Posted on 01/16/2010 7:59:27 AM PST by kristinn
The Obama administration is burnishing Barack Obama's image as intently focused on the plight of Haitians by pushing on the press a detailed-to-the-minute timeline of Obama's involvement with the response to the Haiti earthquake this week.
This shameless promotion of Obama confirms what Rush Limbaugh said earlier this week--that Obama would use the earthquake for his political benefit.
The release of the Haiti timeline is in stark contrast to the failure of the White House to similarly account for Obama's time in the aftermath of the Christmas Day terror attack on America while Obama was on vacation in Hawaii. Then, the administration told the press Obama was getting briefings in between golfing, snorkeling, picnicking and otherwise not doing his job.
The timeline lists twenty-two entries for Obama taking meetings, briefings and phone calls in the sixty-nine hour period from 5:52 p.m. Tuesday (an hour after the quake struck) through 3 p.m. Friday. Other entries note meetings convened by others at Obama's direction.
Obama seems to have slacked off some on Friday after spending the previous two days on the phone and in meetings.
The danger for Obama is that the amount of time spent on the earthquake by him has not translated into relief for the survivors in Haiti. Last night and this morning, news reports out of Haiti all told the same story: aid is bottled-up at the international airport in Haiti because noone has taken charge.
Here's a sample from the release demonstrating Obama is the hardest working man in show business, I mean the White House (via the Chicago Sun-Times):
Thursday, January 14
(The President receives verbal briefings on the situation from Denis McDonough throughout the day)
9:30 AM-- The President met in the Oval Office with several of his lead military and civilian national security team to receive an update on the situation in Haiti and on progress against al Qaeda and its affiliates.
4:17 PM - The President speaks with President Sarkozy of France about ongoing US and French relief efforts, and the need for coordination of immediate and long term international efforts to assist the people of Haiti.
4:30 PM - Deputy National Security Advisor Tom Donilon convened a Deputies Committee for approximately 2.5 hours to discuss coordination of the United States Government's relief efforts in Haiti. The meeting included senior representatives from: State, USAID, USUN, DOD, SOUTHCOM, TRANSCOM, JCS, DHS, Coast Guard, and National Security and White House Staff.
8:54 PM -- The President speaks with President Fernandez of the Dominican Republic. The President expressed his appreciation for the role the Dominican Republic has played in facilitating the evacuation of US citizens and in the flow of relief teams and supplies into Haiti through the Dominican Republic. President Fernandez conveyed his assessment of the situation in Haiti following his visit today to Port au Prince.
10:15 PM -The President receives an update from Deputy National Security Advisor Tom Donilon on relief efforts, the situation on the ground in Haiti, and tonight's Deputies Committee meeting.
Rush Limbaugh's prescient comments:
RUSH: Here's President Obama speaking about Haiti this morning in Washington at the White House. He held a press conference. Now, I want you to remember, it took him three days to respond to the Christmas Day Fruit of Kaboom Bomber, three days. And when he came out after those three days, he was clearly irritated that he had to do it. He didn't want to do it. He comes out here in less than 24 hours to speak about Haiti...
I'm just fascinated here the country the president of the United States feels the need to apologize for, the country the president of the United States feels is immoral and unjust, can barely contain himself running to the cameras in less than 24 hours after this earthquake to pledge aid and to ask citizens who have lost their jobs because of his policies to donate to the relief effort...
Yes, I think in the Haiti earthquake, ladies and gentlemen -- in the words of Rahm Emanuel -- we have another crisis simply too good to waste. 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.
Sun-Times Washington reporter Lynn Sweet called the timeline release by the Obama administration an "unusual step."
Indeed, or as Rush might say, "I told you so."
Charlie Crist is just trying to get even with the Florida Conservatives who have rejected him in favor of Rubio.
It’s helping his poll numbers.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-01-15-general-criticizes-response_N.htm
Retired general: U.S. aid effort too slow.
