually do it rather than cave in without a fight.
We can hold up money for Israel aid to get Joe Lieberman’s vote.

impossible economic climate

funny we have billions for more troops to Afghanistan but no money to help Americans now?

Tell me were you convinced by any of these *cough* arguments?

When can we expect Oh Bummah! to send bushy2 to New Orleans to see the devastation there or are the American black folk less “interesting” than the Haitians?

My son was flying a helicopter during a major disaster. Bringing order to the chaos was no easy matter and it was not nearly as bad as Haiti. What really pissed him off was when he had to fly “dignitaries” to survey the damage.

Good morning.

I’ve had one cuppa coffee, but that’s not enough for this thread.

I’m on my second cup of tea, and it’s not helping…

I am on my third cuppa coffee it doesn’t get any better.

I’m also screaming at my TV, where the WJ Q is about racism.

I can respect people as a person if they attack our ideas and if they have a good argument. Lots of people disagree with me and I respect them they get personal and have bad arguments or even address our arguments then yes I call them trolls.

We can have differences of opinion I am of the

FDR told activists in his own party, “I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it.”

http://www.politicalcortex.com/story/2008/11/8/02944/6322

School

I want Obama to do things I want to brag about what a great healthcare Plan Obama is creating. I want to be the first to say Obama’s bringing all the troops home! I want to read about solar and wind turbines Obama is putting up. I want to read about a Cash for Clunkers plan for the GM Volt.
Give me something good I can talk about.

I give Bush some credit for his decent instincts on immigration reform, but he never got anything done there. Beyond that, I would have to say he is a man who incorporates every known character pathology.

I’m not sure what’s going on here. We’re not rallying the nation into a war for freeance against Haiti. What was W doing there?

Appointing bush to help is like asking Hannibul Lector to run a soup kitchen.

There’s no rehabbing a treasonous war criminal, I hear the screams of the tortured above anything bush could say or offer.

Thanks…good morning…I think W was a disaster from the get-go of the false election. But this represents something bigger in a positive direction; W is mainly trying to follow in the post-presidency of his father with Clinton. If it works for Haiti, so be it. As far as running with the loot, I am quite sure the gifts will be monitored/counted etc by a very separate entity. Naive? oh maybe.

This post got me thinking about this:

His trip to Haiti in September 1994 is the best know example of Carter the ex-President at work. Carter’s inteference–combined, of course, with President Clinton’s determination to use force if necessary–turned what would have been a bloody invasion with casualites and bitterness on all sides into a peaceful and apparently quite successful occupation. Carter was roundly attacked for his efforts, and some of the attacks seemed valid on the surface. A lot of people were outraged that Carter treated Haiti’s military strongman, Lieutenant Raoul Cedras, with respect and called him a man of honor. A lot of people were outraged that Cedras and his henchmen initilly were permitted to remain in Haiti and allowed to keep some of their ill-gotten financial gains. A lot of people were outraged that at one point Carter said he was ashamed of his country for the way it had treated Haiti over the years. A lot of people were outraged that Carter, in defiance of official State Department policy, allowed the puppet president of Haiti to sign the agreement, thus seeming to give legitimacy to an essentially criminal regime. And, of course, a lot of people were outraged, or maybe just baffled, that Carter kept talking about how slender and attractive Mrs. Cedras was. For those of us who still wince at the memory of Carter’s notorious “lust in my heart” Playboy interview from the 1976 campaign, that detail was what made the episode true vintage Jimmy.

The bottom line was: There was no bloodshed. The elected, legitimate president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was restored, the killings and human rights violations were stopped, Cedras and his pals ended up leaving the country, and Haiti now has a better chance than anyone thought possible to become a relatively normal country instead of a nightmare of death and cruelty.

And reminded me about this from Dec 2009.

Former United States President Jimmy Carter says he hopes to see an eradication of malaria by next year in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the last two countries in the Caribbean with known cases of the disease.

“The Dominican Republic government and the Haiti government have never got along well, but both trust me, and trust the Carter Center,” Carter told reporters here Wednesday, stating that he has visited both countries recently in an effort to get them to cooperate to rid the island of malaria “once and for all.”

He also said he is determined to rid the island of Lymphatic filariasis, a painful swelling disease also spread by mosquitos. Haiti and the Dominican Republic are two of the last outposts in the Western Hemisphere for the disease.

