RUSH, ROBERTSON TAKE HEAT ON REMARKS ON HAITI EARTHQUAKE

Pat Robertson, Rush Limbaugh slammed by Keith Olbermann for Haiti comments
By Andrea Reiher

January 14, 2010 7:30 AM
Keith Olbermann does not hold back on "Countdown" when addressing Pat Robertson's and Rush Limbaugh's comments regarding the devastation in Haiti.In case you haven't heard, televangelist Pat Robertson has said that the Haitian people have bad things happen to them because they made a pact with the Devil in exchange with getting the French out of their country many years ago.Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh has been spouting all sorts of ludicrous vitriol regarding President Obama using this tragedy to curry favor with the Black community and also taking him to task for holding a press conference the day after the earthquake but not the day after the failed bombing in Detroit. Limbaugh also has said, "We already donated to Haiti. It's called the U.S. income tax." What does that even mean?Keith Olbermann takes them both to task for their heartless, callous comments regarding this tragedy and ends with, "Mr. Robertson, Mr. Limbaugh, your lives are not worth those of the lowest, meanest, poorest of those victims still lying under the rubble in Haiti tonight ... You inspire only stupidity and hatred."We wonder what the Republicans who were calling for Harry Reid's resignation would say about Conservative voice Rush Limbaugh's comments?


Don’t Let the Terrorists Win — Ignore Rush and Robertson

Yesterday, much to my surprise, I found myself quoting the National Rifle Association favorably.
Today, another surprise.
It was October 11th, 2001 — one month after the attack — and someone said:
“We cannot let the terrorists achieve the objective of frightening our nation to the point where we don’t — where we don’t conduct business, where people don’t shop. That’s their intention. Their intention was not only to kill and maim and destroy. Their intention was to frighten to the point where our nation would not act. Their intention was to so frighten our government that we wouldn’t seek justice; that somehow we would cower in the face of their threats and not respond, abroad or at home.”
Yep, W. Not my usual go-to person when I want to make a point.
But here’s the thing — and please understand I am not about to compare Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson to the murderers of September 11th. Well, I’m not in anyway going to say Limbaugh and Robertson are murderers.
But when it comes to President Bush’s statement about “their intention” being “to frighten our government that we wouldn’t seek justice, that somehow we would cower in the face of their threats and not respond…”
Yep. That’s definitely Limbaugh.
Yesterday — and I almost regret sending people to his site because I really don’t want to drive traffic there — he said:
“This will play right into Obama’s hands. He’s humanitarian, compassionate. They’ll use this to burnish their, shall we say, “credibility” with the black community — in the both light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country. It’s made-to-order for them. That’s why he couldn’t wait to get out there, could not wait to get out there.”
He was talking about Haiti and how President Obama waited three days to talk about the underwear bomber but was immediately out there on Haiti.
Now, I’m sure Limbaugh was equally critical of President Bush’s decision to wait for even longer to speak about Richard Reid, so let’s let that part of his comments go for now.
But, when it comes to the part about frightening people so they won’t act, that is exactly what Limbaugh is trying to do, He wants to rile people up, foment hatred, try to force the government into a position of fear where they won’t be able to act.
It’s absolutely hateful.
There are tens of thousands of people dead and he’s trying to score political points and drive up his ratings?
Beautiful.
And Limbaugh’s just getting started. He wants to demonize the Haitians, portray them as the architects of their own destruction and unworthy of aid.
“The Haitian economy is entirely dependent on foreign aid,” he aid. “They produce nothing. Zilch, zero, nada. And it’s been that way for the longest time.”
Well, as the State Department points out in a backgrounder, that just isn’t the case.
Yes, they import three times what they export, but they do export things like mangoes, leather and raw hides and seafood.
But, in Haiti’s defense. There could be a country with an even greater trade deficit, one that imports four times of what they export. I just can’t imagine what country could be in that bad shape? Oh, wait.
Listen, I have no problem with Limbaugh wanting to criticize the President. He wants to disagree with everything he says, no problem. Have at it.
But don’t make the stuff up. Don’t try to scare people to drive up your ratings. People want to disagree, that’s great. This country has a great history of debate. But let it be honest debate. Let’s not demonize people to score political points.
Limbaugh has a very powerful platform from which to speak. If he wants to use it to to try and get Obama and his ideas defeated, he should feel free to proceed. He should just do it with facts instead of by trying to scare people into submission.
Admittedly, he’s not saying Haiti can trace their problems to a pact with Satan.
But if Limbaugh and others are able to foment hatred and scare this country into not being able to act, well — to paraphrase President George W. Bush — then the terrorists have won,


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Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson take heat on remarks
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Televangelist Pat Robertson (left) and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh are being scolded for their comments in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti.

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh and televangelist Pat Robertson are being scolded for their comments in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake in Haiti that has killed tens of thousands, according to early estimates.
Critics from both the left and right are denouncing their remarks as insensitive to the disaster and attempts to score political points off human tragedy.
Speaking on his radio show Wednesday, Limbaugh said the earthquake has played into Obama’s hands, allowing the president to look “compassionate” and “humanitarian” while at the same time bolstering his standing in both the “light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country.”
He added: “We've already donated to Haiti. It’s called the U.S. income tax.”
Limbaugh’s comments were, in part, a riff on Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) much publicized remark in a new book that Obama was able to win the election because he is “light-skinned” and lacks a “Negro dialect.”
But regardless of the intended context, Limbaugh’s comments have been widely panned.
“They are deeply insensitive,” said conservative commentator Pat Buchanan on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“The president speaks for the country when he says we’re going to go in there,” he said. “You want your whole nation, and it’s very positive. And I think Rush’s comments were cynical.”
Sitting next to Buchanan on set, host Joe Scarborough called Limbaugh’s comments “deplorable.”
“The insensitivity is stunning,” said the former Republican congressman.
Liberal commentators also quickly jumped on Limbaugh.
“Limbaugh did not know when to just shut up,” said liberal commentator Keith Olbermann on his MSNBC show “Countdown.” “Today he blamed communism for the poverty of Haiti, blamed President Obama for holding a news conference the day after this cataclysm when he did not hold one after the failed half-assed terror attempt in Detroit.”
John Amato from the left-leaning site Crooks and Liars added that “with thousands of people dead already and as the suffering continues in Haiti, Limbaugh and his ilk only care about one thing: Destroying Obama.”
The conservative media watchdog site Newsbusters stepped up to defend Limbaugh, saying his comments were not put in proper context, but very few others are backing the conservative firebrand’s latest controversial remarks.