Foreseen On the Road

Monumental events in history has us look, perhaps unconsciously, for clues to its eventuality in previous deeds.

When something important happens we sometimes find precursors or warnings that we previously had not noticed. The falling of the world trade center is such an event that cause people to cite previous 'signs'. However, these signs are likely nothing more than happenstance but nonetheless make us take pause and wonder. Jack Kerouac's iconic novel On the Road is such a source for a sign to 9/11. The book was published in 1957 and tells the tale of a young man's exploration of the wild America. On the last page of the second chapter, in the second section, one of the book's characters wraps a scarf around his ears on a cold New York night. The character, Dean, had said "we were a band of Arabs coming in to blow up New York".

Jack Kerouac

The connection between Kerouac's words and what would happen 40 plus years has been pointed out by others, but I had not realized this until I my recent rereading of On the Road. While this is nothing more than happenstance, it is still interesting to take Kerouac's writing as a reflection of American thinking on the subject of the Orientalist (ala Edward Said) within the framework of 1950's American youth counter-culture.

Democracy Now's Coverage of Aristide's Return to Haiti

NPR's weekday radio show, Democracy Now (DN), is a heavily left-leaning program that discusses issues throughout the world and tends to favor those issues that affect the United States (I thoroughly enjoy the program too). It's left-leaning slant is the antithesis to Fox's heavily right-leaning news programs. Regardless of NPR's political favoring, their programs like DN tend to showcase examples of excellence in journalism and discusses issues that rarely receive coverage by other more mainstream news agencies; for instance the recent massive demonstrations in the state of Wisconsin have received virtually no mention.  However, a black spot has emerged on the quality of DN -the coverage of former president Aristide's return to Haiti -they forgot that every story needs CONTEXT!

Aristide in Haiti (2011)

My context to the story: Beginning earlier this week (March 14th), DN has been covering Aristide's return to Haiti. Back in 2004 Aristide was exiled from Haiti during a military coup that the United States have been accused of backing. Aristide fled to South Africa, where he has stayed ever since. DN staff reporter Amy Goodman traveled there to document Aristide's return which was allowed as the current Haitian government had recently lifted his exile status but the American government had vocally protested such a move and asked that Aristide postpone his return until after the pivotal Haitian elections. The reason is that the previous election that had followed the brutal earthquake that decimated the country was rocked by extreme violence and accusations of election fraud. This latest election is to replace the previous one and it is hoped it will be more peaceful. The American government has said it worries that Aristide's return could jeopardize this peace. Aristide insists that his return has nothing to do with this election and that it is his right to return. Further, Aristide commented that following the election there might be a new ruling party that would maintain his exile. Both of Aristide's comments come from DN's program and reading between the lines suggests a contradiction in his opinion on how his trip is or is not connected to the election.

The Problem: The primary problem with DN's program is that throughout it there is no mention of WHY Aristide was forced out of Haiti and instead only vague innuendo that the US was involved in this somehow. Goodman repeatedly suggested that the US was and is interfering with foreign politics and Aristide's personal freedom. That there was no reason for Aristide's exile is far from the case as he has been cited by Human Rights Watch for his brutal treatment of the political opposition during his run as president. It is true that Aristide was the first democratically elected president of Haiti, but that does not mean he is perfect or saintly as Goodman would have you believe -similar to many other democratically elected leaders I can think of! Instead, Aristide has been also accused of embezzling millions of dollars from an already poor country. This has never been proven, and of course Aristide has vehemently denied it as well.

