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You are here: Home / Politics / Media / Someone Buy Howard Fineman a Globe

Someone Buy Howard Fineman a Globe

by | 98 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Who needs wingnuts when you have the Beltway media:

Elected in part out of revulsion at the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina, Obama now finds himself confronting an even more devastating and complex humanitarian crisis.

And, adding irony upon irony, the racial context of New Orleans is writ large in Port-au-Prince. Katrina cost George W. Bush what little standing he had among moderates in his own party in part because the shocking images of suffering in New Orleans were so racially imbalanced.

Now the Obama administration’s competence and compassion will be tested in a similar racial context—and with a much worse infrastructure. Obama and his aides understand all of this. The president was out early today with a strong statement about American efforts to deal with the aftermath of the devastating Haitian earthquake.

Expect to see a parade of official statements and rescue missions. Expect to see the Pentagon deeply involved—ships and soldiers—to supplement international relief efforts. Expect to see the president and chief of staff Rahm Emanuel keeping a close, minute-by-minute watch on what is happening around the island. Expect to see a review of what the administration has—or hasn’t—done to improve the dire overall life of that country. Expect Obama to make sure that there is no egregiously incompetent “Brownie” in the chain of command, and that, as president, he doesn’t tell anybody they are “doing a heck of a job” unless they really are.

Could someone please explain to Howard Fineman that:

1.) Haiti is not an American state. Louisiana is.

2.) The head of FEMA will not be leading the rescue efforts in Haiti. FEMA did take the lead in the rescue of New Orleans, because as we established in point 1, NEW ORLEANS IS AN AMERICAN CITY.

3.) Earthquakes, unlike hurricanes, happen with minimal warning. Hurricanes move along trajectories that allow for action prior to the devastation, which is part of what made the slow response galling.

4.) Never in my lifetime has an American president been responsible for the rescue of another nation after a natural disaster, no matter what the “racial context.” Sure, we always help- but putting the responsibility on our President?

5.) Finally, and most importantly, Howard Fineman is an asshole. I can only hope this was written after six double vodka martinis.

The most depressing thing is that if Fineman absolutely had to try to make some sort of convoluted connection between President Obama and President Bush, there was a natural analogy that sort of fit- the tsunami in 2004. And you know what- I think President Bush and our military did a very impressive job in response. If I remember correctly, we had a large naval contingent that was on the scene quite quickly.

(via)

Which is probably why Fineman didn’t want to use that example.

Reader Interactions

98Comments

  2. 2.

    BR

    I have to say, I love this site because it’s one of the few places on the web I can get a daily dose of logical reasoning about politics.

  4. 4.

    Mike Kay

    4.) Never in my lifetime has an American president been responsible for the rescue of another nation, no matter what the “racial context.”

    In the past 40 years, there have been devastating earthquakes in Nicaragua (Roberto Clemente lost his life delivering relief), Guatemala, and Mexico. No one has ever held the US responsible for the outcome of the those tragedies.

  5. 5.

    r€nato

    This just in: Fuck Pat Robertson

    Pat Robertson, the evangelical Christian who once suggested God was punishing Americans with Hurricane Katrina, says a “pact to the devil” brought on the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

  6. 6.

    Gwangung

    The most depressing thing is that if Fineman absolutely had to try to make some sort of convoluted connection between President Obama and President Bush, there was a natural analogy that sort of fit- the tsunami in 2004. And you know what- I think President Bush and our military did a very impressive job in response.

    No, wrong analogy.

    Wrong color of non-white.

  7. 7.

    Rey

    Of course Fineman has to compare Haiti to New Orleans because you see the people on our TV screen have black skin, just like in New Orleans, and the President is Black er, half-Black, well his wife is all Black and all those poor Black skinned people in Haiti look just like those poor Black people in New Orleans and well- dammit to hell they’re Blaackkkkk. Also, too or something.

  8. 8.

    Tom Hilton

    Never in my lifetime has an American president been responsible for the rescue of another nation after a natural disaster, no matter what the “racial context.”

    Even if the nation is named Tiger Woods?

  9. 9.

    arguingwithsignposts

    Elected in part out of revulsion at the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina, Obama now finds himself confronting an even more devastating and complex humanitarian crisis.

    Well, Katrina was certainly a part of the reason Obama was elected. But I can think of a LOT of others that would be right up there with it. And I’d venture that the majority of Americans didn’t have Katrina or New Orleans at the forefront of their minds when the punched their ballot on Nov. 3. Hell, John McCain WON Louisiana! Douchebag.

