[A-List] Fwd: [R-G] Gibbs Gaff, Pakistan Floods

[Suzanne de Kuyper]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Suzanne de Kuyper <suzannedk at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 9:04 AM
Subject: Re: [R-G] Gibbs Gaff, Pakistan Floods
To: "Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion."
<rad-green at lists.econ.utah.edu>


The scramble of the Obama government to take over giving Pakistan
relief aid when it comes out the 'insurgent groups are aiding' the
Pakistanis is obcene...as the indegent in the U.S. live out of their
cars, if they have them when the unemployment money dries up the nice
home and the safe job long gone by fiscal crisis theft, support
payments for the kids impossible when any money is for food, in the
lovely State of Vermont in August of 2010.  Lovely weather there.  No
mudslides. Grocery stores full. Suzanne

On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 8:56 AM, Suzanne de Kuyper <suzannedk at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 11:39 PM, Gary Crethers <garyrumor2 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Pakistan Flood,  Gibbs GaffAugust 11th, 2010
>> Does anyone in the USA care about the flood in Pakistan. I  haven’t seen the
>> relief phone numbers on the TV. Maybe I am just not  looking in the right place
>> but the only place I have seen relief  information has been on South Asian Web
>> sites. It made the internet  news, just barley. Where is the compassion?
>>
>> Here is the article from Foreign Affairs on line site.
>> “Pakistan flooding deaths top 1,300
>> Top story: Pakistani authorities said that the country’s worst  flooding in
>> years has claimed the lives of 1,313 people so far, and that  the final figure
>> could exceed 1,500. The flooding originated in  Pakistan’s northwestern regions,
>> but has spread as far south as Karachi,  affecting up to 14 million people.
>> 1,588 people have been injured and  722,000 homes have been damaged, officials
>> also said.
>> The international community is trying to rally assistance for the  affected
>> areas. The U.S. Agency for International Development has  pledged $55 million to
>> international organizations involved in the aid  effort. The United Nations also
>> plans to unveil its emergency response  plan on Wednesday, injecting another
>> $400 million of aid into the  country.
>> The Pakistani government’s response to the floods has been heavily  criticized.
>> President Asif Ali Zardari continued a visit to Britain  during the height of
>> the flood, raising charges that he was out of touch  with the Pakistani people.”
>> That is it. No pleas for assistance from the Red Cross. I heard a  story from
>> the BBC on NPR yesterday about the flooding. Their angle was  that a terrorist
>> related group was providing the most aid in some  communities. It was almost as
>> if they wanted the world to stay away and  let the Pakistani’s die.
>>
>> Gibbs Story.
>> From Agence France Presse Aug 10 on Alternet Aug 11
>> White House Spokesman Apologizes After Saying ‘Professional Left’  Should Be
>> Drug Tested
>> Obama’s aide Robert Gibbs backtracked after claiming the left “wouldn’t  be
>> satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president.”
>> August 10, 2010  |
>> White House spokesman and President Barack Obama’s close aide, Robert  Gibbs,
>> apologized after a newspaper published an interview in which he  took some tough
>> jabs at the left wing of Obama’s own Democratic Party.
>> In an interview with the political newspaper “The Hill”, Gibbs took  some swipes
>> at people he described as the “professional left” for what  he saw as unfair
>> criticism of Obama’s allegedly not doing enough in  terms of reforms.
>> “They wouldn’t be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president,” the  spokesman
>> quipped, referring to the Ohio congressman known for his  leftist positions.
>> “I hear these people saying he’s like George Bush. Those people ought  to be
>> drug tested,” Gibbs said. “I mean, it’s crazy.”
>> Gibbs later said he had spoken “inartfully.”
>> “I watch too much cable, I admit. Day after day, it gets  frustrating.”
>> I guess the flack got to be too much for Press Secretary Gibbs. He  sure makes a
>> lot of gaffes or are they? I wonder if it is the pressure  of the job or if he
>> is just expressing the President’s centrist views. I  have tried to understand
>> that viewpoint. It is one that wants to  balance all the viewpoints and to take
>> a perspective that is not on the  right or left. The unfortunate thing is that
>> the media has spun the  country so far to the right that reasonable positions
>> from what was once  a liberal agenda such as single payer health reform,
>> lowering defense  spending and increased spending to stimulate jobs in the
>> economy are  simply disregarded as if they are wacky positions. It is as if
>> moderate  proposals such as these and asking for some movement on climate
>> control  legislation and more funding for green jobs or immigration reform are
>> way out there on the fringe.
>> Based on that conception the new center is questioning climate  control
>> legislation for fear of pissing off industry, waffling on  immigration reform,
>> an insurance industry run health care reform with  their advocates making the
>> policy, continued war in Afghanistan and a  continued commitment to Iraq and
>> support for Israel.
>> What is the new right? Repealing the 14th amendment, bombing Iran and  Pakistan,
>> increasing support for Israel, privatizing social security  and medicare,
>> outsourcing almost all government functions or eliminating  every department
>> except Defense, Treasury and the Attorney General’s  Office, lowering the
>> capital gains tax and instituting a flat 10% income  tax.
>> The left isn’t even on the agenda here. Where do you see the 35 hour  work week,
>> 6 weeks paid vacations, free medical care, free or subsidized  housing, free
>> university education, or cost of living indexed welfare  and massive reduction
>> of military spending in line with what Europeans  spend? You don’t unless you
>> consider the bailouts for the banks and auto  industry socialism, that is
>> welfare for the rich.  These are not even  unreasonable demands, this is what
>> many European citizens have now.
>>
>>
>>
>>
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