Glen Beck, conservative icon beckons America to God: Who would quarell with that?
Sunday, August 29, 2010 1:06 PM
This is just nonsensical. Who said that America had moved away from God? The nation has always kept its adherence to religious values, while attempting to stay within the necessary constitutional strictures, which among other things, make it possible for African-Americans to be recognized as citizens with full rights.
This rhetoric about God, American public life, and politics (often implied) has been a long-running devise by which conservatives have sought to do god's work in politics, by condemning liberal thought as either ungodly or a sure ticket to hell. That is how the Christian Right has been able to convince a lot of people that supporting conservative politicians and most recently, President Bush, for instance is a Christian duty. In that regard, they violate the important instruction from Jesus Christ to give unto Caesar Caesar's and unto God, God's.
For a long time, the war was against the poorest of the poor: mothers on welfare, who were portrayed as the evil genius behind much of what was wrong with traditional values. President Clinton, for instance, who was a smart politician, did not buy into the narrative, but pushed for radical welfare reform, in order to take the issue away from the Religious Right.
Now, people like Glen Beck are blowing the horn again, partially to whip up the emotions of the rabble against President Obama, an African-American trailblazer, whom many in the ultra-conservative wing, continue to see as an impostor: an African, who should not qualify for the presidency, or a godless socialist, who should be ostracized in the tradition of the Red Scare.
The God these people march for is the jealous and militant God of the Old Testament, who would destroy the enemies of the Israelites, just to make a point, even though the same God supposedly created all of humanity and the natural world; a God who would fight their political battles, while condemning their opponents to eternal hell.
In that sense, these people are truly the Christian Taliban. Without the larger cultural context within which they operate: a context that could juxtapose the noble vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and those of the Christian Taliban, and ask free peoples to draw contrasts and comparisons, these folks will feel very comfortable in the caves of Afghanistan, and in the Madrasas of Pakistan.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Beck and Palin: A people get the kind of leaders they deserve
Beck and Palin: A People Get the Kind of leaders they Deserve
Friday, August 27, 2010 3:55 PM
From:
"Fubara David-West"Add sender to Contacts
What can you say about the state of Conservative politics in the USA, when an air-head like Glenn Beck and the attractive, but clueless Sarah Palin, could attract so many followers? I think that it is illustrative of the wretchedness of the Conservative program today, which bets heavily on the possibility that the American people have very short memories, and are easily swayed by rabid jingoism, racism disguised as genuine political opposition, abject folly, with a confetti of disjointed thought, promoted as ultimate political wisdom.
The uplifting thing for all Americans, must be that the founding principles, and documents of the country anticipated moments such as this, when the hoi polloi might be swayed by loud zealots posing as patriots. That is why all of the checks and balances in constitutional and political practice, built into the system, continue to ensure that the United States does not settle for the foolish rabble-rouser for very long periods of time.
However, a people will get the kinds of political leaders and politics they deserve, at any point in their history. Imagine what might have happened, if Americans, two years ago, settled for a set of leaders, who convinced themselves that because government spending would be unpopular, the entire economy should be allowed to crumble in a depression.
By making a different choice, the people deserved the leaders they had, who were willing to make unpopular decisions to avoid the abyss. However, democratic politics has its flimsy moments. Thus, those who now think that two years removed from the economic meltdown, everything should be back to normal, can have their political moment.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West.
The Racial Politics of Glenn Beck's March on Washington
(Page 1 of 2)
Chris Keane / Reuters-Landov
Fox News host Glenn Beck speaks to the National Rifle Association.
By now the political cycle of racial accusation and counter-accusation has become so predictable you could set your watch to it:
Stage 1: A Republican politician, conservative leader or talking head makes an offensive remark. See: Trent Lott, Mark Williams, Rush Limbaugh (repeatedly), Dr. Laura Schlessinger.
Stage 2: African-Americans and liberals highlight the remarks and explain why they are offensive.
Stage 3: The politician or talking head apologizes and/or defends himself or herself. Sometimes he or she goes on to resign.
