WHAT WILL BECOME OF HAITI? Is it really accursed, condemned forever to suffering? The offensive theories continue to reverberate with fundamentalists who see their God as an angry automaton with no sensitivity for anything but vengeance.

It is hard to imagine anything more despicable and offensive than the utterances of the American televangelist Pat Robertson, a man who cultivates the face of a smiling cherub while from his mouth flows evil. His nasty little riposte that Haiti is paying for selling its soul to the Devil to gain its freedom must be the lowest he can go. Don’t hold your breath, however. He will soon find another depth into which to descend.

If he were the only one spewing such despicable nonsense it would be bad enough. The tragedy is that he has followers, including many who look like Haitians, who seem unable to differentiate between reverence and demagoguery. It’s not the first time Robertson has vomited up such bile in the name of a God of his own fashioning and his audience continues to grow.

True – the situation in Haiti can turn anyone insane. From all accounts, brought back by the media and relief workers, it defies all logic. Even on the TV screen, the agony and suffering reach out and take hold. Many people have stopped watching because it has become too much to bear. It is too much to grasp. That is why I have mixed feelings about Dr Jephthah Ford’s embarrassing tirade against the idea of giving Haitians refugee status here. Would that he had taken some time to think it over, but you could hear in the sound bytes that he had reached a pitch of fevered emotion, that he gave no time to a rational response on returning from a mercy mission.

What was he really saying? From what I heard, he was appalled at the deteriorating health conditions which have developed in the aftermath of the quake. He spoke of the stench of the rotting bodies, of poor to non-existent personal hygiene and sanitation. He feared the transmission of diseases, especially those which have been brought under control here. He was fearful that with the best will in the world, our system will not be able to cope when thousands of evacuees are facilitated here. From all this, the catch line which emerged is “Don’t let the Haitians come.”

In the face of the suffering displayed on our TV screens, this comes across as a heartless cry. Some people have written to the media to condemn Dr Ford, not so much as a politician but a medical doctor, one committed to the relief of human suffering. One message sent to me by a former Cornwall College classmate of his, spoke of being ashamed of him. Since his outburst I haven’t seen a mention of what Dr Ford thinks now that there has been some distance between him and the hellish landscape which appalled him so much.

Nothing has been heard either of what our public health officials think of our ability to cope with the issues which Dr Ford raised. Can we safely accommodate 3000 people, some of whom may be carriers of disease? Are we equipped to quarantine and treat such a number which we have heard might come? As time passes and we’re seeing more and more pictures of the refugee boats getting ready to set out across the sea, at what stage is our preparation to receive them?

It is not the first time that we have given refuge to Haitians. The year 2008 was particularly testing so that by the time the four storms of that year had passed, the host communities, especially in Portland to which they headed, had begun to lose their sense of altruism. The government has assured that it will respond to the current need appropriately, but the question is, how and how soon?

ON THE STREET, many people say they’re willing to help – even if some aren’t quite convinced that they should come here… And then there’s the business of how to define generosity. Well-meaning relief is being abused by the insensitive who flood relief centres with unwashed old clothes in the belief that the Haitians are so desperate they have no self-respect. Oonu stop it!

The disaster has also raised some geo-political questions. Who made Haiti the long-impoverished nation it has been? Who should take the blame and the major share of the responsibility for the future of a country which can hardly suffer much more? Scholars of politics have begun preparing for conferences and seminars to address the Haiti question.

DUKE STREET BANGARANG: Why wasn’t the Opposition ready to debate the IMF Letter of Intent, etc, after demanding an early return to Parliament to deal with the matter? While I don’t doubt that the Government wasn’t making it easy for them, if the PNP wants to be taken seriously, whatever the obstacles, it should demonstrate convincingly that it is prepared for all eventualities.

OBAMA YEAR ONE: Haiti has so overwhelmed the rest of the world news that we haven’t given much time to contemplate the fortunes of President Obama’s first year in office. It is amazing to think how the euphoria of last January has evaporated, leaving a cloud of sullenness hanging over America kept alive by a combination of racism and right-wing viciousness. The antagonism towards reforms in health care continue and has become a personal vendetta against the president. This week’s defeat of the Democratic candidate seeking to replace the late Senator Ted Kennedy in the Senate was a humiliating blow to the president and the Democratic Party.

What has happened in the year since the world danced and sang at the appearance of a new star in the global firmament? What has gone wrong? Was it the race card? There was a lot of that. The half of what we haven’t heard here includes criticism by African Americans who indulge in petty carping such as his young daughters romping on the White House lawn with un-straightened hair! Then there were members of the Black Caucus bad-mouthing him for not changing the fortunes of people of his race who voted him into office.

Obama-watchers have remarked on how he smiles less and how the white in his hair is crowding in. Nobody said it would be easy but did it have to be THAT hard? I haven’t given up on him, I still have my Obama T-shirt and campaign button.

gloudonb@yahoo.com