    And yeah, the tsunami was a much more apt analogy. What a wanker. Fineman was on Olbermann the other night, and he just seems so damned smug about himself.

    I asked Smudge what she thought. She gave him the back leg salute.

  10. 10.

    General Winfield Stuck

    I think you pretty well covered it Senor Cole.

    All that botox hath wrinkled Howard’s thinker.

  11. 11.

    Midnight Marauder

    Does this man not have editors to tell him, after reading such mind-reeling inanity, “There is no fucking way this is getting published in a major national magazine. None. At all. In fact, you are fired, Howard Fineman. Good day.”

    No, no he does not. And thus, we get “insights” such as these:

    Elected to end the war in Iraq, he finds himself deep in a metastasizing war against Al Qaeda and its allies in Afghanistan and, perhaps, elsewhere. Elected to bring America out of a recession, he now has to deal with our dwindling role in a global economy dominated by the BRICs and by the rapidly growing, smaller “frontier” countries.
    __
    And now: Haiti.

    ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME WITH THIS BULLSHIT?!

  12. 12.

    valdivia

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    oh Smudge!

    Fineman is writing a book about Obama and the election or the first year of his admin so maybe this is the caliber of what we are looking forward to. shoot me now.

  14. 14.

    Brachiator

    The most depressing thing is that if Fineman absolutely had to try to make some sort of convoluted connection between President Obama and President Bush, there was a natural analogy that sort of fit- the tsunami in 2004. And you know what- I think President Bush and our military did a very impressive job in response.

    Yep. This pretty much nails it.

    People like Fineman can’t help themselves. They see masses of black people on TV and lose all capability for rational thought.

  16. 16.

    BDeevDad

    @r€nato: That’s been in for a while. Didn’t he say something similar wrt to Katrina? Then again, I’m just upset you said it first.

  23. 23.

    r€nato

    @BDeevDad:

    actually I heard it in the news report at the top of the hour on NPR and I was quite pleased that in the brief time alloted to it, the reporter (NPR’s religion beat reporter, actually) managed to mention the multiple instances when that fucking ghoul blamed various natural disasters and tragedies (Katrina, 9/11, various hurricanes) on God carrying out Robertson’s revenge fantasies for him.

  24. 24.

    trollhattan

    #8 Tom Hilton FTW in early polling.

    Even if the nation is named Tiger Woods?

    Pat Robertson and his enormous cloaca aside, how can Hatians not be considered the most f*cked people on the planet? Where I differ from Kamindant R is that they somehow earned it.

  25. 25.

    Ash

    @Mike Kay:

    In the past 40 years, there have been devastating earthquakes in Nicaragua (Roberto Clemente lost his life delivering relief), Guatemala, and Mexico. No one has ever held the US responsible for the outcome of the those tragedies.

    Those countries aren’t blackity black enough.

  26. 26.

    scav

    So, Hawaii is foreign and Louisana = Haiti. Real ‘Merca is getting whittled down something terrific here. ah well, maybe it’s a shovel ready project for cartographers.

  28. 28.

    SGEW

    And you know what – I think President Bush and our military did a very impressive job in response [to the 2004 tsunami].

    You know, I had completely forgotten about the Bush administration’s reasonable and humane reaction to the tsunami: the public call for donations and support, the (eventually) increased aid, the Bill Clinton/H.W. Bush delegation . . . all around, a pretty responsible response to an overwhelming disaster.

    There: my “George W. Bush Was Not a Complete and Total Unmitigated Failure” admission for the week. See, also, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument.

  30. 30.

    Obliterati

    Translated Fineman:

    “Black black with black over the black, to be the black black black in the black black. The black black of black is black, especially the black and the black. Could black black the black black? Black will black.”

  31. 31.

    gil mann

    Fineman was on Olbermann the other night, and he just seems so damned smug about himself.

    If Fineman and Milbank combined their smirks, they’d have one whole smile.

  32. 32.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @mr. whipple:

    Sarah sprinkled Kryptonite on his wheaties.

    drat, the fiendish fiends.

    Serendipitous tweet –==\

    Obama Death Panels in Haiti!!

    Jane says Obama FAIL

    Norquist loses erection.

    Nuther day in Paradise.

  34. 34.

    John Cole

    @SGEW: Bush had a few moments that were good. One of my personal favorites was how he immediately came to the defense of Islam, the religion, after 9/11. He really did urge calm at a time period when there could have been a lot of ugly anti-muslim violence in the US.