By Ken Dilanian, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON The U.S. relief effort for Haiti started too slowly and cautiously, says a retired general who led the military relief effort on the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
“The next morning after the earthquake, as a military man of 37 years service, I assumed there would be airplanes delivering aid, not troops, but aid,” said retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, who coordinated military operations after disaster struck the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005. “What we saw instead was discussion about, ‘Well we’ve got to send an assessment team in to see what the needs are.’ And anytime I hear that, my head turns red.”
The problem, Honore told USA TODAY, is that the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, instead of the military, take the lead in international disaster response.
then we need to get even and make him on the dole for good.
he wants fed money for this but even the fed has no money
45,000 coming to cities in our state and we can’t even afford to hire any cops for crying out loud.we have no jobs, not enough money for the schools, health services etc, then we would have to find money to feed them.
we’ve got vets on our streets homeless not being helped right now and who has lost everything.
I’ve got intouch with all reps about this and after reading the local papers form around our state most infact a big majority do not want them to come here either
I have family in the UK and if this happened in the UK then I would go over and help so why are not those over there not gig to help.
I see them on the TV over there standing there instead of helping why?
Many of them now are moaning we are not giving them enough of what they want.
WTH
nearly the world hate us minus the likes of our allies like Israel, UK, Australia etc but our money is good and our land and welfare is good enough for them.
when did this country become a state of ours and our responsibility?
I have no problem with helping in logistics run ways,water, food etc but the money should come from churches the left hate so much and charity groups.
China will loan him the money. He will put the bill on our grandkids. Your grandchildren will rebuild Haiti in the glorious Socialist Utopia model embedded in Obamas defective brain. Of course the flaw is that Socialism only works when Capitalism pays for it.
I'm surprised they don't have a comparative time line designed to contrast Obama's speed in responding to Haiti with Bush's delays in dealing with Katrina.
very true.
my oldest at just turned 12 said to me after watching the news.
“Dad if they come over there and we start to rebuild that country from scratch then where is the money coming form , I thought we had no money”
I had to tell him that he’s already paying for oabma and his spending now and then he said so my kid now will pay for this, that’s not fair I see homeless here too why are we not helping Americans instead of those who are not even helping themselves.
as maggie thatcher said in so many words
the trouble with socialism is that you run out of other peoples money to spend
how true that is why the left’s agenda has never worked any where in the world
Soon he will be announcing that school bus Nagin is his Haitian Relief Czar with Blanco as Czarina.
Rush knows the game, I hope that he starts playing it and gets obama’s goat. Someone like Rush can make obama do something that Obama wants to do that he knows is not in his best interest.
he can get Obama to show his true colors and go off the deep end.
They’re learning. But is Obama going to Boston tomorrow to appeal for Haiti? L O L !
Right but they will never stop trying. I think Rush is right Liberalism is a mental Disease. Sounds good but never works.
The reason Americans should care about “this rat hole” is that that are almost 3 million people living in Port Au Prince. Since it’s almost completely destroyed (if you believe Googlemaps), the ones that survive this immediate disaster have no place to live.
We already have a huge Haitian immigrant group in this country. The Haitian community here is estimated to be almost 1 million, with the largest percentage in Florida. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_immigration_to_the_United_States_and_Canada. All those immigrants provide a hand to help the others come over and get started here.
It’s not that difficult to get from Haiti to Florida. Remember the Haitian boat people? Over half a million came here by boat between 1972 and 1981. Once the government began to be more democratic, the influx lessened.
Unless you want Florida filled with immigrants needing services that taxpayers pay for, it would be smarter to help make Haiti inhabitable. That way they will stay in their homeland.
This timeline is a joke. There is not much there except a few briefings and phone calls.
So, let’s see, Obama made a couple of five-minute phone calls and had one call from a rep at the end of the day that likely went:
Obama - “How’s it going?”
Rep - “We’re working on it sir.”
Obama - “Okay, thanks. Let me know if anything comes up.”
Now THATS working for a living!
Wow!
President Obama single-handedly saves Haiti!
Cloward-Piven.... the more the merrier.
Well, the school buses in New Orleans are all “water-tested” so they can just float them over in the relief effort....
Obama doesn’t help in natural disasters in this Country. Took him six months to sign an emergency declaration for eastern OK last year and our doofus RAT Governor is a huge supporter of Obama.
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