Kate’s Corner ~ Medical Team abandons Haitian Hospital, CNN steps in

By Kate Doak

Port-au-Prince victims of the Haiti Earthquake were left writhing in pain overnight, after UN personnel ordered the closure of a Make-shift hospital and the evacuation of its Belgian Medical Team, due to security concerns.

In a move which is bound to have severe repurcussions for the UN, the Hospital’s patients were forcably abandoned, leaving only a CNN News Team led by Dr Sanjay Gupta to care for them. If it wasn’t for these individuals and a few caring locals stepping in, it is highly probable that many of the patients would have died.

After being informed that the Hospital was closing overnight, Dr Gupta was left as the only Doctor to care for these patients, many of whom had just suffered severe head injuries and other major trauma’s. In an interview with CNN, Gupta expressed the following:

“What is striking to me as a physician is that patients who just had surgery, patients who are critically ill are essentially being left here, nobody to care for them.”

In another interview with CNN, Lt. Gen. Russell Honoré, US Army (Ret.), who led relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina in 2005, commented upon the situation:

“Search and Rescue must trump Security. I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life. They need to man up and get back in there.”

Now normally I have the utmost respect for Doctors and the UN, though decisions and actions such as this are just completely unforgivable, not to meantion shameful. If the Doctors were being ordered to move, they should have taken their patients with them. If they weren’t allowed to, they should have given the relevant UN Officials the “Bird”, and carried on with their work. If a location isn’t safe enough for the Medical Team, then it most certainly isn’t safe enough for patients to be just left to die. Whether they were forced to go or not, the Doctors shouldn’t have abandoned their patients.

In contrast however, I have the utmost admiration, appreciation and respect for Dr Gupta and his team from CNN. This team includes CNN’s Tim Crockett, Jonathan Schaer and one of my mentors, the intrepid Danielle Dellorto. Having witnessed her kindness, honesty and wisdom during my own darkest hour, I know that “Dani” would have done her best to help and comfort the injured, while she would have been a source of inspiration and encouragement for the rest of her team. In a world dominated by instant communication, neither words or photographs can describe how proud I am of my mentor and her colleagues.

Here are some of the Tweets from CNN’s Dr Gupta and Danielle Dellorto from throughout the night:

Kate Doak is a Postgraduate Student at the University of New England, Australia.  Over several years she has changed beats twice, genders once and has interviewed some of Australia’s top Authors, Politicians, Musicians and Journalists for TUNE! FM.  Nowadays, Kate primarily focuses on International History and Current Affairs.

TBogg is the Boyfriend Keith Olbermann Deserves?

I hate to break it to you, TBogg, but KO is spoken for.

The Firedoglaker is at it again, attacking yours truly in a fit of blind partisan snrage (that’s “snark” and rage”), and once again getting his facts wrong.

The provocation this time was the fact that I pointed out Keith Olbermann’s fingerbang salute to Carrie Prejean. I actually took it pretty easy on KO, of whom I am a big fan. Unfortunately, some liberals require blind idolatry, even when it runs counter to actual liberalism.

I went on to critique the left’s treatment of Prejean, another big no-no in TBogg-land.

First, though, he references the last story he got wrong about me:

When we last saw  Conservative Pet Liberal Tommy Christopher he was getting blog-killed by Big Bunny because he had the blogdacity*  to go “shame shame” over Guy Cimbalo’s hatefuck article/post thingy. As it turned out, pretty much anyone who was familiar with Cimbalao’s article shared Tommy’s opinion, but the timing of AOL’s de-Tommyfying was enough to throw the wingnuts into a frenzy.

Well, they’re always in a frenzy, but it was kismet that day because the Mexicans, Muslims, and Negroes  were  behaving themselves. At least for for a few hours.

Now we see that Tommy has washed up on the shores of the  Mediaite (I don’t know how to pronounce it either) blog which is kinda of like the crackbaby lovechild of Politico and Tiger Beat (”Who’s Hot Who’s Not!” “Win a Dream Date with Dreamylicious Jake Tapper!” etc.).

The “wingnuts” in a frenzy? Right, like The Huffington Post, or Howard Kurtz? He also displays the same class that led him to make fun of special needs children last time, tossing his barbs at crack babies here. Real nice.

He also forgot to check his facts again. I got fired from Politics Daily, asshole. I still work for AOL now, still write about politics for them. AOL offered me a new job the next day.

He also posits that I only defend young, hot, conservative women. You know, like Kevin Jennings or Van Jones. Boing!

True, I was also fortunate enough to land a great gig with Mediaite that permits me to get out of my jammies and into the real world once in a while.

Factual lapses aside, he also goes on to miss the entire point of my post. By attacking Prejean’s tits and masturbatory habits, the left has amplified her importance well beyond what it should be, and made themselves look ugly in the process. Keith Olbermann’s (thankfully non-glistening) fingers may be worth a chuckle to some, but at what price? What average American is going to watch that and say “My, that Keith Olbermann is a clever fellow. Let me probe his views on marriage?”

TBogg says “As to his point that she has been amplified, her book sales (#846) at Amazon tell another story.” I say the problem was never that she was selling books.