Stage 4: Conservatives are outraged that the humorless PC police have taken down one of their leaders over something as insignificant as praising segregation or using a racial epithet. They fulminate, claiming that civil-rights groups such as the NAACP and the media are more credulous about accusations of racism toward conservatives than liberals.
As the recent episode with black USDA official Shirley Sherrod being railroaded by the NAACP and the media after a misleadingly edited video of her remarks was posted by conservative provocateur Andrew Breitbart demonstrates, African-American political figures are under just as intense a microscope when it comes to potentially offensive remarks. But it does seem that conservatives are constantly being accused of racial insensitivity and the tiresome cycle begins anew. Why is that?
Perhaps it has something to do with so many conservatives frequently behaving insensitively. Consider Glenn Beck's so-called Restoring Honor Rally, for which he just so happens to have booked the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for Saturday, the 47th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Civil-rights organizations typically commemorate the massive civil- rights demonstration and Martin Luther King Jr.'s iconic "I Have a Dream" speech there on that date.
Beck says the event will "reclaim the civil-rights movement," from progressives who have hijacked it for their redistributive agenda. The original March on Washington, like the civil-rights movement more generally, saw economic justice (hence "jobs") as inextricable from legal equality. It was an inherently liberal cause. Beck can disagree, and say that the two goals are separable, as indeed he does.
But to claim, as he recently has, that economic justice was not a concern of the civil-rights movement, and that liberal political leaders who are popular among African-Americans are "perverting" the cause, is both demonstrably false and deeply disrespectful to the African-American community. Beck says he and his overwhelmingly white followers "are the inheritors and protectors of the civil- rights movement." This is as direct a provocation to civil-rights activists as it would be to conservatives if Keith Olbermann said that he and his viewers were the inheritors and protectors of Ronald Reagan's legacy.
Beck's rally will feature Sarah Palin as a speaker. Yes, that's the same Sarah Palin who just last week claimed Dr. Laura was being “shackled” for her profligate use of the N-word on air and then urged Dr. Laura to "reload." (Whether Palin was referring to a gun or a firehose is unclear.)
Civil-rights leaders are pushing back by holding their own competing rallies elsewhere in Washington. Meanwhile one of Beck's fellow inheritors of the civil-rights movement, Tea Party organizer and blogger Andrew Ian Dodge, helpfully posted a visitors' guide to D.C. for his cohort. The guide warns against venturing into most of Washington outside of a small strip of downtown and fancy areas to its north and west. The areas that are proscribed are predominantly black, while the areas that are deemed safe are among the few mostly white neighborhoods in Washington.
Other helpful advice: "Most taxi drivers and many waiters/waitresses (especially in local coffee shops like the Bread and Chocolate chain) are immigrants, frequently from east Africa or Arab countries. As a rule, African immigrants do not like for you to assume they are African-Americans." Remarkably enough, some African-American commentators found the guide offensive.
So, to recap: Tea Party activists, who surveys suggest are disproportionately white and more likely to hold negative views toward African-Americans, have pushed civil rights off the site of a great moment for African-Americans on its anniversary—which also happens to be the day before the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and the government's consequent abandonment of New Orleans' mostly African-American poor residents—to cheer for Palin and Beck as they inveigh against economic justice and activist government.
The next time a conservative makes a racially inflammatory remark, perhaps he shouldn't wonder why he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt.
Next
1
Friday, August 27, 2010 3:55 PM
From:
"Fubara David-West"
What can you say about the state of Conservative politics in the USA, when an air-head like Glenn Beck and the attractive, but clueless Sarah Palin, could attract so many followers? I think that it is illustrative of the wretchedness of the Conservative program today, which bets heavily on the possibility that the American people have very short memories, and are easily swayed by rabid jingoism, racism disguised as genuine political opposition, abject folly, with a confetti of disjointed thought, promoted as ultimate political wisdom.
The uplifting thing for all Americans, must be that the founding principles, and documents of the country anticipated moments such as this, when the hoi polloi might be swayed by loud zealots posing as patriots. That is why all of the checks and balances in constitutional and political practice, built into the system, continue to ensure that the United States does not settle for the foolish rabble-rouser for very long periods of time.
