Bush stands with Obama on Haiti
When a devastating earthquake struck the small island country of Haiti on Jan. 12, the whole world was quick to respond with much-needed assistance.
The United States, under the leadership of President Obama, led the way by sending in a military ground assessment team, aircraft for aerial reconnaissance, U.S. Navy ships, as well as aircraft to fly in supplies, along with financial assistance and military troops.
The United Nations as well released $10 million from its central emergency response fund. It also sent in an emergency response team to help coordinate aid efforts. The U.N. World Food Program would provide an additional 500,000 emergency meals. The children’s agency UNICEF dispatched two planes and a ship containing tents, as well as food and supplies intended for children and women, Reuters reported.
Not only did the United States and the United Nations jump into action quickly, but so did the European Union and other individual countries, as well as aid agencies like Doctors without Borders, the American Red Cross, and many others.
And as the extent of the devastation became clearer, American citizens began to respond by donating money to the effort. Individual celebrities donated millions, while others pledged to help raise millions more through charity concerts and other events.
America and its people always respond to crises in the most positive way, no matter where in the world tragedy strikes. We as a people have never been suspicious of the motives of our government when it comes to the humanitarian spirit that our country has always been lauded for.
I must admit that as an American citizen, I wasn’t that surprised when Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, speaking on his weekly television show last week, complained that, “The U.S. mission in Haiti was a ruse to initiate military occupation. I read that 3,000 soldiers are arriving, Marines armed as if they are going to war.” They are occupying Haiti undercover,” the New York Daily News reported.
Chavez is a constant critic of the United States, so his remarks were expected. What was for many so unexpected was the criticism from the leadership on the right via the radio spokesmen for the conservative point of view. Both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck were quick to attack our country’s concerted effort to help the Haitian people following the devastating earthquake.
The Examiner reported that Limbaugh, the unofficial spokesman for the GOP, was quick to score political points off human tragedy by saying that “The earthquake has played into Obama’s hands, allowing the president to look compassionate and humanitarian while at the same time bolstering his standing in both the light-skinned and dark-skinned community in this country. We’ve already donated to Haiti. It’s called the U.S. income tax.” He urged his listeners not to donate to the American Red Cross.
For once Limbaugh got some conservative criticism on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, where Republican commentator Pat Buchanan and former Republican congressman and host Joe Scarborough took their shots. Buchanan called Limbaugh’s comments “deeply insensitive.” “The president speaks for the country when he says we’re going to go in there. You want your whole nation, and it’s very positive. And I think Rush’s comments were cynical.” Scarborough chimed in by calling Limbaugh’s comments “deplorable.” “The insensitivity is stunning.”
It wasn’t too long before Limbaugh’s protégée of the airwaves, Glenn Beck, jumped on the right-wing bandwagon by accusing the president of dividing the country, because he reacted too quickly to the emergency in Haiti, while Obama’s reaction to Afghanistan and other incidents wasn’t quick enough in the mind of Beck.
It must be that these two conservative leaders have a much different moral compass than average American citizens do. In a CBS News poll taken after the earthquake in Haiti, which asked whether or not the U.S. has a responsibility to help the Haitians, 84 percent of all respondents said yes. Of those identifying themselves as liberals 88 percent said yes, and 88 percent of moderates and 78 percent of conservatives all agreed on America’s responsibility to help that devastated country.
And last week on NBC’s Meet the Press, former President George W. Bush responded to Limbaugh’s and others criticism that President Obama was politicizing the Haitian tragedy. “I don’t know if — what they’re talking about. I’ve been briefed by the president about the response. And as I said in my opening comment, I appreciate the president’s quick response to the disaster.”
I can’t believe that I am saying this, but maybe the former president would be a better spokesman for his party than those out there today, trying to fill that void. He certainly makes a lot more sense than they do.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Carol Jensen is a long-time Barstow resident, graduating from Kennedy High School and Barstow College, where she was an English instructor for many years. Much of her time now is spent writing political and social commentary. She may be contacted at cajensen49@msn.com.