The Weird: I can also smell something fishy that Goodman has not explained: Aristide has a good friend in a well known American actor, Danny Glover. Danny Glover flew to South Africa this week to escort his friend back to Haiti. He is a known advocate and has been a speaker at a many anti-war rallies. What is odd is that in 2007 president (or dictator if you prefer) of Venezuela Hugo Chavez gave Glover 18 million dollars to film a movie about Toussaint Louverture who in 1791 had led a slave uprising in Haiti (photo on right is of Glover and Chavez in 2007). Chavez has never been known as a humanitarian, and this large sum of money came from the hands of a man who runs a rich country filled with poverty stricken citizens. Glover took that money and considers himself a spokesman for issues of liberty. I smell something fishy

Context is Important Folks: I don't claim to know why the US wanted Aristide out of the country, and that is what is wrong with DN's coverage. It did not give the entire story. Where is the CONTEXT? What US state department spokesman Crowley said back in January was that “We do not doubt President Aristide`s desire to help the people of Haiti. But today Haiti needs to focus on its future, not its past.” I suppose this means Crowley does not see Aristide as a part of this focused on future, but this misses the point. Miss Goodman is a better reporter than this and she should have added context to this story. A good story should encourage a listener or reader to search out more information out of interest and not out of confusion from not having the story properly explained.



 Sources:
NPR /DN story(s): http://www.democracynow.org/tags/haiti http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/3/18/amy_goodman_reports_aristide_lands_in_haiti_after_seven_years_in_exile

Haiti: Aristide Should Uphold Rule of Law (2004): http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2004/02/13/haiti-aristide-should-uphold-rule-law 

Govt Corruption Suit Stalls for Lack of Funds (2006): http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35254

Hugo Chavez, Movie Mogul (2007): http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1624992,00.html

US diplomacy embraces Twitter amid global crises (2011): http://www.dawn.com/2011/01/24/us-diplomacy-embraces-twitter-amid-global-crises.html

Canada's Unrecognized Contribution

Media groups rarely recognize Canada's contributions to global issues. The contributions may not always be as large as some nations, but they are nonetheless important and it is high time this country gets some attention. The recent coverage of NATO's decision to approve a no-fly zone over Libya is a case in point.

A recent article by the New York Time's about NATO's approval of a no-fly zone over Libya did not mention Canada's role in the event. Their article mentions only Britain and France, as in the opening paragraph of: "The United States, Britain and France pushed forward against Libya on Friday as they declared that a cease-fire abruptly announced by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s government was not enough, at least for now, to ward off military action against his forces." (New York Times). French forces currently have an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean which houses some 40 aircraft which could be used for this operation, but no exact number of aircraft or specific resources have been committed by France as of yet (Miami Herald). The US involvement is circumscribed only to the talks within NATO and supporting of various sanctions. There are no plans for the US military to support this mission in the form of troops or in leading the mission (Miami  Herald). However, the US "would provide "unique capabilities" to enable European partners to enforce no-fly zone, Obama said, and experts predicted that could include providing command and control, intelligence, surveillance and search-and-rescue functions" (Miami Herald).

Canadian CF-18

The Canadian newspaper, The Globe and Mail, had this to say about Canada's involvement: "Canada will send six CF-18s, last in action in 1999 as they bombed Serb positions to protect the Albanians of Kosovo." This contribution may not be as large as some nations, such as the UK's who "according to David Cameron... [deployed] Tornados and Typhoon aircraft, as well as air-to-air refuelling and surveillance aircraft" (BBC News). Similar to France's commitment, Great Britain has not yet committed an exact number of aircraft. It is then interesting that Canada has provided an exact number. Regardless, Canada has been heavily involved in the NATO talks and are contributing resources in an effort to halt the violence in Libya. This stands as yet another example of Canada's involvement on the world stage being completely ignored by foreign and particularly American media sources.

All articles published on-line, March 18th, 2011

NYT article: Allies Press Libya, Saying Declaration of Cease-Fire Is Not Enough http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/world/africa/19libya.html?_r=1&hp

Miami Herald: Obama Vows US Role in Libya will be Limited

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/18/2122564/obama-vows-us-role-in-libya-will.html

G&M article: Canada joins UN call for military action in Libya. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/canada-joins-un-call-for-military-action-in-libya/article1945738/

BBC News article: Libya 'to halt military action'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12782642