In going from channel to channel to continue to track events in Haiti, one station is missing in action: FOX. While CNN, MSNBC continue to do yeoman work in bringing the unfolding horrors to light for average Americans - FOX is noteworthy by its absence. Well, let me correct that, I did see the odd Geraldo (mainly on weekend nights) highlights, and one passing segment in O'Reilly where Dr. M. De Launay was being interviewed on the Haiti situation - but the thrust of questions was more along the lines of the extent to which she and here co-workers were being robbed by "gangs". Repeatedly Ms. De Launay responded in the negative, even to questions of whether these gangs might not be stealing medical apparatus, or drugs. Thus, the emphasis wasn't on the horrors of the Haitian people but on the minority of n'er do wells.
But we've seen this act before, in the aftermath of Katrina and the levees breaking -with the flooding of New Orleans in 2005. While heaps of devastation was around in abundance - especially of abandoned people near the Superdome waiting for assistance, 90% of FOX's attention was on the looters, though they comprised not even a 1% minority.
The one standout I beheld - and the only one to convey any ounce of creds to this station, was Shep Shepherd, who went to where the worst scenes of flooding and hopelessness abided - and honestly reported. Hell, Shep even got into a heated argument with one of the brainless wonders - Brit Hume I believe - in the anchor room over what was really going on. Shepherd emphasized the looting was being done by only relatively small bands and should not define, or be the iconic New Orleans' images. Good for Shep! I actually found his reporting as good or better than Anderson Cooper's from CNN.
Now, however, not even Shep is visible. No one from FOX can be seen at the scene. Tuning to Hannity the other night, while ABC, MSNBC and CNN were all focused on the problems of getting medical aid to the suffering, Sean Hannity was bloviating with new Fox anchor Sarah Palin- concerning totally forgettable issues that attempted to portray Obama in a bad light.
Any heart beat there, fellas? Any scintilla of humanity - to show what a natural catastrophe has wrought to the poorest nation in the hemisphere? Attention which would evoke compassion, and yet more reponse to help the Haitians? Unlike that revolting porker Lush Rimbaugh, who contended Obama had reduced the military to "meals on wheels" and attempting to cajole listeners into not giving a red cent - because the Haitians were already taken care of using our tax dollars.
A TOTAL lie! But what else would you expect when these same, usual suspects and liars were the ones that fed the earlier idiocy to their robot-zombie listeners: that "Saddam was responsible for 9/11". Thereby producing the motivating factor for an illegal invasion (under Article VI of the UN Charter) and occupation of a sovereign state. To the cost of well over $1.4 trillion - which could have funded a workable single payer health care system.
These yammering nabobs of negativity, who ignore the plight of Haiti for political gain, or who outright rail against assisting their poor (like Limbaugh) might wish to consult the Bible which they are allegedly big on, being part of the Extreme Right.
Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch, main property owners at FOX, are you listening?
The Old Testament prophet Micah himself (Micah: 5:11-12) condemned the rich and property owners of his day with these searing words:
"You trample the poor and force them to give you grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted vineyards, you will not drink their wine. For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins".
Jesu, of course, was even more blunt and direct (Matthew 25: 41- 43):
"Depart from me, you who are accursed into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in..."
The last sentence may be espcially applicable to the Republican congressman from Iowa who demanded all illegal Haitans be rounded up and dispatched back to Haiti for rescue operations- to dig bodies from the ruins and bury them. This despite the fact that Obama has allowed all such Haitians to remain at least another 18 months so their ravaged nation can be put back on its feet.
But this is the type of rank insanity we have come to expect from the Republicans and their lackeys, hacks and media purveyors.
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