However, a people will get the kinds of political leaders and politics they deserve, at any point in their history. Imagine what might have happened, if Americans, two years ago, settled for a set of leaders, who convinced themselves that because government spending would be unpopular, the entire economy should be allowed to crumble in a depression.
By making a different choice, the people deserved the leaders they had, who were willing to make unpopular decisions to avoid the abyss. However, democratic politics has its flimsy moments. Thus, those who now think that two years removed from the economic meltdown, everything should be back to normal, can have their political moment.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West.
The Racial Politics of Glenn Beck's March on Washington
(Page 1 of 2)
Chris Keane / Reuters-Landov
Fox News host Glenn Beck speaks to the National Rifle Association.
By now the political cycle of racial accusation and counter-accusation has become so predictable you could set your watch to it:
Stage 1: A Republican politician, conservative leader or talking head makes an offensive remark. See: Trent Lott, Mark Williams, Rush Limbaugh (repeatedly), Dr. Laura Schlessinger.
Stage 2: African-Americans and liberals highlight the remarks and explain why they are offensive.
Stage 3: The politician or talking head apologizes and/or defends himself or herself. Sometimes he or she goes on to resign.
Stage 4: Conservatives are outraged that the humorless PC police have taken down one of their leaders over something as insignificant as praising segregation or using a racial epithet. They fulminate, claiming that civil-rights groups such as the NAACP and the media are more credulous about accusations of racism toward conservatives than liberals.
As the recent episode with black USDA official Shirley Sherrod being railroaded by the NAACP and the media after a misleadingly edited video of her remarks was posted by conservative provocateur Andrew Breitbart demonstrates, African-American political figures are under just as intense a microscope when it comes to potentially offensive remarks. But it does seem that conservatives are constantly being accused of racial insensitivity and the tiresome cycle begins anew. Why is that?
Perhaps it has something to do with so many conservatives frequently behaving insensitively. Consider Glenn Beck's so-called Restoring Honor Rally, for which he just so happens to have booked the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for Saturday, the 47th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Civil-rights organizations typically commemorate the massive civil- rights demonstration and Martin Luther King Jr.'s iconic "I Have a Dream" speech there on that date.
Beck says the event will "reclaim the civil-rights movement," from progressives who have hijacked it for their redistributive agenda. The original March on Washington, like the civil-rights movement more generally, saw economic justice (hence "jobs") as inextricable from legal equality. It was an inherently liberal cause. Beck can disagree, and say that the two goals are separable, as indeed he does.
But to claim, as he recently has, that economic justice was not a concern of the civil-rights movement, and that liberal political leaders who are popular among African-Americans are "perverting" the cause, is both demonstrably false and deeply disrespectful to the African-American community. Beck says he and his overwhelmingly white followers "are the inheritors and protectors of the civil- rights movement." This is as direct a provocation to civil-rights activists as it would be to conservatives if Keith Olbermann said that he and his viewers were the inheritors and protectors of Ronald Reagan's legacy.
Beck's rally will feature Sarah Palin as a speaker. Yes, that's the same Sarah Palin who just last week claimed Dr. Laura was being “shackled” for her profligate use of the N-word on air and then urged Dr. Laura to "reload." (Whether Palin was referring to a gun or a firehose is unclear.)
Civil-rights leaders are pushing back by holding their own competing rallies elsewhere in Washington. Meanwhile one of Beck's fellow inheritors of the civil-rights movement, Tea Party organizer and blogger Andrew Ian Dodge, helpfully posted a visitors' guide to D.C. for his cohort. The guide warns against venturing into most of Washington outside of a small strip of downtown and fancy areas to its north and west. The areas that are proscribed are predominantly black, while the areas that are deemed safe are among the few mostly white neighborhoods in Washington.
