From American Corespondent Gibbs Burke…

As we mark the anniversary of the magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti, I can’t help but wonder why it seems that no progress has been made. Then I think back to where my thoughts were a year ago and realize that I predicted it then, what everyone is saying now.

We as a nation seem to have the simple notion that if we just throw money at the problem it will simply go away. This simple thought process needs to be exterminated. Haiti a catastrophe waiting to happen, cannot simply rise from the depths of such a horrible event merely by taking money for the one reason that I said over a year ago, “Infrastructure”.

Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Region in 2005 and although contributed no where near the amount of deaths, it caused approximately 9 times more damage then the Haiti disaster. But yet somehow the ability to bounce back from this disaster was far quicker.

Now I am not an economist, but I can tell you one thing; that the infrastructure of any given community is the backbone that allows that town, city, or country to live and prosper. Instead of throwing money to slightly raise the comfort of the people affected by this disaster. We should instead be pumping money into building the country up.

I work in construction, and I can tell you the drastic relation between construction jobs, unemployment, and the economy. When the economy is down construction jobs are down, and therefore unemployment is up. If we use that money to build up the infrastructure, such as, power, waste water, water filtrations, housing, and roadways. We would be pumping money into Haiti in a way that would not just benefit them, but allow them to sustain a way of life and growth. Using local workers and building infrastructure projects, would pump money into Haiti in a way that would benefit the country and not just the people.

By way of background, the nation of Haiti experienced a 7.0 earthquake last week that resulted in massive devastation and death on an order that is not only incomprehensible, but improbable, from within the Western World, most especially America.  As could have been easily predicted, the United States federal government, along with a large number of rich corporations, ran to the aid of the collapsed country within mere hours of the onset of the disaster, while millions of individuals from within the country donated a substantial sum when considered in total – all in the midst of the Great Recession.  There is, however, a major problem with this situation:  the federal government seems entirely willing to move millions of dollars in aid and resources at a moment’s notice to a foreign country with virtually no prior ties, but will not, or cannot, solve domestic problems a noticeable degree of magnitude smaller.

Haiti was a nation that did not particularly like the Western World, and contained millions of citizens that reached far beyond the upper limits of the poverty line.  Entire cities were only slightly better than shantytowns, there were only the most limited of public services, and extreme corruption existed within almost all levels of its government.  This was a country that existed on a major tectonic fault line, but ignored the danger implicit in such a position – as a result, the government has both physically and metaphorically collapsed, hundreds of thousands of people within its borders are now dead or injured, and anarchy is beginning to rise out of the ashes.  As sad as the situation may be, this is not a natural disaster – it is a crime of supreme and willful negligence that substantially exacerbated a foreseeable situation.

If Haiti had prepared, in any fashion, for an earthquake, the situation would not be so dire – even if the only preparation was to sequester food and water for emergencies, or to have a contingency plan in place for such an occasion.  This, quite obviously, did not happen and has brought the country and its people to the ruinous point at which they currently stand.  The fact that the United States came running so quickly to its aid is questionable at best, despicable at worst:  for the last few decades, the federal government has operated on the policy that any and all disasters could, and should, be solved by intervention.  The majority of Africa, a portion of the Middle East, parts of Asia, countless South American countries, and now Haiti can all lay claim to “big brother America” riding in on a white horse to save the day with money, food, water, and manpower, but New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina cannot.

What is wrong with this picture?  The answer should be immediately obvious to any and all observers of the ongoing situation, no matter how impassioned or emotional they may be.  When somewhere close to half of the world does not want the assistance, or even presence, of America during the course of normal operations, why, then, should they be aided in times of distress?  There are no ethical qualms about aiding allies when necessary, and if England were to be attacked by a fast-moving and unnoticed glacier from farther north, there should be no doubt that the United States would rightly rally to assist.  However, the government has no business spending the nation’s money on foreign affairs that do not effect its people’s future in any fashion, as a poor nation with no interest in its benefactors does not advance the cause of anyone but those who receive said aid.

America is in the midst of several crises, none of which have been solved or even adequately addressed:  the Great Recession still continues, no matter what Ben Bernanke wishes to claim; the institutions that were largely behind the collapse, and subsequent job losses, still run free and rampant; healthcare reform remains unimplemented, with its best hope being a questionable reform status; the military engagement in Afghanistan continues, along with the cleanup of Iraq; the nation’s infrastructure is crumbling around the feet of its people; the number of unemployed, impoverished, underfed, underprivileged, and uneducated continues to rise beyond tolerable limits; secularist society appears threatened by a resurgence of religious dependence; highly polarized and vitriolic politics continue to rend the nation into distinct factions and pieces – the list continues at great length.  With all of these issues unsolved, why should money that is, in tandem, both funded by taxes and deficit spending be expended to solve someone else’s problems that have nothing to do with the country, not even tangentially?

Suggesting to ignore the plight of those around the world is not a popular position to take, especially in the midst of an ongoing disaster, but it is an important one to be taken, so long as there are valid reasons.  The United States has a famously short-term and selective memory, where Haiti has become all-important, while so many other crises exist, and have for years, around the world – this is merely the latest headline-grabbing tearjearker to grab the nation’s wallets.  It is important to note that criticizing America’s aid to Haiti is not political:  President Obama is not acting out of self-serving reasons, there is no great conspiracy, and God/Allah/Shiva had nothing to do with the earthquake.  This is simply the understandably reasonable plea for the allocation of funds, effort, political will, and, most of all, attention to issues at home before issues abroad.

