Will you ever win?

As a kid, I remember reading an old Mad Magazine feature called “You Can Never Win With a Bigot”. It illustrated the mentality of one who is prejudiced and how their opinion of someone they dislike is already “colored” (so to speak), so that regardless of anything the object of their disdain does, the bigot will spin it so as to “prove” that they were right about them all along.

For example, in that piece the bigot is sitting watching a baseball game and someone else says “The bases are loaded and Reggie Johnson is coming up” to which the bigot sneers “Ah, all them niggers choke in situations like this”. Then in the next scene the other guy shouts “Wow! He hit a homerun!”, to which the bigot smugly replies while downing a beer “What do you expect? All them coons are strong from livin’ in the jungle”.

Or in another scene two waiters are talking and one says “I hope that guy over there gives me a good tip”, to which the bigot scoffs “Forget it! Them Jews are way too cheap.” Then in the next panel the first guy comes back exclaiming “Wow! He gave me a $100 tip!”, to which the bigot says “Of course. Kikes have all the money in the world”.

Which, I think, helps to better understand how conservative voices like Rush Limbaugh can spin anything that President Obama does to make it sound negative. The perfect example of the “you can never win with a bigot” in this case is the President’s handling of aid to Haiti. According to Rush, Obama’s swift action to help a nation of people who were absolutely devastated by a massive earthquake amounts to nothing more than a way to appeal to blacks and score brownie points and photo ops. In the world of Rush, even being compassionate and human can be twisted into partisan politics.

As for the art of being “human”, I think Rush clearly pointed out where his own withered "I've got mine" soul stands on that with basically washing his hands of the Haitian people in saying “We’ve already donated to Haiti…it’s called the U.S. income tax”. So pretty much the message is “I gave at the office, so just go away now”. I wonder if he would still feel that way if Haiti was inhabited by blue-eyed Caucasians?

But the real “you can never win with a bigot” point here comes from if we consider what Rush would have said had Obama NOT acted in an opposite manner that Bush had for Katrina, and instead delayed or muted any assistance and aid to Haiti. I think we all know the answer to that one. Rush would have gleefully bounced up and down squealing “See? See? I told you the liberals are all a bunch of hypocrites!”

That is the reason no one should expect someone like Rush and his ilk to ever have a good word to say about the President, regardless of any path he may take at a whatever fork in the road he comes to, because Rush stands ready, like the bigots in the Mad Magazine, to twist and spin whichever direction Obama takes into “proving” himself right no matter what. Because in Limbaugh's world, that is all that matters, regardless of what may or may not be for the overall good of the American people, or humanity for that matter.

And that is why the President has to do what he feels is the right thing to do and not worry about pleasing his detractors who plan to find fault in EVERYTHING he does. Like someone once said, if Obama were to find the cure for cancer, blowhards like Rush would denounce him for taking away jobs from hard-working red-blooded American oncologists.

Smoke gets in your eyes

Shortly after the earthquake in Haiti, Haitian artist Wyclef Jean started appearing on teevee asking for donations to the usual suspects, including his own Yele Foundation. But the interwebs are buzzing with rumors his foundation is a fraud. Here's from Wikipedia (yeah, I know. If you don't like it, do your own Googling.):

In 2005, Jean established the Yéle Haiti Foundation. In its first year of operation, the foundation, with funding by Comcel, provided scholarships to 3,600 children in Gonaïves, Haiti, after the devastation by Hurricane Jeanne. In its second year of operation, it is almost doubling the amount of the scholarships and spreading them throughout Haiti, providing tuition in 5 regions. The foundation aims to provide 6,800 scholarships to children in Port-au-Prince, Gonaïves, Les Cayes, Port-de-Paix, and Cap-Haïtien.

Yéle Haiti, and its predecessor the Wyclef Jean Foundation, have been involuntarily dissolved by the the Florida Division of Corporations on multiple occasions for failing to file required state disclosure reports.^[19] Of the $1,142,944 in total revenue the foundation collected in 2006, at least $410,000 was paid directly to Jean and his business partner for rent, production services, and Jean's appearance at a benefit concert.^[20]

In a 2009 interview with Allhiphop.com writer Han O'Connor, Wyclef stated that his priority for the organization was to raise money to build the Yéle Center, which would be a facility that consists of a sports center, Wyclef Jean School of the Arts, a cultural center focusing on the environment and an internet café. During the interview he claimed that he feels the key to improving the situation in Haiti is to build sustainable opportunity. ^[21]

After the earthquake on January 12, 2010 in Haiti, Jean called on others to donate to his foundation's Yéle Haiti Earthquake Fund, imploring "We must act now."^[22]

OK, so they're sloppy with paperwork. But what's the real issue? Well, The Smoking Gun tells us:

As seen on the following pages from the foundation's 2006 tax return, the group paid $31,200 in rent to Platinum Sound, a Manhattan recording studio owned by Jean and Jerry Duplessis, who, like Jean, is a foundation board member. A $31,200 rent payment was also made in 2007 to Platinum Sound. The rent, tax returns assure, "is priced below market value." The recording studio also was paid $100,000 in 2006 for the "musical performance services of Wyclef Jean at a benefit concert." That six-figure payout, the tax return noted, "was substantially less than market value." The return, of course, does not address why Jean needed to be paid to perform at his own charity's fundraiser. But the largest 2006 payout--a whopping $250,000--went to Telemax, S.A., a for-profit Haiti company in which Jean and Duplessis were said to "own a controlling interest." The money covered "pre-purchased...TV airtime and production services" that were part of the foundation's "outreach efforts" in Haiti.