Other helpful advice: "Most taxi drivers and many waiters/waitresses (especially in local coffee shops like the Bread and Chocolate chain) are immigrants, frequently from east Africa or Arab countries. As a rule, African immigrants do not like for you to assume they are African-Americans." Remarkably enough, some African-American commentators found the guide offensive.
So, to recap: Tea Party activists, who surveys suggest are disproportionately white and more likely to hold negative views toward African-Americans, have pushed civil rights off the site of a great moment for African-Americans on its anniversary—which also happens to be the day before the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and the government's consequent abandonment of New Orleans' mostly African-American poor residents—to cheer for Palin and Beck as they inveigh against economic justice and activist government.
The next time a conservative makes a racially inflammatory remark, perhaps he shouldn't wonder why he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt.
Next
1
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Axelrod: Defending the President
Dr. Axelrod has been such an effective defender of President Obama's record as the chief executive of the States, that one wishes to get a hold of the behind-the-scenes meetings with advisers that go into the policy-making mix, before the President adopts policies and the tactics on how to sell those policies.
The administration does have an impressive record, when it comes to legislative triumphs on such long-standing issues as health insurance reform, but the economy is still having a difficult time recovering. Furthermore, unemployment continues to be high. Meanwhile, the public and politicians have been prematurely put into a situation of stimulus-fatigue, by all of the rhetoric about excessive government spending during a deep recession.
What can be done? I think the president and his advisers should take advantage of the interconnection between domestic and foreign policies, by making a dramatic move, to speed up the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan. There are a host of reasons that could be given for that, including reducing the footprint of conventional forces, in order to fight "a smarter war" against a dwindling corp of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
Each dollar of savings from such a move, should then be delegated to help Main Street, by buying up most of the homes that are now in foreclosure or pre-foreclosure, and reselling them to home-owners through Fannie Mae, with a reevaluated principal and fixed interest rates at current market levels.
That will change the topic on the economic front, from doldrums all around to optimism among medium and small business owners. That coupled with the legislative successes of the president and Congress so far, should re-energize the grassroots and reduce Democratic losses in the Mid-term elections.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West
Sun Jul 11, 12:17 pm ET
Axelrod tries to fend off WH critics from all sides
By Rachel Rose Hartman
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By Rachel Rose Hartman rachel Rose Hartman – Sun Jul 11, 12:17 pm ET
The Obama Administration put presidential advisor David Axelrod on the talk show circuit Sunday. In each appearance, he was peppered with questions about White House critics. With a stagnant job growth, stymied legislation and sinking poll numbers, Axelrod certainly had his share of complaints to address.
Let's review:
Sinking approval from independent voters? Axelrod conceded on ABC's This Week that "difficult times" create a "difficult election" environment for the president, but said the administration' s focus remains on how to fix the labor market and the country. "Our job is to worry about how we get people back to work, how we move this country forward, and if—if we do our job, the rest will take care of itself," Axelrod said, adding that the presidential election "is an eternity away."
The administration does have an impressive record, when it comes to legislative triumphs on such long-standing issues as health insurance reform, but the economy is still having a difficult time recovering. Furthermore, unemployment continues to be high. Meanwhile, the public and politicians have been prematurely put into a situation of stimulus-fatigue, by all of the rhetoric about excessive government spending during a deep recession.
What can be done? I think the president and his advisers should take advantage of the interconnection between domestic and foreign policies, by making a dramatic move, to speed up the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan. There are a host of reasons that could be given for that, including reducing the footprint of conventional forces, in order to fight "a smarter war" against a dwindling corp of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
Each dollar of savings from such a move, should then be delegated to help Main Street, by buying up most of the homes that are now in foreclosure or pre-foreclosure, and reselling them to home-owners through Fannie Mae, with a reevaluated principal and fixed interest rates at current market levels.
