I think Senator Leahy, who is a strong supporter of American foreign aid and humanitarian relief assistance, is expressing a growing frustration that you will find not only in Congress, but in our government and the American people, that as we’re approaching the one-year anniversary of the Haitian earthquake there hasn’t been the kind of coordinated, coherent response from the Government of Haiti that is called for. We understand that the government itself was badly damaged, individuals were traumatized. But there has to be a greater effort and there has to be a more focused approach toward problem solving.

So I think that Senator Leahy, who is a very significant member of the Senate and heads the subcommittee that determines where our foreign aid goes in the United States Government, should be heeded by the leaders of Haiti, that this is a very strong signal that we expect more and we’re looking for more.

From the Administration’s perspective, we are still working to try to resolve many of the questions raised by the election and will continue to do so. But at the same time, we don’t want to punish the people of Haiti because of the flaws that were alleged to have occurred in the election. People still need to have their shelter, their education, their clean water, their health, their economic opportunities addressed.

On the Haitian elections, the senior administration official gave Mediaite this statement:

We support the Haitian government’s call for all political actors to remain calm and to encourage their supporters to do the same.

There is a process for candidates to contest the results through Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council, and we urge them to do so.

Along with Haiti’s international community partners, we stand ready to support efforts to thoroughly review election irregularities to ensure the results are consistent with the will of the Haitian people as expressed in their votes.

• Atticus Draco

  tax cuts,, check,, Sarah agrees
  Keep Gitmo open,, check,, Sarah agrees

• sdhrtjhrt

  http://tie.ly/_ecemk
  http://tie.ly/_ecemk
  http://tie.ly/_ecemk
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• Thelonious Funk

  Maybe if there is a cholera outbreak in the US, we can extend unemployment benefits

• Harry Flashman

  I can see Tommy Christopher hunched over his keyboard in a dimly-lit room, half empty bottle of bourbon and a cloudy glass on his desk, the tears flowing, the occasional sob racking his shoulders as he types the headline, “OBAMA ADMINISTRATION AGREES WITH SARAH PALIN…”

  Somebody better check on Tommy. This was probably pretty rough on the guy. You okay, dude?

• Atticus Draco

  Harry Flashman said:
  I can see Tommy Christopher hunched over his keyboard in a dimly-lit room, half empty bottle of bourbon and a cloudy glass on his desk, the tears flowing, the occasional sob racking his shoulders as he types the headline, “OBAMA ADMINISTRATION AGREES WITH SARAH PALIN…”

  Somebody better check on Tommy. This was probably pretty rough on the guy. You okay, dude?

  i know,,lol,, when i read it,, i expected it to be a hit piece
  “Tommy is just luring me in to read him bashing Sarah”
  lol,, i read the piece twice,, “WHAT?! NO BASHING PALIN?!?”
  “Am I at TownHall?”

• sarainitaly

  Atticus – me too! I had to read it a few times to make sure! LOL!

  Thank you, Tommy.

  And you’re looking well.

• Pablo

  This may be the quietest Palin thread in Mediaite history.

• Just4thefax

  Fact: Put decoy boats all over on Haiti beaches that has GPS built in to them that leads them to Cuba!

• sarainitaly

  Pablo said:
  This may be the quietest Palin thread in Mediaite history.

  true dat! haha

• Atticus Draco

  sarainitaly said:
  Pablo said:
  This may be the quietest Palin thread in Mediaite history.

  true dat! haha

  I KNOW!
  That’s another shocker!!!

  I gotta keep checking the web address
  “TownHall,, Hot Air,, nope,, it says MEDIAite”

• Truth

  Palin quote: ‘Get out of your comfort zone and volunteer to help’ Let’s see the size of her personal check first. “Get out of your comfort zone” let me see if I get this. She went to Haiti on a chartered jet, she ran around the country side in a air conditioned car, handed out a few gifts, said a few words and jump back on the chartered jet back to her comfort zone. All the other volunteers, doctors, nurses, etc have to pay their own way.

  I hope for the sake of the Haiti people she did this in good faith and her effort will get people to open their wallets and if so I applaud her, but if her hidden modtive was to get more face time with the press to exploit her politiical ambitions then I hope she goes to hell.

