Jane Chastain : Politically Direct

In 1962, in the thick of the Cold War, the late Haitian dictator Francois Duvalier effectively blackmailed  the United States into supporting his government in a speech in which he said this: “Today there are two poles of attraction in the world; if we are not drawn to one, we will gravitate to the other.”

History has a funny way of repeating itself. Read the rest of this entry »

As the poor get poorer in Haiti, the rich and powerful get richer and more powerful.  In fact, power has equaled riches in Haiti and no one is richer than Jean Bertrand Aristide, the former priest who took a vow of poverty before he was elected president.

Aristide’s presidential salary was approximate $120,000 U.S. dollars.  If he had saved every penny of that money during the five years he was in office he could have accumulated no more that $600,000.   There was no official accounting of Aristide’s net worth when he left office, which is required by the Haitian constitution.  However, it is now estimated to be between $35 and 55 million. Read the rest of this entry »

Our president lies to protect himself from past mistakes and misdeeds.  Some argue that he lies merely about personal matters.  Therefore, his lies are of little or no importance.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  For example, Mr. Clinton likes to brag about how he has restored democracy to Haiti.  By clinging to that lie, he not only is presiding over the dawn of a new dictatorship in Haiti,  he has opened up a new avenue for drug trafficking into the United States and has given communism an opportunity to gain another foothold just miles from our shore. Read the rest of this entry »

Article I, Section 8 of our Constitution gives Congress the responsibility of raising, maintaining, and regulating our armed forces; but, with few exceptions, the members of both houses our legislative body have completely abdicated that responsibility.    Haiti is only the most recent and dramatic example.

It is understandable the liberal leaders don’t wish to call attention to the fact that the man in the White House, who is a member of their party, is out of control.  But, what has happened to the Republicans?  For the most part they are simply rolling over and playing dead; or going along to get along, waiting for the midterm election.  Read the rest of this entry »

The Haitian poker game broke up at the eleventh hour last night.  The game was called with the U.S. holding a full house.  The spoils weren’t distributed.  At this point no one really knows how much was at stake, only one thing is sure. We’re responsible for whatever was on that table; and we will be for months, or even years to come. Read the rest of this entry »