The day the world stood still: Sarah Palin is "there", proudly wearing her "Skinny Raven Sports" t-shirt, closely followed around exclusively by Greta "Cuda stalker" Van Susteren for Fox News and her husband John Coale - and Todd, Bristol and Franklin Graham and his daughter.
As a result, Sarah's foreign policy street cred rose dramatically: After visiting a military base in Kuwait, a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, some hotel in Canada and spending several hours in Hong Kong, she now can tick Haiti off the list. Oh my God, is this unqualified black man still in the White House? The Cuda has seen Haiti! She herself, in person, breathed the air that very poor people breathe, and even touched some of these poor people "Mother Teresa style", while this schmuck Obama spends all his free time uselessly hanging around at golf courses! What else do you want, Americans? Love her NOW!
The holy mother of the North Star, does she look good or what:
Bristol also touched some poor people:
Oh, no, look, the evil foreign press is picking on poor little Sarah again, despite her tireless and extensive efforts to fight poverty in Haiti! Can you believe it! What is wrong with these people? These Brits with their marxist, despicable free healthcare, what do they have to complain? LEAVE SARAH ALONE!
OK, snark aside: I am certain that Sarah Palin's photo-op in Haiti doesn't fool anyone, apart from Sarah's die-hard fans, who have a long and proud tradition of being fooled by the Quitter Queen.
Sarah's trip was already discussed on the Ed Show, and even the GOP-person finds it difficult to hide the fact that her trip was just an extended photo-op, designed to enhance Sarah's foreign policy credentials:
Let's now take a look at people who REALLY care about Haiti and who are not there for fancy photos and handshakes, but who are there to do real work, invest a lot of time and a lot of effort. People who made real sacrifices and went on a personal mission to help those people who are in a desperate situation. People like "leftist" Hollywood actor Sean Penn.
J/P HRO was founded less than a week after the earthquake when Sean Penn was on the ground in Haiti bringing much needed medical supplies and a team of medical and emergency relief volunteers. Our team immediately went to work treating patients, delivering medical supplies and equipment, and providing food to numerous camps and orphanages.
J/P HRO’s efforts have included managing a camp of 55,000 displaced Haitians, providing emergency medical and primary care services, delivering badly needed medical equipment and medicine, distributing food and setting up a K-8 school in the camp. Our community redevelopment efforts have included removing rubble from streets and neighborhoods and partnering with other organizations in rebuilding neighborhoods. Throughout the country we have distributed water filters, tents, and medical supplies; created mobile medical units for underserviced camps and neighborhoods; set up cholera treatment centers; and provided logistical and personnel support to other NGOs in response to the cholera epidemic.
The J/P Haitian Relief Organization have recently started clearing rubble, on average about 3,500 - 4,000 cubic meters of rubble a week. Each neighborhood has an average of 150,000 cubic meters of rubble which needs to be removed. The rubble clearing has encouraged Haitians to participate in spontaneous clearing efforts themselves. Each day, as they return to work sites, the J/P HRO volunteers can see evidence of people clearing rubble from their home sites by hand, almost doubling the effectiveness of their work. Town squares, now cleared of rubble, have quickly filled with children playing kickball. Teachers, police, nurses, and residents of local IDP camps have already settled into temporary shelters in their old home sites. The emotional, physical and spiritual impact of the rubble removal cannot be underestimated.
J/P HRO has quickly become a leader among Haitian relief organizations. We have been recognized by major international organizations for our camp management, camp resident relocations and rubble removal processes. As the next phase of work in Haiti unfolds, we strive to continue to be leaders—finding new and more efficient ways of bringing relief and empowerment to the people of Haiti.
Sean Penn, unlike Sarah "does my hair look pretty" Palin, is the "rill dill." Meet a real, sincere, grown-up person, a highly intelligent man who thinks deeply about personal responsibility and who is not in Haiti for cheap pictures and fame, but lived there for many months and built up his organization and "walks the walk."
If you are interested to hear more about Sean Penn and his efforts in Haiti and his general thoughts about the situation and the responsibility of richer countries, then please take a look at the long and very interesting interview with Sean Penn on "Democracy Now!" It has several parts, here is the first part:
The other parts of the interview can be watched here:
+++
At the beginning of the post, I mentioned Barack Obama and his "elitist" hobby of playing golf.
Just a few days ago, Lawrence O'Donnell gave a scathing commentary about Sarah Palin, regarding her remarks about Barack Obama playing golf.
What did Sarah say about President Obama and playing golf?
So what exactly is at stake? Does Palin really want to be President and assume the burdens that go with the job? Or is she just teasing the Grand Old Party while she lays the foundations for a more comfortable life as a public provocateur, doing TV, writing books, making speeches and dabbling in politics as it serves her greater goals? The former scenario is what many in the Republican Party are dreading; the latter one is freezing the likely GOP presidential field until she clarifies her plans. And Palin, naturally, wisely and consistently, is coy about the answer. "I would run because the country is more important than my ease, though I'm not necessarily living a life of ease," says Palin, who answered questions from TIME via e-mail. And in a shot at Obama's habit of playing golf during the "recovery summer," she added, "I'm very busy helping people and causes. So busy, in fact, I haven't had time to hit the links in quite a few years."
That's what Lawrence O'Donnell had to say about this remark:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
When I searched for this quote, I also found another remark by Sarah Palin which I had missed so far. Another "mean girl" remark about Obama playing golf, but this time, with a different angle. MSNBC reported it like that:
In a joking reference, she predicted defeat for Obama in the 2012 presidential election, saying her TV show would be followed by a sequel called "Barack Obama's Golf Courses", which she said would start up "sometime November 2012".
Speaking about her upcoming reality television series, "Sarah Palin's Alaska," Palin joked that the producers of her show are thinking about a sequel called "Barack Obama's golf courses," implying the commander in chief will have plenty of time on his hands after the 2012 elections.
Sarah, you hair looked good in Haiti. Mission accomplished. You can be proud of yourself.
+++
PLEASE RE-TWEET:
http://twitter.com/#!/palingates/status/14009375366578176
http://twitter.com/#!/palingates/status/14010030047109120
http://twitter.com/#!/palingates/status/14010420285145088
http://twitter.com/#!/palingates/status/14010839728136192
+++
PLEASE RE-TWEET:
http://twitter.com/#!/palingates/status/14009375366578176
http://twitter.com/#!/palingates/status/14010030047109120
http://twitter.com/#!/palingates/status/14010420285145088
http://twitter.com/#!/palingates/status/14010839728136192
.
No comments:
Post a Comment