Obama's Haiti: The War On Reason

Passionate Presidents and Careless Choices

By: Bethany Turner | Senior Editor

Haiti: To aid or not to aid, that is the question. I have witnessed several conflicts between my colleagues and fellow UNC Wilmington students, those who may be referred to as “the opposition.” The, shall we say, traditional conservative view is that Haiti’s government is an irresponsible one that may not deserve all of the monetary aid it is receiving from the Obama administration. “We’ve already donated to Haiti. It’s called the U.S. income tax,” responded Rush Limbaugh to a caller from Raleigh, NC on his January 13, 2010 episode of “The Rush Limbaugh Show.”

Further in the transcript, which can be read on Limbaugh’s Website, the caller told Limbaugh that his mother was supposed to be leaving that morning on a missionary trip with her church. Her plane would have left at 4:30 a.m. for Haiti. This trip, I’m assuming, had been planned long before the earthquake struck. And Limbaugh’s point made after hearing this is a valid one: “Look, there are people that do charitable work every day in Haiti…There are people that have been trying to save Haiti just as we’re trying to save Africa. You just can’t keep throwing money at it because the dictatorships there just take it all. They don’t spread it around, and even if they did, they’re not creating a permanent system where people can provide for themselves. It’s a simple matter of self-reliance. Nobody takes that approach down there because this has always been a country run by dictators - and incompetent ones at that.”

Democrat Ed Schultz, of “The Ed Show” on MSNBC, featured Limbaugh on his January 15 show, in the “Psycho Talk” portion. “And in ‘Psycho Talk’ tonight, well, the drugster is still exploiting the tragedy in Haiti to further his hateful political agenda,” Schultz began. “Today, he went after President Obama again for not talking about the cost of sending U.S. troops to Haiti, and he topped it off with a swipe at the military.”

A clip of Limbaugh from the conservative show then ran, depicting the republican furthering “his hateful political agenda.” “President Obama was quick to claim that it cost U.S. taxpayers a billion dollars for every thousand soldiers sent to Afghanistan – remember this? And he has yet to mention how much it costs to send a soldier to Haiti,” said Limbaugh. “Why is there no concern about the cost from the White House, when there was so much concern about Afghanistan? After all, isn’t the job of the U.S. Military, first and foremost, to protect the national security and interest of the United States? No, it’s not. The U.S. Military is now Meals-on-Wheels.”

This, my friends, is an example of the age-old battle between reason and passion. Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy is a 400-year-old instance of the conflict1. If one feels strongly about an issue, as Obama does about Haiti, it is probable that one may not be able to think rationally about it. Our president addressed the country very quickly after the news of the earthquake shook our borders. “My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by this earthquake. We are closely monitoring the situation and we stand ready to assist the people of Haiti,” Obama said shortly after 6:00 p.m., January 12. He was notified of the earthquake at 5:52 p.m., according to Fox News.

On the other end of the spectrum, Obama has received tons of criticism for taking three entire days to respond to the attempted bombing of Detroit-bound (that’s our own soil, people) Northwest Flight 253. Granted, it was Christmas Day. Our president was probably enjoying R. Seth Liston’s favorite, “A Christmas Story,” with his family. Whatever he was doing, Northwest employees and terrorists alike did not have the day off. Even I was busy catering to the obnoxious movie-goers and binge-drinkers at Fox and Hound. Yes, on Christmas. So, no – President Obama most certainly does not get holidays off.

Therefore, if Obama takes three days to respond to an issue of homeland security, but at the very least, eight minutes to make a statement about a crisis overseas, reasoning tells me that he must be more passionate about Haiti than America. Now, I’m not going to be one of those people who claim that Obama will use Haiti as a way to gain black voters. I think that’s an ignorant statement, and I think that Haiti does deserve aid, and quickly.

However, I believe it is necessary for Obama to evaluate his presidential situation. Does Haiti, which is a country that has made it quite clear it cannot utilize funds in a manner that benefits its citizens, deserve monetary aid from our country (which, dare I say, is also one that cannot utilize funds in a manner that benefits its citizens, regardless of which party is in power)? Our government has already eliminated $1.2 billion in debt for Haiti, not to mention the $100 million it is sending the ravaged country, but aren’t we in debt to China? Last time I checked, that’s called “Obama’s mouth writing a check that America’s ass can’t cash.” (Excuse my American).

And does the president of the United States of America need to respond in a timelier manner to matters that primarily concern other countries than he does to the country in which he was elected to govern?

Reasoning tells me, “No,” to both questions. But passion tells me that Haiti does deserve aid. Monetary, perhaps not (if the people of America want to donate, that is a completely different story, and that we will call charity rather than handouts). Man-power, supplies, medicine, food and water are all things that our country should be donating to Haiti. Their people are suffering a monstrosity that our citizens can only begin to understand by comparing it to Hurricane Katrina. They need our help.

Still, do they need our tax dollars? I’d say not. So, President Obama, this is a plea. I am begging you, sir, to consider where your heart lies, and if your passions can be controlled by reason. Do you care for our country as much as the president should? And do you really want to do for our people the best that you can provide? If not, I beg you to find a way to change all that. Otherwise, this is going to be a long couple of years.