Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot the honest answer to that question would be a thought crime, how thoughtless of me…
What Do You Mean, ‘We,’ White Man?
For more than two centuries, Haiti has stood as the incontrovertible monument to the black man’s ability to govern himself without white assistance. After 200 years of black rule, it is unquestionably the most wretched, poverty-drenched hell-hole in the entire Western Hemisphere — excepting, perhaps, Detroit — a political, social, economic, educational and environmental disaster par excellance.
The 75-year-old chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Jim Oberstar (D-MN), visited that island recently with black Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) and Corinne Brown (D-FL), to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the time he spent there teaching French and Creole to US military personnel during one of their periodic occupations of the country.
“There are hopeful signs” for Haiti, lied Oberstar when interviewed by a writer for The Hill newspaper. “If the [presidential election of 2011] is honest and goes off successfully without disruption, it will be an expression of the people’s will, and Haiti will then have the stability it needs to implement the changes in government structure, and attract back the Haitian diaspora . . . . They’d come home if there were no reprisals and opportunities for them. But there are some things we need to do . . . .”
“We” need to “distribute US produced charcoal fuel for heating and cooking” because Haitians have chopped down the 130 million trees “we” planted there long ago and used the wood for fuel. “We’ve got to reforest the countryside,” says Oberstar, not even being honest enough to add “again.”
“That’s the starting point. Then we and the international community have to support the government encourage outside investment.” And on and on.
While “we’re” at it, why not stock that island paradise with unicorns, centaurs, and mermaids, to give the inhabitants some much-needed food and sport?
He had me at Detroit!
[...] Haiti, or Zimbabwe, the suburbs of Atlanta, etc. etc. etc. ad [...]