Finally, before TBogg tries to accuse someone of being a “Conservative pet liberal,” maybe he should think about elevating his own editorial standards to at least equal Hannity’s. At least he admits he’s “mistaken” when somebody busts him.

Twitstorm: Rachel Sklar, Andy Levy, and Baratunde Thurston Have it Out

Even though I completely missed it, I still insist on taking credit for yesterday’s pitched Twitter battle over Baratunde Thurston’s Mediaite story, “When Will This White House Learn You Cannot Negotiate With Terrorists?”  Even though I was sleeping off an Inglorious Basterds hangover, my autotweets were still awake making mischief.

As such, I feel it is my sworn duty to preserve said Twitstorm, along with re-creations of tweets that I would have sent, had I not been fast asleep and missing everything.  I’m also going to go ahead and ignore that 140-character limit.

Updated Follow Friday Recommendations and How To Guide

Update: I know I have some other revisin’ to do, but real quick, I want to add 2 names.

@anncurry – I wish she would Tweet more, but after listening to her explain Twitter to Helen Thomas, she really gets it.

@tggth – Author of the awesome TheGirlsGuidetoHomelessness.com, Brianna Karp is one to follow.

OK, here’s the original updated post:

When I first did this, I intended to add some commentary as I went along.  Being a columnist for 3 websites and a White House reporter AND a dad is actually pretty time-consuming, as it turns out, so I sometimes don’t get back to things.

I’m going to re-publish my list, and begin to make some comments.  Before I do, though, please understand that this is not a list of who I like, and why.  There are great follows whom I personally can’t stand.  So, don’t take it personally if you’re not on the list, or if I don’t put a comment there.  This list is about who is on my radar as a good follow, by the criteria I set out at Mediaite.  Also, the comments are a work in progress.

About my radar: It ain’t all that good.  If you’re not tweeting @TommyXtopher, then you’re leaving it up to chance that I’ll even see what you said.  I read all of my @tweets.

This is also an excellent way to get on my radar if you’re someone I don’t follow.  Lots of tweeps automatically follow-back, which is fine, but I don’t.  I have a hard enough time keeping track of the 190 or so people that I follow now.  I am easy enough to lobby, though.  Strike up a conversation, or just come out and demand the follow.  I’ll give it a shot.

Keep in mind, too, that some of my best friends aren’t on the list, mainly because they just don’t tweet enough.  Brian Simpson is an excellent example of this.
For Mediaite readers who followed my link here, these are my secret weapons, the Tweeps who help my Twitter experience be all it can be. There’s a good mixture here, people from both sides of the aisle, above, and below it, too.

Journalists/Media:

@RachelSklar My new Editor-in-Chief (a vast improvement), and a fun, prolific tweeter of media-related links.

@anamariecox The fun kind of TMI.

@dceiver Indispensable, unhinged media criticism.

@jaketapper The undisputed Shaolin Master of Twitter.  If Tapper’s feed were a sword, and he encountered God, God would be cut.

@MajoratWH Fox News’ White House reporter is a Twitter noob, but a good sport about it.  He also seems genuinely eager to engage the Twitter community.

@JoeTrippi The guy knows his series of tubes.  He saw the importance of Twitter when people were still using MySpace.

@markknoller CBS News’ White House reporter can always be counted on to lighten the mood at the daily briefings.

@ricksanchezcnn Another engaging, unfiltered journo-twit.

@TheHyperFix Another White House tweeter.  Frequently amusing.

@cbellantoni White House reporting, and more.

@HowardKurtz A must-follow for anyone interested in journalism.

@DavidCornDC Fellow briefing room denizen and wry wit.

Conservative:

@CalebHowe Yes, this frothing #tcot is my best friend, but he’s also funny as hell.  Watch him on the hashtag games, the guy jokes like a Hollywood liberal.

@EdMorrissey Also a good friend, Ed Morrissey is probably the most decent guy I know on either side of the aisle.  If more liberals engaged him on Twitter, politely, the world would be a better place.

@moelane Moe and I have a tolerate-hate relationship, but when we start going at it, we both gain lots of followers.  He’s also one of those rare funny conservatives.

@streetwise_IT Bob, master of parentheses.

@leonwolf Redstater.  Like many conservatives, much funnier on Twitter than you’d expect.

@collegepolitico This is the sleeper of the list.  For a small blogger, he has a big reach. 

@StickeeNotes Funny and not-too-crazy #tcot.

@jeffemanuel Another Redstater.  If your approach is right, can be reasoned with.

@jimmythenotable Best name on Twitter.

@dangainor Even-handed, prolific conservative tweep.

@Jrog83 Strident, but fun, conservative.

Women With Attitude:

@McCainBlogette Everybody knows how I feel about Meg, but check out my Mediaite story for why her feed is indispensable.

@MediaLizzy The queen of Blogtalkradio, and one of the best people I know.  We agree on a surprising amount of stuff, but we disagree on enough that the sparks still fly.  In both cases, I often can’t believe what comes out of her mouth.

@snarkandboobs Truth in advertising.