OK then. I have no insider knowledge of Wyclef or Yele, but I do know the entertainment business, so I think I can shed some light on this.

Regarding the rent paid to the studio, it may be for one of several reasons, like legitimate office rent. The foundation needs space, and will have to pay rent, why not in your own building. Nothing sinister here. And don't think a legitimate business like Platinum Sound can offer "free" space in its building to a charity. Ask your accountant about that. Not happening.

$100k to the studio for Wyclef's performance at a benefit? Look, if he is the studio's only client, like Stevie Wonder and his Wonderland Studio when I worked there, he still has to pay staff, building rent, utilities, even when he's not there. While I wish he'd just paid his expenses out of his own nicely-lined pocket, it still fails the smell test to me. Nothing to see here, move along.

And paying $250k to a production company you own for work they do? In terms of production and post-production expenses, that amount is so small as to be laughable. It probably is wages, utilities, equipment rentals, and rent for the time the company was working on the project. Again, I wish he had just swallowed the expenses, but again, he has a business, with, you know, employees, etc.

Look, when you watch something like the Jerry Lewis telethon, there are many people working on that show, and most of them need to get paid. Someone making $15 per hour can't afford to donate their time for a week of technical work. Could you? Of course not.

So is Wyclef guilty of sloppy bookkeeping? Yes.

Is he guilty of not covering some expenses? Yes.

But is he guilty of fraud, as The Smoking Gun and many others are now implying? I don't know.

But the numbers don't add up to me. If he is skimming a few thousand here, $250k there, he's a lousy con artist, when there's far greater $$ to be had.

Innocent until proven guilty to me. The Smoking Gun is blowing smoke.

In the meantime, here's what you can do for Haiti:

Text "Haiti" to 90999 for a $10 donation to the Red Cross. I did.

Go to Doctors Without Borders' donation site and contribute anything from $35 on up.

And call Pat Robertson's 700 club to politely ask if Jesus would blame the victims of the Haiti earthquake the way Robertson did: (757) 226-7000

You're the devil in disguise

Google Pat Robertson today, and the top 2 auto-fills Google returns are "pat robertson haiti" & pat robertson haiti earthquake". Wonder why?

Well, Robertson has pissed into the punchbowl of decent people everywhere:

"Something happened a long time ago in Haiti and people might not want to talk about," Robertson said Tuesday.

"They were under the heel of the French, you know Napoleon the third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the prince.' True story. And so the devil said, 'Ok it’s a deal.' And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got something themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another," Robertson said.

First, your history is wrong. Napolean Bonaparte, not 'Napolean the third and whatever' sent 20,000 French soldiers to retake the island after they wrote a new constitution. Problem was that yellow fever decimated the French army which was then beaten by Haitian forces. Satan had no part in this struggle. Napolean III wasn't even born until 1808, 6 years after the Hatian Revolution.

Second, what in Hell is wrong with you? I'm pretty sure Jesus, who you claim to worship and adore, wouldn't discuss the reason for the earthquake before wading in to help the poor Haitian people. And He might take issue with your bitching about it:

'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'

So for the first time in 2010, I hereby award our Golden Douch award to Pat Robertson:


Bastard.

Places to donate to Haitian Relief:

Wyclef Jean:

Either you can use your cell phone to text “Yele” to 501501, which will automatically donate $5 to the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund (it will be charged to your cell phone bill), or you can visit Yele.org and click on DONATE.

American Red Cross:

Those wanting to aid in relief efforts can also text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross.

Doctors Without Borders:

Your gift today will support emergency medical care for the men, women, and children affected by the earthquake in Haiti. Please give as generously as you can to our Haiti Earthquake Response and help us save lives.

Sailor here, what SteveAudio said and some more links:

Oxfam-Earthquake hits Haiti – help urgently needed
I've worked with Oxfam before at benefits. They are among the best international charities I know of.

You want to volunteer, but not sure how? These people may be able to help.

I'm going to mostly ignore politics for the moment, except to point out the differences in response between Haiti and New Orleans.
- Haiti has 8 million people. New Orleans had 1/2 a million.
- Haiti is 700 miles to the east of the USA. New Orleans is in the USA.
- Haiti was struck by a natural disaster, and President Obama immediately responded. New Orleans was struck by a natural disaster and pResident Bush said 'heckuva job Brownie.'

The next time someone says there's no difference between Bush and Obama? You have my permission to set them straight.