We haven't heard much about Haiti, lately, have we? Her Jeanness, the Governor-General of Canada, finally made a quick trip to the homeland she left behind, and discovered that leaving it behind was the smart thing to do.
Some members of the Haitian diaspora have suggested that it would be a Good Thing if the lovely and fragrant Ms Jean went home when her term as G-G ends in a few weeks. She could be the new president, they said! It'll never happen, Walt says. It would mean the regal [vice-regal? ed.] First Lady would have to mingle with poor black folks. Yeah, right.
Meanwhile, the world's attention has turned elsewhere. The fundraisers and telethons and famous-people-to-the-rescue efforts have pretty much stopped. The flavour of the month has become the flavour of last month, and it seems we (meaning rich whites) are prepared to let Haiti slip back into the backwardness and poverty in which it has been mired for nearly two centuries.
"Most Canadians, not to mention Americans, could not locate Haiti on a map if given a pointer and a large crayon. It contains fewer people than New York City and yet rates huge headlines in all the best newsmagazines and your favorite morning paper.
"In reality, it is a piffle, no threat to world security, of no consequence to the average inhabitant of Omaha or Moose Jaw, and yet it makes it into every morning's 8 a.m. newscast. Why? Because modern technology...makes it possible. Because technology can make it possible, trivial news masquerades as importance.
"Haiti has no relevance to the world order. It is about as important as Yellowknife. But the New York Times -- and therefore the Globe and Mail -- puts Haiti on the front page. It is a joke."
What's that?! A racist rant from Rush Limbaugh? More of Walt's politically incorrect musings? No, dear reader. Those three paragraphs were written by one of Canada's leading journalists of the last century, Allan Fotheringham. The date of the piece? Not this past winter, but August 1, 1994. You could look it up.
Tomorrow... "Dr. Foth" elucidates the fuzzification.
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