Douglas C. Lyons The Sun-Sentinel

January 16, 2010

Douglas C. Lyons
The Sun-Sentinel
200 East Las Olas Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301

RE: Why mean, nasty, and forgetful White people should give to Haiti. Some comments on your stern, finger wagging op-ed in today’s Sun-Sentinel.

Mr. Lyons,

If, as you say, “The U.S. owes Haiti, big time” for their supporting our revolution and for our occupying their country are there any other inclusions/exemptions for Uncle Sam voluntarily emptying his pockets plus borrowing from the Chinese every time the beggar’s bowl is presented to him?

President Obama unilaterally canceled a missile pact with Poland. History shows a large Polish presence, exponentially larger than Haiti’s, in our revolution. What do we owe them?

The Union cemeteries at Gettysburg are filled with 1000s of Irishmen who died fighting for the North. A case could be made that they died to end slavery. They lie there, in silent repose, “still wrapped in their faded coats of Blue”. What do we “owe” Ireland?

Each and every time, without exception, that this country took up arms in the 20th century, we had one ally, the same ally, every time. What do we “owe” Australia?

You speak of Pat Robertson’s “absurdities”. What number would you give on the umbrage scale for his verbal diarrhea to Danny Glover? Would I have my toes on the edge of racism if I were to suggest that your scorn for a White man clearly in his dotage is not matched by your remonstrations [absent] about the movie star? At least both of them were “clean” and “articulate”.

Your view of Haitian history is, in typical modern American Liberal fashion, unhampered by facts.

If there is a root cause to the sad tale of Haiti, a tale replete with murders, assassinations voo-doo, thievery on a Herculean scale, zombies, the national pastime of biting the head off a chicken [Don’t tell PETA], Graham Greene novels, and an absolute indifference or ignorance to and of the rubrics common to any nation claiming to be civilized, it is the absence of any semblance or memory of the Rule of Law.

Years ago I sat in on a session of the Barbados Parliament. It was the House of Commons a la Caribbean. Adults were arguing with each other because they could and because it made them a better people. There were no Poppa Docs there.
The people of the United States shouldn’t help Haiti because we “owe” them. If the quality of mercy is to be judged by what the donor “owes” the donee, why, pray tell, did we give aid to the Asian tsunami victims? Why were American lives at risk to stop the genocide of Serbian Muslims? Why should we do anything about Darfur? They are, as Chamberlain said about the Czechs. “A faraway people about whom we know little”.

In typical modern American Liberal fashion you bend History to your view of contemporary politics.

I’ll write slowly. Try to follow.

The French and the English began fighting in North America in 1755. This fight continued on 5 continents and 3 oceans until 1815. Clearly, these people had no exit strategy.

The French stayed out of the American Revolution until we defeated the British at Saratoga. It was clearly in the rational self interest of the French to keep as many British military personnel as far away from Europe as possible. The war ended at Yorktown with the colonials outgunning the Red Coats from the front and the French Navy blocking both reinforcement of and retreat by Cornwallis from the rear.

Clearly, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” worked for the French and the Americans.

As an aside, do you think the Americans have covered the marker held by the French? I don’t know what the ratio is but there is one Hell of a lot of American graves in France.

Does it – mercy – “fall like gentle rain” or is it doled out like redeemed frequent flyer miles?

How big, in terms of money, water, penicillin, and MREs, is the marker held by Haitians? Would the absence of any Cubans or Venezuelans suggest that the scales are balanced among them? I saw a group from Iceland trying to rescue a trapped child. Why where they there? I am unaware of any Historical or commercial intercourse between Port-a-Prince and Reykjavik.

Let us hope that the aid soon to be given to Haiti is better spent than previous American attempts.

The United States began sending aid to Africa in 1960.

Would it be politically incorrect to ask for an accounting? What if I were to ask for but one African success story? Does that mean that we should stop all aid to Africa?

The United States declared war on poverty in this country in 1964.
Despite one trillion dollars [That’s $1,000,000,000,000.00] it would seem that we have lost that war also. Do you think it’s time for a “surge”?

In the end, Americans will give because they want to, not because they have to.

Your snarky admonition diminishes the charitable History that speaks so well of American exceptionalism. Moreover, it diminishes you.

Kevin Smith

PS – There may yet be some good that can be gained from this terrible situation. How about we field test the end of life questions that will soon be foisted on us should the Health Care plan pass? If you are to be saved you must not be older than a certain age. You must have knowledge of mathematics and a foreign language. Your blood pressure must fall within acceptable levels. Diabetics, those with osteoarthritis in 2 joints, arrhythmia, alopecia, extreme myopia, and the heartbreak of psoriasis are automatic disqualifiers. Let Haiti be remembered for decreasing its carbon footprint in a spectacular fashion! Undrowned polar bears will remember them, if they were able, with great fondness.