Haiti & How Republicans Undercut Democracy

This incredible piece of journalism about the further disintegration of Haiti showed up in the New York Times over the weekend. It's a long piece but deserves a thorough reading by anyone interested in how Republicans truly view and approach foreign policy.

In short, the piece details how the Bush administration officially claims one policy while surreptitiously undercutting that policy to achieve its true goal --- support of elite business interests.

The vehicle for doing this is the IRI (International Republican Institute) which is chaired by none other than "Mr. Straight Talk," John McCain. No wonder that when it came to the less-than-straight practices of the IRI, John McCain gave this straight answer to the NYT --- "no comment."

What amazed me was that people portrayed in the traditional media as reasonable, foreign-policy Republicans - whether we're talking McCain, Powell or Rice - all appear to be involved in this duplicitous policy --- say one thing (democracy), do another (support elite business interests). Certainly they would prefer cases where the two ideals are one, BUT, and this is what is most imnportant, where the two ideals are at odds, the Republicans support the latter over the former.

In Haiti, the consequences of this immoral policy have been absolutely devastating.