That will change the topic on the economic front, from doldrums all around to optimism among medium and small business owners. That coupled with the legislative successes of the president and Congress so far, should re-energize the grassroots and reduce Democratic losses in the Mid-term elections.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West
Sun Jul 11, 12:17 pm ET
Axelrod tries to fend off WH critics from all sides
By Rachel Rose Hartman
Share
retweet
By Rachel Rose Hartman rachel Rose Hartman – Sun Jul 11, 12:17 pm ET
The Obama Administration put presidential advisor David Axelrod on the talk show circuit Sunday. In each appearance, he was peppered with questions about White House critics. With a stagnant job growth, stymied legislation and sinking poll numbers, Axelrod certainly had his share of complaints to address.
Let's review:
Sinking approval from independent voters? Axelrod conceded on ABC's This Week that "difficult times" create a "difficult election" environment for the president, but said the administration' s focus remains on how to fix the labor market and the country. "Our job is to worry about how we get people back to work, how we move this country forward, and if—if we do our job, the rest will take care of itself," Axelrod said, adding that the presidential election "is an eternity away."
Saturday, June 5, 2010
On Israeli use of force and the Xtian Taliban
Re: [NIgerianWorldForum] GOOOOD... OBAMA: US WILL STAND WITH ISRAEL
Saturday, June 5, 2010 9:48 AM
From:
"Fubara David-West"Add sender to Contacts
Onward Christian Soldiers! Religion can truly make an ass of human beings. Thus, in the name of religion, some Muslims will blow themselves up to make a political point. In a similar vein, for religious loyalties, many Christians, even from places like Africa will hail the outrageous actions of Israel, both in the Palestinian territories, and on the high seas, to enforce an inhuman blockade, that seeks to collectively punish the Palestinians in the name of Israeli security.
One could imagine these Christians being absolutely sympathetic with an Israeli version of the insane Adolf Hitler, if he was today gassing Palestinians to death in the name of security. Many of these Christians, especially from Africa, where superstition still reigns will today be hailing such a Hitler as a tool of the Almighty God, in bringing about the ancient prophecies, with regard to his promise to Abraham. In that regard, William Blake's words regarding evil and divine creation, might be the only compelling wisdom, when it comes to making sense of the senseless.
Of course, the United States will stand with Israel, because that is the way politics is played in the United States, where the Jewish lobby and zany Christian movements, could be expected to make a lot of noise, spend a lot of political capital to paint an American president, who does not follow the orthodoxy, which says that what is good for the Jewish state is good for the United States, as a lover of Arab terrorists, or an anti-Christian ideologue, betraying the American national interest, as they imagine it in their twisted understanding of history and high politics.
The interesting thing is that in considering the geo-political implications of these matters, one could at least have some respect for the Christian soldiers in the United States, who might be called the Christian Taliban, in their penchant for the inhumane, when it comes to the treatment of the Palestinians by the Jewish state. The Africans present a great puzzle, because theirs is a mindless loyalty, borne out of what we might call cultural imperialism, nothing more; and these Africans bask in its glorious hell.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West.
Saturday, June 5, 2010 9:48 AM
From:
"Fubara David-West"
Onward Christian Soldiers! Religion can truly make an ass of human beings. Thus, in the name of religion, some Muslims will blow themselves up to make a political point. In a similar vein, for religious loyalties, many Christians, even from places like Africa will hail the outrageous actions of Israel, both in the Palestinian territories, and on the high seas, to enforce an inhuman blockade, that seeks to collectively punish the Palestinians in the name of Israeli security.
One could imagine these Christians being absolutely sympathetic with an Israeli version of the insane Adolf Hitler, if he was today gassing Palestinians to death in the name of security. Many of these Christians, especially from Africa, where superstition still reigns will today be hailing such a Hitler as a tool of the Almighty God, in bringing about the ancient prophecies, with regard to his promise to Abraham. In that regard, William Blake's words regarding evil and divine creation, might be the only compelling wisdom, when it comes to making sense of the senseless.
Of course, the United States will stand with Israel, because that is the way politics is played in the United States, where the Jewish lobby and zany Christian movements, could be expected to make a lot of noise, spend a lot of political capital to paint an American president, who does not follow the orthodoxy, which says that what is good for the Jewish state is good for the United States, as a lover of Arab terrorists, or an anti-Christian ideologue, betraying the American national interest, as they imagine it in their twisted understanding of history and high politics.