The United States will not be able to prop up nations or people, when such disasters occur in the future, if it does not continue to exist as it has over the last century.  Comparative prosperity notwithstanding, America is a nation in significant trouble that can simply not afford to invest resources, of any kind, in arenas that will never reciprocate or even result in mutually beneficial arrangements.  Had the last two decades proceeded differently – with respect to deregulation, federal spending, and generally addressing domestic issues -  such assistance would not be so crucial an issue.

History, however, is as it is, and America is not the world’s savior – it’s time to spread the message.

From Kyle Brady…..

Kyle can be found on his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

America is currently passing through a Renaissance of sorts. As is usually the case, those in politics and the media represent the growing trends of the day.  The current champions of  the newly forming American Renaissance are figures like Rush Limbaugh. The words and thoughts he is throwing around as of late are that of a bygone era being reborn. He was recently touted as second to only former presidential candidate John McCain in terms of Republican Party leadership ability and has even been touted as a possible candidate for 2012 himself. His recent thoughts on Haiti and President Obama reveal what a frightening prospect this is and how America as country is socially digressing, the fabric of its triumphant evolution into a world leader disintegrating before our very eyes.

Before even mentioning his latest barrage of hatred, no one should be surprised that this man is capable of outright racism. This is a man who has referred to the President of the United States as a halfrican, an affirmative action candidate, and even Barack the Magic Negro. He has also called Obama more African than American, more Arab than African, and has claimed that Obama’s Presidency is all about making reparations for the suffering of Black people in the United States. This is man who said “They’re only 12% of the population. Who the hell cares?” when refering to the numbers of African Americans living in the United States and “take that bone out of your nose and call me back” to a black woman on his radio show.

All this is why no one should be surprised at what he said following the horrors unfolding  in Haiti. His words are below:

“In the Haiti earthquake, ladies and gentlemen, in the words of Rahm Emanuel, we have another crisis simply too good to waste. This’ll play right into Obama’s hands — humanitarian, compassionate. They’ll use this to burnish their, shall we say, credibility with the black community — both light-skinned and dark-skinned.”

Limbaugh also seemed to suggest that Americans had no need to donate to relief efforts:

“We’ve already donated to Haiti. It’s called the U.S. income tax.”

There is much that is right with America. Thousands of troops on the ground in Haiti to help with recovery efforts and 100 million dollars came almost instantly is a prime example. What’s wrong with the United States of America is that a man like Rush Limbaugh can say all that you see above without consequence and worse still, be seen by others to be worthy of leading. Stop letting this man embarrass you America. Do something about, before it’s too late.

From David Anthony Hohol…

The now  infamous rant about the White House and its handling of Haiti from Rush Limbaugh is perhaps the most vicious and dark form of partisanship of its kind, as is Pat Robertson’s vile and digusting use of religion to explain the Haitian earthquake.  Estimates of over 100,00 dead and 300,00 homeless in the tiny island nation, and Limbaugh chooses to attack Obama for how he is helping  them, even accusing him of doing so to benefit himself. American people as a whole are fuming over Limbaugh’s hate-filled words. Unbelievably, sponsors still stand behind his show and they’re are still a few members of the American in congress who sympathize with his cause. Pat Robertson show rolls on as well.  MSNBC anchor Keith Olberman, however, speaks the truth.  Here he calls Limbaughand Pat Robertson for what they are, pulling no punches in the process. RELATIVITY OnLine gives two big thumbs up and calls on more people to do the same.

The world is filled with religious nut-jobs. This is not a criticism of religion itself, but an observation of those who pervert and hi-jack religion to explain away their equally perverse thoughts and actions. As you read these words, thousands upon thousands of Haitians are dead;  hundreds of thousands more and suffering the wrath of a mammoth earthquake that took place on Tuesday. The entire impoverished country is in ruins. American Christian Leader Pat Robertson, the popular Evangelical Radio and TV personality, has claimed that the recent Earthquake in Haiti was to Haiti’s “pact with the devil.”  Below are his own words:

“Something happened a long time ago in Haiti and people might not want to talk about. They were under the heel of the French, you know Napoleon the third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said ‘We will serve you if you will get us free from the prince.’ True story. And so the devil said, ‘Ok it’s a deal.’ And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got something themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another.”

The United States of America is home to some of the world’s most fundamentalist Christians, radicals if you will. The scary part is that in a country of 300 million people, there are numbers in excess of a million (and perhaps much more) that would fully agree with Robertson on this and all that he has said in the past. In our ever shrinking Global Village, these words are then sent around the planet in an instant and people in  Central an South America, the Middle East, Africa and beyond see them as representing America. This is what makes people like Robertson or even Glenn Beck so very dangerous. They breed hate and misunderstanding.

The Muslim world deals with this all the time. With 1.3 billion Muslims in the world over, even if only 3% are radical fundamentalists, their numbers are in the millions and they have come to represent the other 97%.

What makes Robertson’s words so disgusting is they don’t come after a terrorist attack or a violent protest of some sort, they come on the heels of the complete devastation of an already horribly impoverished people, their dead stacked ten of thousands high all around them. His words are so bitterly cold and cruel, that it’s hard to comprehend a human being able to say them; even more so at such a horrible time for the Haitian people.  He should be ashamed of himself and America should be ashamed of him. And the next time people throw the word fundamentalist around, don’t forget to look over at toxic pool of the American Evangelical Christian Right. Radicals don’t only live in the Middle East. Sometimes they’re right next door.

From David Anthony Hohol…