• TrollJuice

  There is like the same 3 people on this thread every day! Losers!

• Truth

  TrollJuice said:
  There is like the same 3 people on this thread every day! Losers!

  Thanks for the constructive input Professor TrollJuice

• Harry Flashman

  Truth said:

  “She went to Haiti on a chartered jet, she ran around the country side in a air conditioned car,…..”

  So, just how was she supposed to get there? Kayak? Maybe inflating an innertube and, after a couple of months at sea living on raw fish and a seagull now and then, she would land and throw herself into one of the cesspools there. Would that satisfy?

  Good Lord.

• Tommy Christopher

  This is a prime example of why you don’t see more writers engaging the comments section. It’s true, none of you have a duty to be fair, but if you’re going to make false generalizations, you can’t then expect to be engaged in civil conversation. the choice is yours.

  I’m happy to discuss criticisms I’ve made of Palin, but the notion that I “bash” her is not borne out by facts. There is no mainstream writer, liberal or otherwise, who has defended Palin, when warranted, to anywhere near the degree I have.

  I defend/criticize Palin depending on the merits as I see them, not based on some predetermined bias against her. I don’t expect a pat on the back from either side, just an honest assessment.

• Truth

  Harry Flashman said:
  Truth said: “She went to Haiti on a chartered jet, she ran around the country side in a air conditioned car,…..” So, just how was she supposed to get there? Kayak? Maybe inflating an innertube and, after a couple of months at sea living on raw fish and a seagull now and then, she would land and throw herself into one of the cesspools there. Would that satisfy? Good Lord.

  If this was truely an humanitarian visit pay her own way like all the other volunteers and give the dollars saved to Haiti. She certainly didn’t have to take her whole clan. She was not going there as any offical spokes person of this country. She was a volunteer at least that what was advertised.

• pakattak

  Tommy Christopher said:
  This is a prime example of why you don’t see more writers engaging the comments section. It’s true, none of you have a duty to be fair, but if you’re going to make false generalizations, you can’t then expect to be engaged in civil conversation. the choice is yours.

  I’m happy to discuss criticisms I’ve made of Palin, but the notion that I “bash” her is not borne out by facts. There is no mainstream writer, liberal or otherwise, who has defended Palin, when warranted, to anywhere near the degree I have.

  I defend/criticize Palin depending on the merits as I see them, not based on some predetermined bias against her. I don’t expect a pat on the back from either side, just an honest assessment.

  And that’s why you are the man, Tommy.

  People seem to think their favorite political personalities can do no wrong. Unfortunately, when you point something out that indicates the contrary, they scream “BIAS!”

• pakattak

  Oh, and I also love it when people think their most hated political personalities can do no right.

  I do not like Sarah Palin. I think she’s a wee bit crazy and shouldn’t hold any sort of office on the federal level.

  But she did good with her Haiti trip. And no one should really criticize her for goodwill.

• sarainitaly

  Tommy Christopher said:
  I’m happy to discuss criticisms I’ve made of Palin, but the notion that I “bash” her is not borne out by facts. There is no mainstream writer, liberal or otherwise, who has defended Palin, when warranted, to anywhere near the degree I have.

  well, answering for myself, i don’t actually recall if you *bash* palin or not. I do know that the anti-Palin threads on Mediaite are abundant, and often unfair, incorrect, and usually just plain snipy, snarky, or insulting. My comment was laughing at the above comment because i thought with that headline, as posted on Mediaite, was most definitely leading to some sort of snarky insult on Palin – because that is par for course on Mediaite.

  Like I said, not sure if you partake in that or not, because there are so many writers, and about 1,300 stories that involve Sarah Palin (yes, I checked) it is hard to keep track of who writes what.

  But, I did have to read the story couple of times because I was sure it would lead to some sort of negative Palin comment – and that’s not because I wish it so – it’s because it is the norm at mediaite.

  It didn’t, which is why i said Thank you, and added that you are looking well (healthy).

  And yes, when you stick up for her when she deserves it, I believe I applaud you as well.