Reinventing Uncle Sam
Published in ABCJournal
(Spain) on 21 January 2010
by Alfonso Rojo (link to original)
(Spain) on 21 January 2010
by Alfonso Rojo (link to original)
Translated from
by William O'Brien.
Edited by Jessica Boesl.
If it didn't exist, it would have to be invented. It is not a matter of ability; the E.U. has more than double the inhabitants of the U.S., more soldiers and more money. It is a question of willingness and it is not worth the drivel that Haiti is in the United States' back yard, or that Port-au-Prince is close to Miami.
Yugoslavia is two hours from Madrid by plane, two days from Paris by car, and a day from Berlin by train, but the U.S. had to come 7,000 kilometers to put the breaks on the massacre when the Balkans was carpeted by common graves for 15 years.
Uncle Sam determines so much of the international scene because its leaders assume responsibility and step up to the plate when they think it is necessary. Those from this side, and we have an example at home, at first thought it was a photo-op and traveled to the scene of the tragedy to catch minutes in the news programs. Obama ordered 10,000 marines, knowing that he was assuming enormous risks and that it won't get him votes, as was demonstrated this past Tuesday in Massachusetts.
What is hysterical, because it reveals indolent foolishness, is the revolutionary progressive thesis, according to which the U.S. should establish a protectorate of Haiti, like converting it into an associated state in the style of Puerto Rico.
Don't worry. This doesn't change anything and, according to my calculations, it leaves about three months to commence accusing Uncle Sam of utilizing Haitian disgrace to extend its power and exploit the planet's disadvantaged just a little more.
By this, I am not referring to the gorilla Chavez, the child molester Ortega or the rest of the Bolivarian clique that began talking rubbish before the tremor ceased. Rather, I refer to this broad, colorful and outspoken group of artists, intellectuals, politicians and journalists.
Yugoslavia is two hours from Madrid by plane, two days from Paris by car, and a day from Berlin by train, but the U.S. had to come 7,000 kilometers to put the breaks on the massacre when the Balkans was carpeted by common graves for 15 years.
Uncle Sam determines so much of the international scene because its leaders assume responsibility and step up to the plate when they think it is necessary. Those from this side, and we have an example at home, at first thought it was a photo-op and traveled to the scene of the tragedy to catch minutes in the news programs. Obama ordered 10,000 marines, knowing that he was assuming enormous risks and that it won't get him votes, as was demonstrated this past Tuesday in Massachusetts.
What is hysterical, because it reveals indolent foolishness, is the revolutionary progressive thesis, according to which the U.S. should establish a protectorate of Haiti, like converting it into an associated state in the style of Puerto Rico.
Don't worry. This doesn't change anything and, according to my calculations, it leaves about three months to commence accusing Uncle Sam of utilizing Haitian disgrace to extend its power and exploit the planet's disadvantaged just a little more.
By this, I am not referring to the gorilla Chavez, the child molester Ortega or the rest of the Bolivarian clique that began talking rubbish before the tremor ceased. Rather, I refer to this broad, colorful and outspoken group of artists, intellectuals, politicians and journalists.