Newsweek "Why Haiti Matters" By Barack Obama - Nice Response To RW Critics of Aid to Haiti

[TomCADem]

On the right, Rush Limbaugh and the National Review have argued that aiding Haiti won't help with Limbaugh saying that he already contributed to Haiti by paying his income taxes. On the far left, you have Hugo Chavez descrying U.S. aid efforts as an occupation of a sovereign country. Somewhere in the middle are most people who are saddened by the traversty, and wish to help. President Obama addresses them directly in this newsweek article:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/231131

In the last week, we have been deeply moved by the heartbreaking images of the devastation in Haiti: parents searching through rubble for sons and daughters; children, frightened and alone, looking for their mothers and fathers. At this moment, entire parts of Port-au-Prince are in ruins, as families seek shelter in makeshift camps. It is a horrific scene of shattered lives in a poor nation that has already suffered so much.

In response, I have ordered a swift, coordinated, and aggressive effort to save lives in Haiti. We have launched one of the largest relief efforts in recent history. I have instructed the leaders of all agencies to make our response a top priority across the federal government. We are mobilizing every element of our national capacity: the resources of development agencies, the strength of our armed forces, and most important, the compassion of the American people. And we are working closely with the Haitian government, the United Nations, and the many international partners who are also aiding in this extraordinary effort.

We act for the sake of the thousands of American citizens who are in Haiti, and for their families back home; for the sake of the Haitian people who have been stricken with a tragic history, even as they have shown great resilience; and we act because of the close ties that we have with a neighbor that is only a few hundred miles to the south.

But above all, we act for a very simple reason: in times of tragedy, the United States of America steps forward and helps. That is who we are. That is what we do. For decades, America's leadership has been founded in part on the fact that we do not use our power to subjugate others, we use it to lift them up—whether it was rebuilding our former adversaries after World War II, dropping food and water to the people of Berlin, or helping the people of Bosnia and Kosovo rebuild their lives and their nations.

[katandmoon]

1. Words, words, words, I'm so SICK of words

[TomCADem]

2. Odd Thing To Say On DU...This Is A Message Board...Um...Its All Words...

Except for a few pictures and political videos. However, if you are sick of words, you really are in the wrong place.

[katandmoon]

10. I'm sick of OBAMA's words. That's all he does. WORDS.

[Pirate Smile]

12. What bullshit. The troops and aid sent to Haiti was from Obama's orders - yeah, more words he said

which caused action on the ground.

[TomCADem]

13. Really? Then Please Give Hugo Chavez A Clue...

You say that President Obama is just saying words, thus implying there is no action to back the words up. Yet, here is Hugo Chavez criticizing the scale and extent of U.S. aid, and arguing that such aid constitutes a de facto occupation. Perhaps you can shoot Hugo a tweet and assure that President Obama is just using "words," thus Hugo needs to chill out.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/01/18/2010-01-18_hugo_chavez.html

Hugo Chavez says U.S. is using earthquake as pretext for occupying Haiti

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez has joined the likes of televangelist Pat Robertson and radio host Rush Limbaugh by making an outlandish statement about Haiti in the wake of last week’s devastating earthquake.

Speaking on his weekly television show, Chavez opined 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 were going to war,” Chavez said. “They are occupying Haiti undercover.”

President Obama signed an executive order to send 7,000 U.S. troops to the ravaged country as aid organizations attempt to distribute food and water to the survivors.

[Cha]

16. Thanks Tom for getting the facts out there

to the gratuitous whiners.

[Cha]

15. That's what narrow little minds spit out..

they're not capable of basic cognitive thought.

[blue neen]

3. ?

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[FrenchieCat]

9. Your ass ain't offering shit.

And it ain't just words being offered.
You don't even make sense anymore. :shrug:

[butterfly77]

14. Well shut the hell up then..

[blue neen]

4. Happy to give this the fifth rec!

I'm quite impressed with his words.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

5. At least Obama is sincere unlike some

[TexasObserver]

6. Recommend

[Skittles]

8. disgusting that he has to explain

"that is what we do" - yes, it is, and it's nice to once again have a president who apreciates that

[alsame]

11. There he goes again with that 'empathy' thing that the right hates so much. nt