As we all know by now, a powerful earthquake struck Haiti yesterday completely destroying the capitol city of Port-au-Prince.
Already the poorest nation on the planet with virtually no government, building codes or infrastructure, it is now a pile of rubble and casualty estimates range from 50,000 dead to 500,000 dead. In truth, we will probably never know how many died.
Assistance from the United States started pouring in immediately!
The Coast Guard, Navy, Marines, Army, Air Force all have units on the way. There are aircraft carriers, amphibious units, C-130 cargo planes, hospital ships all headed for Haiti as quickly as they can get there.
A local group of physicians, Heart to Heart have people on the way with medical supplies.
The University of Miami sent a chartered plane full of students to perform triage and evacuate as many critical patients as they could.
The American Red Cross is already in place and providing aid.
Bill Clinton, who was appointed the U.N. Ambassador to Haiti has been very active coordinating the response.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates canceled trips to Australia for annual security talks so they can continue overseeing relief efforts following the earthquake in Haiti.
The World Bank and Ted Turner's United Nations Foundation have both pledged millions of dollars in grants to Haiti to help with the rescue, recovery and rebuilding efforts.
Social Media nerds like me, donating just $10.00 by sending a text message donated hundreds of thousands of dollars within hours.
Oh, and then there were these responses.
This is why the Conservatives aren't in charge any more and never will be again.
Because they are simple-minded idiots.
They believe in supernatural forces and ridiculous Communist conspiracies.
They are totally detached from rationality and reality.
In some clinical arenas, that would be defined as insanity requiring hospitalization.
But here, we just laugh it off as crazy politics and Opinion Journalism.
They are doing NOTHING to help.
How was O'Reilly off cue? What did he say that you didn't understand or was offended by? Pat & Rush over the top and gonzo stupidity most of the time.
ReplyDeleteOh!I misunderstood O'Reilly.
ReplyDeleteI could have sworn he said "One year from today New Orleans would still be just as bad."
And therein, perhaps, is the answer to Anon's query.
I'm just surprised XO still watches Limbaugh, OReilly and whoever that other guys is.
ReplyDeleteAnd never will be again? That's a big statement, dude. Even from you.
ReplyDeleteYes, organizing aid for Haiti seems to be going well for the administration. (And I hope for the sake of the Haitians that it's enough to actually make a dent in their situation, for sure!)
But please try to keep some perspective on O'Reilly, Limbaugh, and that dipshit Pat Robertson, if you can. They do not represent all conservatives...I'd venture a guess that they don't even represent the majority of us. They just happen to have big microphones, is all. They have followings, for sure. But it's times like these that help whittle the truly idiotic and blind ones from the ones that still might have a semblance of brain matter in their heads.
Your hate for all of us based on the mindless rantings of a select few is disappointing much of the time, is my point. I don't understand how you can follow a man who continually declares his desire for the country to come together and work towards a common goal, and still work so hard at the same time to drive a wedge between us all based on your disgruntledness with the previous administration. Isn't time to look forward and see that the two groups will ALWAYS exist? Or do you actually think that your vitriol-filled rants based on what a select few conservatives have to say will somehow convert everyone to think the same way you do? How does that put you on any different level from Robertson, Limbaugh, and O'Reilly, really?
Faith - One thing I think we can all agree on is that I'm mostly full of shit. I certainly don't expect anyone to change their minds about anything based on anything I write.
ReplyDeleteAs far as conservatives never being in power again, that is based on my read of where conservatives stand. Unless they fundamentally change their position on vvirtually everything, I think they are a relic of the past.
I mean, look at how they are reacting to the current events. They aren't looking forward at all! They are always looking backwards. They always want to go back. Back to Reagan, back to Bush, back to Eisenhower, back to Goldwater, back, back, back.
Back to a time when whites were a majority and there weren't so many immigrants around.
Back to a time when there were no social safety nets for anybody and it was every man for himself!
I think if they could take us back to a time when only white, male property owners could vote (which was the case when this country was founded) they would do that to.
The world has changed. It will never change back. Unless conservatives start looking forward and embrace the change, I think they are finished.
It's 2010, not 1950. Ozzie and Harriet are dead.
To be fair, I haven't been paying any attention to any reaction by any particular group of people when it comes to the earthquake stuff, except to listen to the reports from MSN and ABC.
ReplyDeleteUnless you mean everything that's going on, from the war, to the whole Gitmo thing, to the healthcare fiasco, to this curent catastrophe in Haiti...that'd make more sense, I think. Because you're right, in that there are a certain select few that are continuing to compare apples to oranges, and failing to actually offer any contructive ideas to reform things when it comes to some of the trouble our country is in these days.
But I think that's happening on both sides of the fence, really.
I'm not sure who you're refering to with the "they" that you talk about wanting to look backwards all the time. To the point where "they're" apparently still stuck in the '50s, even. But you know me...I'm much less of a big picture kinda gal when it comes to politics, as I am a "what does this decision mean to MY world" kinda gal. Maybe that makes it impossible for us to have any kind of interaction on these subjects, since I only hear about the O'Reilly, Robertson, Limbaugh crap in passing from blogs, and really pay no attention to it otherwise because it says nothing constructive to me and my beliefs. I dunno.
I just wish you'd stop lumping all conservatives into some batch of retarded people stew that you have going in your consciousness when it comes to politics. We just have different goals, is all. There are liberal idiots out there, too, I'm sure! I just am different from you in the fact that I'm not interested in paying any attention to them, or searching them out to rail and rattle about them to whoever might be willing to listen.
Some might call me apathetic. I just like to think that maintaining a decent level of blood pressure and not getting a headache from trying to make sense of the nonsensical is a worthy goal to have, personally. :)
Faith - You know I got nuthin' but luv for ya and I certainly don't lump you, or Jools, or emawkc or any of my other readers into the "retarded people stew".
ReplyDeleteYou have a different point of view and maybe some different values than I do and I'm cool with that. It's a big ol' diverse world we live in.
The "They" I am referring too are the ones that either are or aspire to be in leadership positions or punditry of the conservative thinkers, the religious right wing, and the Republican Party (yes I recognize these as 3 distinct groups who have areas where they overlap).
"They" are the ones who want to "take back my country". Really? Take it back from who? The American citizens who voted to take our country in a different direction than we had been going? Pretty sure that's how things work in a democratic republic.
"They" are the ones who think that if the administration actually takes the time to gather facts, do some analysis and reach a thoughtful conclusion before speaking out about something that they are "showing weakness".
"They" are the ones who are suspicious and disdainful of anything that reeks of intellect, reason, compassion, logic or actual facts.
"They" are the ones who always want a simple solution to complex problems.
"They" are the ones who who always express a wistful desire to return to a simpler time (which never actually existed), before all of these pesky societal changes of the last 60 years.
"They" are the ones I am talking about.
"This is why the Conservatives aren't in charge any more and never will be again."
ReplyDeleteFrom your lips (er keyboard) to God's ears. And by God I mean God, not whoever that crazy bastard Robertson apparently prays to.
XO, I hope your right about the conservatives never coming back but I doubt it. I'm new to your site so I don't know if your a mid-west guy or not. I am, and I can tell you that Rush Limbaugh like-minded people are still all over the place. All of my friends and co-workers are educated people and you wouldn't believe how many of them think exactly like these jackasses do.
ReplyDelete