  35. 35.

    satby

    @Obliterati: This.
    As I was reading the excerpt above (didn’t have the stomach to click through to the whole thing) I kept wondering when Fineman would slip up and use the N word.
    Unreal.
    And fuck Pat Robertson twice with a rusty sharp implement.

  36. 36.

    Napoleon

    @freelancer:

    Awesome, so our rescue effort of Haiti should involve taking out Venuzela. Remember, alum from the Heritage Foundation are the people who staffed up our occupation effort in Iraq (as well as the Bush WH) and the next time a Rep is president they will help staff up his admin.

  40. 40.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    I think you need to read the Fineman piece again. The pictures of the people in Haiti look eerily like the pictures that came out of New Orleans. Read this thread at TNC’s place and tell me other folks might not have a little different point of view on what the response should be. Haitian are not citizens of the USA but many Americans feel a certain shared history with them. This isn’t just any country. Haiti has a long sad history. It was the first country in the new world to cast off the shackles of slavery and the presidential palace that now lies in ruins was the home of the new world’s first black leader.

    I don’t think Fineman infers that FEMA should come to the rescue. He does, in my opinion, seem to be saying that this is Obama’s chance to shine AND GET IT RIGHT.

    Cole I now understand that you really do need that sabbatical.

  41. 41.

    JGabriel

    John Cole:

    Haiti is not an American state.

    While I pretty much agree with your take on Fineman’s concern trolling here, I think the tone of your response, perhaps unintentionally, underestimates the U.S.’s responsibilities in Haiti.

    In Central and Southern Asia, an argument can be made that Europe, Japan, China, et. al., also have equal interests and responsibilities in disaster response. In Africa, Europe arguably has even greater interests and responsibilities than the U.S., due to Europe’s status as former colonial powers in the continent.

    But Haiti is strictly in the U.S. sphere of influence. Not only do other countries have fewer interests there, but America has frequently discouraged other countries from getting involved there — i.e., the Monroe doctrine.

    Fineman clearly overstates Haiti’s importance in our domestic politics, but I think it’s hard to overstate, from a foreign policy perspective, how important our response there will be, especially for Haitians. No one will be helping them as much as us, particularly, again, because of our history of discouraging the influence of other countries in our hemisphere.

    So, even though Fineman’s focus on the domestic politics angle is misguided, it’s not completely out of line for Fineman to stress the importance of Obama’s response there — which, by the way, I think has been very good so far.

    .

  43. 43.

    geg6

    On behalf of the good people of Pittsburgh, I would like to apologize for foisting Howard Fineman on the world. And while I’m at it, I’d like to apologize on behalf of my employer for graduating Margaret Carlson.

  44. 44.

    Ash

    @The Grand Panjandrum:

    The pictures of the people in Haiti look eerily like the pictures that came out of New Orleans.

    How exactly are they similar? I really would like to know, I don’t think I’m quite getting your point.

    Black people + natural disaster + dead bodies = ???

  45. 45.

    SGEW

    @John Cole:

    [President Bush] immediately came to the defense of Islam, the religion, after 9/11.

    Absolutely. That’s probably number one on my (admittedly short) list of “Things I Have To Grudgingly Admit As One Of George W. Bush’s Admirable Actions” (along with not acceding to Cheney’s desire to bomb Iran, the increased aid to Africa (leaving aside the abstinence idiocy – aid was still substantially increased), and not being totally bugfuck crazy about immigration policy).

  46. 46.

    El Cid

    @John Cole: I always felt there was a degree of confusion and resentment on the Boltonite / screamosphere right for Bush Jr’s discouragement of pure rage at Islam and Muslims.

  47. 47.

    kay

    Grover Norquist said the GM bail out was Obama’s Katrina, so Haiti is his second Katrina.

    We’re going to need a list.

  49. 49.

    Mike S

    The tsunami was one of the only things that President Bush did a very good job on. And it was probably the only time that some sort of his foreign policy had a positive effect.

    The U.S. Naval Hospital Ship Mercy arrived in Bande Ache, Indonesia to help treat the injured and stayed on to provide general medical care. This was the result:

    According to a BBC poll, almost 70% of the people in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation, viewed our country with hostility before the tsunami. Today, according to a poll released by the Heritage Foundation, almost 70% think more favorably of us.

  50. 50.

    Dannie22

    May Pat Robertson burn in hell from the heat of thousand suns. As far as Fineman goes, he’s just another self- absorbed hack who has very little to say.

