Friday, Jan. 15, 2010

Americans are pouring their support and prayers into the nation of Haiti and disaster relief organizations in the wake of a devastating earthquake that shook the nation Tuesday.

The airport in Port-au-Prince has been constantly busy with airplanes bringing in supplies, which slowly have been making their way to the people. Poor infrastructure and a closed shipping port have reduced relief to a trickle.

Starvation and dehydration is taking its toll. Seven thousand people have been buried in a mass grave. People are building roadblocks with corpses to protest the lack of emergency aid. Violence is mounting as people are becoming desperate.

The vast majority of Americans are expressing their sympathy to the families of the estimated 45,000 to 50,000 people who have lost their lives thus far.

As of last night, $6 million was raised via text messaging alone for the American Red Cross’ relief efforts.

Then you have the other people – thankfully, these people are small in number. Unfortunately, they have a huge following.

Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh said Wednesday that President Obama and his administration will use the Haiti disaster “to burnish their, shall we say, credibility with the black community, in the … the both light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country. It’s made to order for them.”

Limbaugh also discouraged people from giving to Haiti relief efforts, saying the United States “already donated to Haiti. It’s called the U.S. income tax.

“There are people that do charitable work everyday in Haiti,” Limbaugh said. “You just can’t keep throwing money at it because the dictatorships are taking it all.”

It gets worse. Conservative televangelist Pat Robertson opened his mouth, and as he does with most natural disasters, blamed it on the people.

“They were under the heel of the French (in the 18th century),” he said of the Haitian people. “They got together and swore a pact with the devil … and the devil said, ‘OK, it’s a deal.'”

He compared Haiti to its neighbor, the Dominican Republic.

“Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc.,” Robertson said. “Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island. They need to have and we need to pray for them a great turning to God and out of this tragedy.”

This is coming from the same man who has said, “Just like what Nazi Germany did the Jews, so liberal America is not doing to the evangelical Christians. It’s no different.”
And, “(T)he feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It’s about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.”

And, “I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that’s the way it is, period.”

Political commentator Keith Olbermann raked Robertson and Limbaugh over the coals in the “Comment” segment of his news show “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” on MSNBC.

“You serve no good. You serve no God. You inspire only stupidity and hatred,” Olbermann said.

Most people do not side with Limbaugh and Robertson on these statements. Since the comments were made, the public has been lambasting the two for their nut job rhetoric.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday: “It never ceases to amaze me that in times of amazing human suffering, somebody says something that could be so utterly stupid.”

We hope that the American people can look past these thoughtless statements and focus on the big picture: helping the Haitian people.