The interesting thing is that in considering the geo-political implications of these matters, one could at least have some respect for the Christian soldiers in the United States, who might be called the Christian Taliban, in their penchant for the inhumane, when it comes to the treatment of the Palestinians by the Jewish state. The Africans present a great puzzle, because theirs is a mindless loyalty, borne out of what we might call cultural imperialism, nothing more; and these Africans bask in its glorious hell.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Health Insurance Reform: The Democratic Win in Perspective
By Fubara David-West
President Obama and the Democrats were the big winners yesterday, as they finally heard the message from the vote of the last elections: lead! If the president had learned the lesson from that message, in the first few months of his presidency, he would have realized from the word go, that it was a huge mistake, to basically give the Republicans a veto over his most important domestic policy initiative.
His willingness to lobby hard for bipartisanship, after the electorate handed the presidency, the House and the Senate to Democrats, merely convinced his political opponents that he was weak; and once they arrived at such an estimation, there was really no compelling reason for them to cooperate with him, in order to make his presidency successful.
The final act that got the Democrats over the finish-line: a parliamentary maneuver that avoided the vise of the super majority rule in the Senate was always available, but it was left untouched until the frigid intransigence of the Republicans, who were acting like victims of groupthink, made it crystal clear that they were not opposing health care reform because of any deep-seated philosophical issue. Theirs was a simple mission of burying the presidency of a man whom they considered to be weak. By the final act, which guaranteed this victory, President Obama showed the Republicans that their estimation of him was quite mistaken.
The Republicans have now been placed in a situation where they have to rethink their strategies. They were too quick to imagine that they could easily dust themselves off from their resounding defeat at the polls in November 2008. It is not yet good morning in the Republican Party.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West.
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By Fubara David-West
President Obama and the Democrats were the big winners yesterday, as they finally heard the message from the vote of the last elections: lead! If the president had learned the lesson from that message, in the first few months of his presidency, he would have realized from the word go, that it was a huge mistake, to basically give the Republicans a veto over his most important domestic policy initiative.
His willingness to lobby hard for bipartisanship, after the electorate handed the presidency, the House and the Senate to Democrats, merely convinced his political opponents that he was weak; and once they arrived at such an estimation, there was really no compelling reason for them to cooperate with him, in order to make his presidency successful.
The final act that got the Democrats over the finish-line: a parliamentary maneuver that avoided the vise of the super majority rule in the Senate was always available, but it was left untouched until the frigid intransigence of the Republicans, who were acting like victims of groupthink, made it crystal clear that they were not opposing health care reform because of any deep-seated philosophical issue. Theirs was a simple mission of burying the presidency of a man whom they considered to be weak. By the final act, which guaranteed this victory, President Obama showed the Republicans that their estimation of him was quite mistaken.
The Republicans have now been placed in a situation where they have to rethink their strategies. They were too quick to imagine that they could easily dust themselves off from their resounding defeat at the polls in November 2008. It is not yet good morning in the Republican Party.
I thank you.
Fubara David-West.
__._,_.___
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Friday, February 5, 2010
Haiti: Obama must stop the political correctness
The fact that Haiti is charging these Americans with a serious criminal offense, is an outrage. The Obama administration should have seen that from the very beginning, and demanded the immediate release of the Americans to the US forces, and diplomatic representatives onshore and offshore. The Obama administration must know when to use American power, instead of treating these kinds of events with the kid gloves of political correctness.
The fact is that the authorities in Haiti are in no position to dispense justice in this case, considering the total devastation of the country, following the earthquake: a devastation which has elicited the sympathy and the charity of many international organizations, and people from across the globe. Neither the relief agencies, the people pouring in to help, nor the Haitian government is currently operating in a normal environment. Some miscalculations, missteps, errors in judgment, misapplication of administrative assets are inevitable.
The Haitian government demonstrates a profound lack of appreciation of the level of the ruin all around the country, and even more importantly, of the great international assistance it will need to rebuild the country, when it parades these Americans as criminals, who presumably went into Haiti as traffickers in Haitian kids. President Obama must instruct the Secretary of State to demand an immediate end to this perilous drama.