  54. 54.

    Mnemosyne

    @arguingwithsignposts:

    When we brought Charlotte home after getting spayed and took the Cone of Shame off her, she started cleaning herself. At one point, she got her leg hooked behind her head and then completely forgot what she was doing and why, so she just sat there looking around until we unhooked her leg for her.

    I can’t remember if we got a picture, but it was damn funny.

  56. 56.

    RandomChick

    I hate to be nitpicky, but the slot to the right of the article says the author is Kate Connolly. There’s a picture and everything.

    Newsweek may have just made this more visible recently, though. The first dozen commenters were asking if it was Fineman or Connolly who wrote it. You know, since his byline is right under the article title.

  57. 57.

    Annie

    @valdivia:

    Exactly. And, how long after this crisis will conservatives complain about the amount of taxpayer dollars going for foreign development aid…

  59. 59.

    r€nato

    @Dannie22:

    There is no hell and no heaven, so I guess we’ll just have to settle the score here on Earth.

    Personally, I would love it if Robertson needed surgery and ended up getting HIV from infected blood. Then we could all speculate as to what God is punishing him for.

  60. 60.

    Zach

    We arguably have a greater responsibility to Haiti owing to being the last occupying power in the country (for the selfish reasons of mitigating German influence and protecting American business interests). Of course, our attempts to live up to that responsibility have seen mixed success at best.

    We’ve obviously had our hand in many of the countries hit by the tsunami, too.

    America has never really acted as if we bore any responsibility for countries that were once in our possession, though.

  61. 61.

    kay

    @gil mann:

    I disagree. I saw Millbank today on television and he looked and sounded defensive and miserable.
    I think he broke a rule in that weird little insular world they live in. I don’t know the rules, so I’m guessing. They’re rigidly conventional, remember. There. Are. RULES. I don’t think he’s really cut out for selling horrible gossipy screeds. You can’t be distancing yourself from the trash while you’re selling it.

  64. 64.

    kay

    @freelancer:

    5th. There was a multi-state ice storm and a serious flood. Both of those were Katrinas, but the liberal media wouldn’t report on them, so you don’t recall them.

  65. 65.

    danimal

    Haiti has been a devestatingly poor country my entire lifetime. The infrastructure is minimal to begin with and It’s blatantly unfair to expect Obama’s response to a natural disaster in a foreign country to be compared to Bush’s response to post-Katrina New Orleans.

    That being said, I think he’ll do an admirable and inspirational job. Americans will be proud and Haitians will be grateful. None of this will matter to conservative hacks, unless they decide Obama is spending too much time and money helping, ahem, foreign people of color instead of real Merkuns.

  67. 67.

    Bill H

    I will never forget the film clips of U. S. sailors frantically loading water bladders into helicopters, working as if it was their own lives that depended on it. Made me proud of my country and proud to be a Navy veteran.

  70. 70.

    Clockwork Buddha

    Howard Fineman.

    Is is a coincidence his name is comprised of the surnames of the Three Stooges plus a gender?

    It’s irresponsible not to ask.

  73. 73.

    Midnight Marauder

    @freelancer:

    Obama re-nominating Dawn Johnsen for OLC is his 3rd Katrina.

    But I thought him nominating her the first time, only to serve as a fake-out to the progressives who weren’t even mad at him yet and kill the nomination in secret to show them who’s boss, was his 3rd Katrina?

  75. 75.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    Point of order: The author is one Katie Connolly.

    Katie Connolly joined Newsweek in June 2007, working for Newsweek’s international editions. In September 2007, she was assigned to cover Republican presidential candidates for Newsweek’s special election issue and book. For this project, Katie was detached from the weekly magazine and her reporting was embargoed until after election day. As a result, she gained exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to the McCain campaign*.

    Now based in DC, Katie was named Political Correspondent in November 2008 and covers the White House and Capitol Hillº.

    Katie received her Master of Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where she was the 2005 Menzies Scholar. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland and completed her honors thesis on media representations of the East Timor conflict at the University of Melbourne. She was born and raised in Brisbane, Australia‡.

    ºWhere she made Sarah Palin seem not completely dim by comparison.
    † Or she will. Once she finds it.
    ‡ Of course she can’t find it on a map.

  76. 76.

    Origuy

    From the Navy Times today:

    Seven ships — including the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson — are or have orders to get underway to support humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti, according to Navy officials.

