Open Letter to Rush Limbaugh

Dear Rush Limbaugh,

First of all in the spirit of full disclosure and transparancy, I fully admit that I am on the opposite side of the political spectrum from you. I am admittedly a Liberal Democrat, and rarely if ever listen to your show if I can help it, as a matter of fact the poison I have heard you spew in the past, is to me the equivalent to someone scrapping their nails across a blackboard.

However, as a believer in free speech I respect your right to do so even though I adamantly disagree with what you have to say, but thats OK because I don't have to listen if I don't want to. However, that being said several websites including the; Huffington Post and others have shown videos and transcripts of comments you made on your radio show on January 13, 2010. 

The comments attributed to you are: -"The earthquake in Haiti will play right into Obama's hands by allowing him to play up his "compassionate" and "humanitarian" credentials, and that the President will use this crisis to "boost his credibility with the black community." and "We've already donated to Haiti. It's called the U.S. income tax." and as if that was not enough you somehow feel that we've already done enough for Haiti not to mention buying into a callers conspiracy theory regarding President Obama directing the public to the White House website to find charatible organizations to donate money to help, and insinuate that somehow this puts their money at risk of not reaching the Hatians who really need it.

Are You F***ing Kidding Me? Is your hatred of Democrat's and particularly President Barack Obama so great, and blinding that you can only see political maneuvering and conspiracies with every action or word he says or does? Do you honestly believe that? For the sake of humanity and human decency I certainly hope not.

Just for one moment I ask you to consider another point of view. The earthquake in Haiti is the greatest natural disaster in the Western Hemisphere in over 200 years. There is a very good possibility that tens if not hundreds of thousands of people were killed, and hundreds of thousands are left homeless. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. In terms of human misery, the suffering of the Haitian people is incomprehensible.  

If thats not enough for you, 45,000 American citizens live and work in Haiti, with the only goal being to help the citizens of Haiti make a better life for themselves, and hopefully find a way out of the extreme poverty they live in. Many of our fellow 45,000 American citizens are still missing and an unknown number most likely perished in the disaster.

Haiti is in our own backyard so to speak, and the United States has always had a close relationship with the Government and people of Haiti. Even though the United States is suffering with our own economic issues (of which the cause of is something I am certain that we would never agree upon)  even so our standard of living is magnitudes greater than the average standard of living of  the average Haitian citizen. Lets put this into perspective when I was unemployed for 8 months, I received $600.00 every two weeks equaling $1,200 per month. $1,200.00 USD per month equals the average YEARLY wage of an average Haitian citizen. 

In 2008 Haiti had the misfortune of having four hurricanes cross their country and cause major damage. They were just barely recovering from those natural disasters when this happened. The Presidential palace, Parliment building, and thousands of homes and businesses are destroyed. 

To put things in perspective the magnatude of the damage to the nation of Haiti makes the damage that Hurricane Katrina caused to the City of New Orleans and Mississippi Gulf Coast look like a minor inconvenience compared to the damage suffered to the Haitian capitol of Port O Prince and surrounding areas. 

I remember how after the Katrina disaster, and the terrorist bombing of the world trade center - many, many, countries offered aid and assistance to the United States, including countries that are considered hostile to the USA. The United States and our citizens are no different except that we are even more giving and compassionate in the face of disaster and human suffering. Millions of dollars were raised for Haiti in the first 24 hours after the earthquake on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, and numerous U.S. corporations donated even more. President Obama pledged one hundred million dollars in disaster assistance not to mention the assistance of U.S. Based charities, USAID, and the United States Military. 

Dozens of other countries including the European Union, Russia, China, Canada, Cuba, Central and South American Countries and many more are also providing humanitarian assistance as well. 

So by your train of logic, are tens of thousands of Americans and dozens of other countries providing humanitarian assistance to Haiti for some kind of political gain? Seriously do you really believe that we've done enough for Haiti? 

I ask you to consider another possibility. Many if not most of us believe that there is only one family on this planet and that's the human family, when one part of our family suffers we all suffer. Did you ever consider the fact that compassion and caring for another human being in need is a basic trait that makes us all human.

Now, lets get back to President Obama's motivation for offering assistance to Haiti. I believe that if President Obama failed to act it would violate and undermine the basic fabric of our great nation. Haiti is in our backyard so to speak. We have the money, technology, will, and ability to help our neighbor and friends in their time of unfathomable suffering due to no fault of their own. In essence we not only have a moral obligation, but we absolutely have to back up our democratic ideals with action. What kind of credibility would we have if we refused to help our friends and neighbors when we have the ability to provide assistance, but refused because of political or economic concerns?

President Obama does not need as you put it  "to play up his "compassionate" and "humanitarian" credentials, and that the President will use this crisis to "boost his credibility with the black community". 

Did you ever consider that he acted strictly because its the right thing to do, and furthermore as the President of the United States, he is carrying out the mandates, ideals and moral imperative of the United States. 
This is the true test of leadership when he acted quickly and decisively in the darkest hour of one of our friends and neighbors in our own backyard. Not to mention as I mentioned before, these are our friends and fellow human beings suffering a disaster of unimaginable horror.

So I challenge you, Mr. Limbaugh to put aside your petty political rhetoric and hatred for Democrats and President Obama for the greater good of humanity. You can make a significant difference in the lives of our friends and neighbors in Haiti, by using your wealth and platform that tens of thousands of people listen to everyday to help raise money and help instead of spewing hatred and conspiracy theories. Just think how you are one individual who could with a word and encouragement could raise millions of dollars for a charity of your choice. 

Please, please, rise above our petty squabbles, and join the rest of us to help those in need. This is not a matter of politics or political maneuvering, this is strictly a matter of caring for our fellow brothers and sisters.

If you should care to respond, which I sincerely hope you do, I will be happy to post your response in it's entirety. It doesent matter if I agree or disagree with your response. What matters most is honest discussion, and straight forward exchange of opinions. We may disagree on most issues but we can always be civil.

Regards,

Tom