(snip)

“Having him there focuses attention on the problem,” said Dr. Donald Hopkins, director of the Carter Center’s health programmes, who also oversees the organisation’s efforts in the neighbouring Caribbean nations.

He credited Carter’s recent visit with progress on an unprecedented cross-border eradication effort.

“(It) gave us leverage in helping to encourage both countries to develop a bi-national plan with a budget and with a target date for getting rid of malaria on the island all together by 2010,” Hopkins said.

In the wake of Carter’s visit, Hopkins said the emphasis on fighting the disease is shifting.

“What we sought to bring that was value added was a focus on elimination, not just on continuing to treat and control the malaria problem,” he said.

Thus, did no one do their homework on the Obama staff?

i know what you are saying but i am so blind with hatred these days i can’t read the news anymore for my own health. Everywhere you look there is evidence of these animal’s scams. Bush on tv this morning talking about the need for a stable democracy in Haiti, but he installed duvalier and wrecked the country and caused massive suffering. So along comes mrs clinton with the big doe eyes talking about how much she loves haiti and spent her honeymoon there blah blah blah. Her smooth husband returned aristede to power only if he would sign free trade agreements. The sugar industry was crushed, small farmers were forced into the city to try survive. All of this so some corporations could set up sweatshops. It’s so sickening start to finish. But i digress. I hear doctors without borders is a good orginization.

Have heard a bit of that observation chopping up on TV since maybe yesterday (iirc). And with good reason……guess one of the “lessons learned” from Katrina is the politicos think they have to personally show up to get their faces in front of the American people.

Much as I appreciated the media invasion of the Gulf Coast (otherwise we’d never know *what* happened there), there definitely appear to have been some downsides…..having easier access to knowledge of what is happening on the street in Haiti apparently leads many Americans to assume that because our media technology can get the info to *us*, the same thing is true for the Haitian people.

Not intended as a criticism……just a observation, fwiw.

NYT going to charge for online version.

If it makes you feel any better, this is an FAA website where anyone wishing to build anything more than 200 feet AGL, or exeeding a 20:1 slope within 20,000 feet of a public use runway, has to file notice with the FAA. The FAA does a study to determine if they would have any adverse effect on protected aviation procedures (like instrument approach procedures). Accordingly, if you go to this site, in the column on the left entitled “view proposed cases” or “view determined cases”, then select a plains state, you will find literally thousands of proposals for wind turbines. You can tell them because the locations of each “wind farm” all list the same town and all of the proposed structures are the same height (eg 400 feet AGL). It would be nice to give Obama credit for all of these, but there were thousands going on during the Bush administration, due to tax breaks inacted by congress.

Or, you can simply drive to Big Spring, Texas or hundreds of others sites and see the thousands of gleaming white turbines which have gone up since about 1998. Unfortunately, the turbines are usually designed and built elsewhere and what Obama proposes is subsidizing and encouraging their design and construction here.

Bless the Bushes and the Cheneys
For in this world they have no voice
They have no choice

Bless the Bushes and the Cheneys
For the world can never be
The world they see

Light their way
When the darkness surrounds them
Give them love
Let it shine all around them

Bless the Bushes and the Cheneys
Give them shelter from a storm
Keep them safe
Keep them warm

Fuck the children
Fuck the children

I hear doctors without borders is a good orginization.

I like everything I’ve heard about them. Do you know anything about Partners in Health? They look good on Charity Navigator. Quote: “Providing a preferential option for the poor in healthcare.” But then one wonders about these web sites that rate charity organizations….like I used to trust the groups that supposedly rated investments that have turned out to be total duds. Jeez! a little cynicism can be a dangerous thing. *g*

Thanks :)

Swim is up…

You think it’s bad here you should see the HP. Trolls are swarming like sharks but why not, the conservatives have an “action plan” and smell blood in the water.

What ? No more free paper!

and that business model has worked so well…..

1. Thanks Attaturk for writing like a grownup.

2. Thanks also for the funniest and truthiest line I’ve read in weeks:

“Of course, the sad thing is the GOP has become so right-wing that George W. Bush might as well be forced to show his birth-certificate.”

What is being naively perceived as a “relief effort” is, in reality, an instance of “disaster capitalism.” See: The Naomi Klein video at http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread535130/pg1 for more information.

