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Welcome to Thinking Out Loud, a blog that contains postings from The Tampa Tribune’s Editorial Board and from various Tribune Community Columnists. Unlike the unsigned editorials that represent the newspaper’s institutional voice, the blog postings offer personal perspectives on the issues, personalities and events of Tampa Bay. We invite you to participate by posting your comments. We’ll do our best to respond.

Contributors:

Joe Guidry

Joe Guidry is the deputy editorial page editor of The Tampa Tribune. He is a Tampa native and a graduate of the University of South Florida. He is married and has an adult son.

Jeff Stidham

Jeff Stidham grew up and lives in Bartow. He has been with the Tribune for nearly 22 years, the last 10 on the editorial board.

William Yelverton

William Yelverton is a Tribune editorial writer who has worked for the paper nearly 22 years. He lives in the Dade City area.

Jim Beamguard

Jim Beamguard is a Tribune editorial writer. He is a native of North Carolina and a graduate of Davidson College. He and his family live in Brandon.

Jackie Papandrew:

Jackie Papandrew is a freelance writer and editor. Her syndicated humor column appears in publications in the United States, Canada and India. She lives in Largo with her husband and children. Visit her website at www.jackiepapandrew.com.

Camille Beredjick

Camille Beredjick is a senior at Chamberlain High School, an avid musician and a scribbler with a quirky sense of humor. In the fall, she will be attending Northwestern University to study journalism, political science and music, and she plans to pursue a career in journalism.

Jim Harnish

Jim Harnish is in his 17th year as Senior Pastor at Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa. He and his wife, Marsha, have two daughters and two grandchildren. He is a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary and received the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Bethune-Cookman University. He is the author of six books and numerous articles and studies. He enjoys playing with his grandchildren and cheering for the Florida Gators.

Angela Hunt

Angela Hunt is a novelist living in Pinellas County with her husband and two 220-pound mastiffs.

Sheryl Young

Sheryl Young was a Tampa Tribune Community Columnist in 2005-2006. A freelance writer since 1997, including the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Tampa Style Magazines, St. Pete Times and nationally in Better Nutrition, Today’s Christian Woman and more. She’s received a First Place Amy Foundation national "Roaring Lambs" Writing Award, and has lived in Tampa Bay with her family for over 20 years.

Christie Gold

Christie Gold teaches English and journalism at Freedom High School in Tampa where she advises Revolution, the school newspaper. She has been both the Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year and Florida Journalism Teacher of the Year. She lives on a small farm in Wesley Chapel where she trains as a competitive equestrian.

Natalie D. Preston

Natalie D. Preston is a karaoke singing, only-child pouting, Seminole Tomahawk waving, newlywed bride blushing, 50-state traveling, girlie girl who loves to shop, read, run and jump up and down on her soapbox.

Fernando Figueroa

Fernando Figueroa is a researcher, educator and lives in Riverview.

Gary Beemer

Interests include humor, politics, economics, community and world affairs, finance, people, religion, music, sports, current events, the arts and education.

Nicole Yunger Halpern

Nicole Yunger Halpern is an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, where she studies everything she can get her nerdy little hands on. Desired major: life. No, not necessarily biology. Life.

Kris DiGiovanni

Kris DiGiovanni is a Tribune Community Columnist, Huffington Post contributor, Daily Kos diarist, and teacher, who recently moved from NW Hillsborough to another planet - a small beach community in Pinellas County. She also blogs at www.sandscript.wordpress.com

H. David Braswell Jr.

H. David Braswell Jr. is an Information Systems Professional. He is a native New Yorker and a lifelong NY Giants fan. He attended college in California (Cal State Northridge) and moved to Tampa in 1998.

Sean Marcus

Sean Marcus teaches creative writing, journalism and reading at Chamberlain High School. He has one son and is expecting a daughter in early March. He can be reached at wuizabug@gmail.com

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Hating Haiti: One Man’s Mantra

Posted Jan 16, 2010 by Kris DiGiovanni

Updated Jan 16, 2010 at 04:40 PM

Photo: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

Is there anyone in the world who is unmoved by the tragedy in Haiti or whose heart does not go out to the people of this small island nation?

Unfortunately the answer to that question is yes - the self-proclaimed world’s smartest man, Rush Limbaugh.

To Rush, the disaster in Haiti is not so much a calamity as it is a convenient political opportunity. On his show two days ago, he even went so far as to claim the earthquake played

“right into Obama’s hands”

He’s also positive the President and his administration will use our response to the crisis 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.”

But aside from the chance that sending aid might improve Obama’s political capital with Blacks, Limbaugh has another reason US should not offer assistance to the people of Haiti. He thinks it’s redundant.

“We’ve already donated to Haiti. It’s called the U.S. income tax.”

It’s clear that Mr. Limbaugh sees the citizens of Haiti not as people, but as poor Black people, and in his mind, that makes all the difference. If we help them, it can’t be anything other that a “win” for our President, because after all, they share the same skin color. And he is vehemently against Obama gaining any support, even if it costs the lives of innocent human beings. In other words, Rush Limbaugh would rather let people die than take the chance that Obama’s approval rating might go up. What a guy.

I wonder, had the earthquake happened on George Bush’s watch, would Limbaugh have criticized a compassionate response from the US as a political ploy? Would he have pooh-poohed the idea of sending more money than the foreign aid already furnished? No. He would have praised the president as a great humanitarian, and urged Americans to follow Bush’s lead by giving until it hurt.

But his hatred of the President is so deep, and his fear that Obama might somehow benefit from this disaster is so great, that he even tried to prevent his listeners from giving money by scaring them. But when someone called his show to ask about going to http://www.Whitehouse.gov
to donate to the relief effort, Rush responded

Would you trust that your name is going to end up on a mailing list for the Obama people to start asking you for campaign donations for him and other causes.”

Obama’ Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, called Limbaugh’s statements

“really stupid.”

But he was being charitable. Rush Limbaugh’s remarks offer incontrovertible proof of his deep-seated racism, and the lengths he is willing to go to prevent the President from being seen in a positive light. One is left to wonder who exactly made this alleged pact with the devil – the people enduring unimaginable suffering, or the man who wants us to turn our backs on them?

the author can be reached at krisdigiovanni at gmail dot com or on FaceBook

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