    —

    Carl Vinson was rerouted Wednesday and is expected to arrive off the coast of Haiti Thursday. The amphibious assault ship Bataan and dock landing ships Fort McHenry and Carter Hall have been ordered out of Norfolk, Va., to conduct humanitarian relief exercises in preparation for Haiti relief efforts, said Ted Brown, spokesman for Fleet Forces Command.

    —

    Also on standby to assist are the Norfolk-based cruiser Normandy; the Mayport, Fla.-based frigate Underwood; and the Baltimore-based hospital ship Comfort. The hospital ship can carry 650 medical professionals and their equipment to the region, which has reported the destruction of numerous hospitals.

  81. 81.

    slag

    Don’t know why the double-post. And I don’t have anything good to say instead of this second one, so I’ll just apologize. Sorry.

  83. 83.

    Boots Day

    Katrina was Obama’s first Katrina. No major American cities were destroyed under George W. Bush.

    /Rudy Giuliani

  84. 84.

    New Yorker

    This is going to be the worst failure in a humanitarian crisis by an American president since the Lisbon earthquake of 1755.

    And Sarah Palin told me on FOX today that God created America at the same time he created baby Jesus, so don’t you tell me America wasn’t around in 1755. That’s what the lib’rul media wants you to believe.

  85. 85.

    pattonbt

    @slag: I thought the lack of N1H1 vaccinations was Obama’s Katrina?

    Man it’s hard to keep track of them all.

    Worst. President. Ever!!!!!

  86. 86.

    Anne Laurie

    @General Winfield Stuck: I just took the Spousal Unit on a tour back through Charlie’s photo gallery, and he pointed out how much sleeker & more confident Charlie looks now than in those early shots (barely a month ago). Kudos to you, sir!

  89. 89.

    General Winfield Stuck

    @Boots Day: Yea, I guess that’s right. Happened in 2005. If it was 2004, we would have had to blame Clinton, cause he was closer and all. Or maybe split the FaIL between Obama and Bill.

  90. 90.

    Keith

    On the tsunami response, correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t the US catch a ton of shit initially because our first financial pledge was something ridiculously low (I wanna say it was something like $20 million or thereabouts)?

  91. 91.

    Crusty Dem

    @John Cole:

    I may be remembering this wrong, but I thought after the Tsunami, Bush popped up on TV offering a whopping $15,000,000 in aid (cue Dr. Evil). I’m not saying the response didn’t improve after that, but the response of the first few days was nearly as mediocre as Katrina…

    Ok, I see now that Keith beat me to it..

  92. 92.

    asiangrrlMN

    Good god. Where’s the alcohol? I’m not even disagreeing that President Obama should respond on a large scale. It’s the notion that somehow this is comparable to Katrina that grates my ass. And, let’s be honest, I don’t have enough ass to be grating any more of it off.

    @arguingwithsignposts: I am with Smudgey and her back leg salute. Except, if I did that, I would probably pull a back muscle.

    @General Winfield Stuck: Aw, Charlie looks so cute behind the wheel. I bet HIS drivers license photo comes out wonderfully.

  93. 93.

    Little Macayla's Friend

    Since I expect many of the critiques of aid to Haiti will arrive before the aid does, the wiki link in the post contains a link to a page on the humanitarian response to the 2004 Indian Ocean quake and effects.

    Section 2.4 (Pledged amounts as percentages of GDP) of the Humanitarian Response page begins with a list of caveats about passing judgement on aid.
    Unfortunate that tragedy leads to scorekeeping for political reasons
    (religion is also mostly politics to me), but the 2004 events’ scale and complexity might provide comparable lessons for keeping the pundits from going completely off the tracks.

  94. 94.

    Little Dreamer

    I’m so glad we learned how to rebuild nations after wars now, because apparently we’re going to have to rebuild Haiti, since we are the world’s police force and all.

    I guess we can kiss our children and grandchildren’s future goodbye, all money will now be going towards getting Haiti back on their feet. Perhaps we can offer wall street bonus recipients a tax credit if they make large ($100k or above) charity contributions.

  95. 95.

    Mark S.

    I was punching around on the radio earlier tonight and lo and behold, Michael Savage was berating a crazy lady who was arguing that the Haitians deserved this because of voodoo or some shit. It was the only time in my life that I have ever agreed with Savage or listened to his show for more than 30 seconds without giving up all hope for humanity.

  96. 96.

    djESNO

    As I was reading your post I was thinking, “New Orleans is a part of America, asshole!” and upon reading the bullet points I saw that you addressed both sentiments in points (1) and (6)….nicely done, Kemosabe!

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