Fubara David-West.
Haiti ambassador: 'compassion' for American missionaries charged with kidnapping
The Haitian government on Thursday charged 10 American missionaries with abduction. Haiti's ambassador to the US promised "compassion" and said the case shows the world that the government will continue to enforce the rule of law.
Four of 10 Americans who were arrested while trying to bus children out of Haiti without proper documents or government permission, arrive to court inside a Haitian police truck in Port-au-Prince, Thursday.
Rodrigo Abd / APEnlarge Photos (1 of 2)
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By Stephen Kurczy Correspondent / February 4, 2010
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The 10 American missionaries who attempted to sneak 33 children out of Haiti last Saturday were charged today with kidnapping.Skip to next paragraph
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Haiti: Americans accused of child trafficking could be tried in US
Haitian Ambassador Raymond Joseph says the charges signal that anarchy will not prevail, despite the earthquake’s destruction of most government buildings in Port-au-Prince.
“By this action, I think the Haitian government is sending a clear message to the world that there is a government in place, and that nobody can just take it upon himself or herself to come and do in Haitii whatever they think is good,” Mr. Joseph said by telephone Thursday from Washington, D.C.
The Baptist missionaries from Idaho and Kansas were brought Thursday before a judge who found sufficient evidence to charge them with abduction and criminal conspiracy. Those crimes can carry prison terms of up to 15 years.
The stated purpose of the New Life Children's Refuge group's “Haitian Orphan Rescue Mission” was to “rescue Haitian orphans.” But it came out that most of the 33 children had families and many of their parents had willingly given the children to the missionaries.
The BBC offers this video of the missionaries being whisked into the courtroom.
“We can say these people were acting in the best interests of Haiti’s children, but you must agree that what has happened is really out of the ordinary and it is illegal,” says Joseph. But he added that their motives will be taken into account during the upcoming trial and judgment.
“I am quite sure they’ll take into consideration the character of the people ... and perhaps show some compassion down the road,” he says.
It was unclear Thursday when or where the actual trial would take place. Prime Minister Max Bellerive said Monday that Haiti is open to having the American Baptist group tried in US courts, given the impact of the Jan. 12 earthquake on government institutions.
Christian groups, who have provided substantial aid to Haiti since the Jan. 12 earthquake struck, say they will continue to support the country despite the arrests.
Shortly before the court hearing, Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition met with Joseph in Washington.
“The heart of the meeting was coming to try to secure the release of the 10 missionaries who are being detained in Haiti,” says Mahoney, a Presbyterian pastor and activist from Virginia who personally knows several of the arrested Americans and works with their church in Idaho.
“I went as an advocate, saying I know what these people are like, I know who they are, and, even though mistakes were made, it’s important to know they are not child traffickers.”
Now, Mahoney says he is more disappointed in the White House than in Haiti’s officials.
“When you have Haiti’s prime minister referring to caring Christians as kidnappers, and no response from our administration about that, it’s deeply troubling.”
Joseph said he has not spoken with the White House regarding the missionaries’ arrest, but it will not become a sore point between the two countries.
“I don’t see why this should cause any friction,” he says. “I’ve talked with some people off of the record and most agree that this was uncalled for, the way [the missionaries] did it.”
Joseph said the missionaries are being held in a makeshift jail. He said they were being cared for and well fed.
In a similar case, 16 Europeans from a France-based group called Zoe's Ark were charged in 2007 with trying to smuggle 103 children out of Africa. While they were convicted and sentenced to eight years of hard labor, Chad's president pardoned the group.
Joseph said he was familiar with the case, but that it did not necessarily provide a precedent for the current one.
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.
The fact is that the authorities in Haiti are in no position to dispense justice in this case, considering the total devastation of the country, following the earthquake: a devastation which has elicited the sympathy and the charity of many international organizations, and people from across the globe. Neither the relief agencies, the people pouring in to help, nor the Haitian government is currently operating in a normal environment. Some miscalculations, missteps, errors in judgment, misapplication of administrative assets are inevitable.