Earlier examples of disaster capitalism include the Indonesian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. In both cases, natural disasters that drove people from their homes were exploited to seize the land in order to create investment opportunities for big money. Public property (such as the public schools in New Orleans and beachfront property in Indonesia) was appropriated to profit making corporations. It is a 21st century variant of the kill-the-Indians, steal-their-land policies that made America great.

When viewed through this lens, it makes sense that Haitians would barricade their neighborhoods with roadblocks made of corpses and that the U.S. Army would prevent a plane carrying a field hospital from landing at Port Au Prince.

Who could be better qualified to work these rapacious policies than Clinton and Bush, corporatist hacks with a wealth of experience in the practice of stealing from the poor to give to the rich.

When government’s actions seem to be irrational, it is because the real purpose is not understood. Generally, in all matters involving government, understanding arrives only after you “follow the money.”

That worked so well for them in the past that they abandoned it… I’ll probably pony up, though, depending on what they charge.

Cruise ship docks at private beach in Haiti for barbeque and water sports

Photo ops and taking credit are important to persons of their social class. The real work will be done by the ordinary people who have suffered the most under their policies.

Oh, I suppose we can play the “which one of these Presidents is not like the other ones” game. But these types of events are typical ex-President get togethers. Far better to keep the ex’s occupied because idle hands really do tend to do the devil’s work (Cheney as an example).

If Bush’s advocacy manages to pry loose a few spare coins for the Haitian’s from conservative coffers well… all the better.

Because of the magnitude of the tragedy, I’m refraining from focusing on Bush. I wish other would just blot the man out of their minds.

Obama has been hoist with his own petard. By refusing to immediately focus the REASON for this economic calamity as Republican caused and owned (a new kind of politics dontcha know) and that he would have to spend 4 years digging the U.S. out of the crater made by Republicans and conservatives, … Obama now has allowed himself to be tarred and feathered in the absence of some else to blame.

2009-2012 will be called the era of The Political Education of Barack Obama. Subtittle: Too Smart By Half.

“I don’t know if — what they’re talking about,”

I know that’s true.

Don’t be hatin’ on and underestimating my man BHO. Cat knows exactly what he’s doing. Surely you guys know that Clinton is almost like a son to 41 and is closer to 41 than Witless is, which torques him greatly to no end.

You just let my man work on this one and not overanalyze it too much. Enjoy the holiday.

My thoughts exactly.

Most of us at blogs like FDL know the political and historical background of Haiti and have some clue about what really went down there. The average US citizen, however, is clueless.

I have carped about BHO annointing the dreaded W for this task, but it’s no surprise. The sheeples will view it as natural, and W may pry a few sheckles from the greedy rich that they wouldn’t give otherwise to the dusky voodoo nation of Haiti. But where does the money go and for what purpose?

Some will get to the “people” for real aid, but much will go to other nefarious purposes, esp given that Haiti has more or less ceded a certain amount of control to the US, which is the thin edge of the wedge for sure.

I dunno: this is a good article with some salient points. I wig-wag over W being included. I see the point of the article, but my stomach says: no!

Seeing Chimpy’s smirk very briefly on the teevee last night spoke volumes. I wish that war criminal was being tried in the Hague, not free to be able to victimize the poor and downtrodden again. As the great Yogi Berra would have it: it’s deja vu all over again.

I remember acting like that — when I was in 7th grade. Yes, when faced with catastrophe — like when the kid I was babysitting split his chin open and had to get stitches — I laughed out of nervousness.

But I was 13 years old. I grew up. Bush will never grow up. He is literally retarded.

When can we expect Oh Bummah!

See, and at that point people stop listening to you.

Any 7-year-old can name-call like that.

You want to be treated like an adult? Knock off the childishness. Otherwise don’t be surprised when you get tuned out.

You neglect to consider the first of his words.

Security.

Today I read that the USA has so much military traffic for TROOPS on Haiti’s airstrip that supplies and teams of rescuers and such cant’ get IN to the country, thus stalling the relief effort.

Now, I know there’s been violence, as there always is in any major disaster.

But why are WE and not the UN providing security FIRST, and not aid first?

My guess? Someone’s making a fucking bundle on contractor fees, and our government is shelling it out to them as fast as it can be printed . . .

I wanna know WHO is providing US Security Services in Haiti . . . XE?