The Haitian government demonstrates a profound lack of appreciation of the level of the ruin all around the country, and even more importantly, of the great international assistance it will need to rebuild the country, when it parades these Americans as criminals, who presumably went into Haiti as traffickers in Haitian kids. President Obama must instruct the Secretary of State to demand an immediate end to this perilous drama.
Fubara David-West.
Haiti ambassador: 'compassion' for American missionaries charged with kidnapping
The Haitian government on Thursday charged 10 American missionaries with abduction. Haiti's ambassador to the US promised "compassion" and said the case shows the world that the government will continue to enforce the rule of law.
Four of 10 Americans who were arrested while trying to bus children out of Haiti without proper documents or government permission, arrive to court inside a Haitian police truck in Port-au-Prince, Thursday.
Rodrigo Abd / APEnlarge Photos (1 of 2)
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By Stephen Kurczy Correspondent / February 4, 2010
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The 10 American missionaries who attempted to sneak 33 children out of Haiti last Saturday were charged today with kidnapping.Skip to next paragraph
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Haitian Ambassador Raymond Joseph says the charges signal that anarchy will not prevail, despite the earthquake’s destruction of most government buildings in Port-au-Prince.
“By this action, I think the Haitian government is sending a clear message to the world that there is a government in place, and that nobody can just take it upon himself or herself to come and do in Haitii whatever they think is good,” Mr. Joseph said by telephone Thursday from Washington, D.C.
The Baptist missionaries from Idaho and Kansas were brought Thursday before a judge who found sufficient evidence to charge them with abduction and criminal conspiracy. Those crimes can carry prison terms of up to 15 years.
The stated purpose of the New Life Children's Refuge group's “Haitian Orphan Rescue Mission” was to “rescue Haitian orphans.” But it came out that most of the 33 children had families and many of their parents had willingly given the children to the missionaries.
The BBC offers this video of the missionaries being whisked into the courtroom.
“We can say these people were acting in the best interests of Haiti’s children, but you must agree that what has happened is really out of the ordinary and it is illegal,” says Joseph. But he added that their motives will be taken into account during the upcoming trial and judgment.
“I am quite sure they’ll take into consideration the character of the people ... and perhaps show some compassion down the road,” he says.
It was unclear Thursday when or where the actual trial would take place. Prime Minister Max Bellerive said Monday that Haiti is open to having the American Baptist group tried in US courts, given the impact of the Jan. 12 earthquake on government institutions.
Christian groups, who have provided substantial aid to Haiti since the Jan. 12 earthquake struck, say they will continue to support the country despite the arrests.
Shortly before the court hearing, Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition met with Joseph in Washington.
“The heart of the meeting was coming to try to secure the release of the 10 missionaries who are being detained in Haiti,” says Mahoney, a Presbyterian pastor and activist from Virginia who personally knows several of the arrested Americans and works with their church in Idaho.
“I went as an advocate, saying I know what these people are like, I know who they are, and, even though mistakes were made, it’s important to know they are not child traffickers.”
Now, Mahoney says he is more disappointed in the White House than in Haiti’s officials.
“When you have Haiti’s prime minister referring to caring Christians as kidnappers, and no response from our administration about that, it’s deeply troubling.”
Joseph said he has not spoken with the White House regarding the missionaries’ arrest, but it will not become a sore point between the two countries.
“I don’t see why this should cause any friction,” he says. “I’ve talked with some people off of the record and most agree that this was uncalled for, the way [the missionaries] did it.”
Joseph said the missionaries are being held in a makeshift jail. He said they were being cared for and well fed.
In a similar case, 16 Europeans from a France-based group called Zoe's Ark were charged in 2007 with trying to smuggle 103 children out of Africa. While they were convicted and sentenced to eight years of hard labor, Chad's president pardoned the group.
Joseph said he was familiar with the case, but that it did not necessarily provide a precedent for the current one.
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