@andylevy From TV’s Redeye, Levy is funny and engaging. By special request, he has been placed among the ladies.  Behave yourselves.

@Candice_Jo The conservative creator of my South Park avatar.

@xanadu_xero Completely unique, sushi-raw, with a bite like an alligator.

@MollieKatie Creator of the ego-stroking #kittenclub, I also like the fact that she has 2 first names.

@tllanes Giver of good progressive links, and frequent profile-photo-changer.

@billiegirltoo My secret weapon, she’s got great news instincts.  Well, I guess she’s not such a secret anymore.

@MelissaTweets Right-wing blogger who can play well with others.

@LaBrujaRoja Quirky liberal tweeter.

@Chatvert My Paduwon definitely needs to tweet more.  Start pestering her.

@kartott Gives good link, needs to tweet more!

@mkhammer She definitely puts the “Attitude” in WWA, but she knows how to play nice with liberals who come correct.

@jillelswick She was on the needs to tweet more bubble, but she earned her spot through attitudinal lobbying.

@AmandaCarpenter Earns the name of her column, “Hot Button.”

and @DianaWinkley Follow with care.

Liberals/Progressives:

@Stranahan Maker of nekkid healthcare reform videos, Lee is also a mad-dog liberal on the Twitter.  Watching him tangle with conservatives is better than the Friday Night Fights.

@DemocracyInUSA Frothing liberal who can still play nice with TCOTs

@GayRainArmy,@ranggrol,@Tengrain See Mediaite

@JayAllbritton Even-tempered, effective liberal writer.

@zombot Funny, quick hits and great at hashtag games.

@PBCliberal Another frothing liberal who can still play nice with TCOTs.

@rumproast Better blogger than tweeter, but worth following just to keep up on his blog.

@hailripley Good liberal tweep who needs to tweet more.

@victorzapanta Gives good link.

@JC_Christian Insufferably smug, but funny enough to overcome personal distaste.

@markosm Liberal or conservative, you have to follow Markos, even if you don’t like him.

Politicians:

AKGovSarahPalin The jury is still out on post-Gov Palin, but I’m betting she’ll be back tweeting soon.

CoryBooker See Mediaite

His Own Category (Libertarian, sort of):

@dmataconis He’s got a great blog, and an unpredictability that both sides should enjoy.

Other:

@WhatRickyThinks Beware of imitators.  Completely unfiltered, unafraid to offend, and frequently drink-spitting hilarious.

And:

@rawls He will offend you, but when he makes you laugh, he makes you laugh hard.

Follow Friday Recs with Commentary and Urging for a Workgroup on Diminishing #ff Returns

I’m reprinting my #followfriday list below, which I do need to update soon.  Perhaps I’ll do it this weekend for next week.

First, though, I want to point out that #followFriday is losing much of its impact.  At least, that’s how it seems.  I don’t know if it’s because a saturation point has been reached, where most people have already settled on their follows, or because of the noise factor.  I suspect it is the noise factor.  So many recs from so many people, only a Twitter newbie could be that needy of people to follow.

What can be done about this?  Well, I’m open to suggestions.  Perhaps we could institute #followOnesdays, where every Wednesday, we each get to make only 1 recommendation.

I’m listening.

Here’s my reprinted #followFriday recommendations:

Updated – Helen Thomas Twitter News! Plus: Ann Curry Pix!

Update:  See the priceless photo Ann took of Helen just as I asked her about teh Twitter here.

My secret is out!  I get paid by the exclamation point!

First things first.  Twitter pal Ike Pigott created a Twitter account for Helen Thomas awhile back, and asked me to present it to her as a birthday gift.  I’m a little bit late, but today was the first time I had seen Helen since her big day.

Are Meghan McCain and Michelle Malkin Fighting Over Me?

“Ladies, La-hay-hay-dies,” (smooths imaginary mustache),”there’s plen-T of TC to go arou-how-hound!”

So, remember the big feud between Michelle Malkin and Meghan McCain a few days back?  Michelle talked some Meggie Mac smack, and Meg fired back over teh Twitter, and on her Daily Beast blog?  Well, I just caught up to the Politico Arena chat that started it all, and guess who’s smack-dab in the middle of it?

12:29 [Comment From Matthew]
Who would you say is the most insightful liberal political figure or commentator out there right now? Who is a conservative political figure of commentator who you think needs to shut up?

12:30 Fred Barbash-Moderator: That’s the last question. So sorry.

12:32 Michelle Malkin: Hmmm. Interesting question. On the right: Less Meghan McCain. On the left? Tommy Christopher is an honest lib.

Whoah! AWK-ward!

Maybe it’s the hopeless bleeding heart in me, but I see an opportunity to make some magic here.  Just as Meghan McCain seeks to be a bridge between her party’s old and new factions (and succeeds, to a large degree), perhaps I can be the bridge between Meghan and Michelle.

Everyone knows I have nothing but respect and admiration for Meg, especially for the great example she sets for women and girls everywhere.  As for Michelle, we probably agree on one thing only, which is that she does not deserve to be called a “bitch” or to be “hate-f**ked” by Playboy’s Guy Cimbalo.  It’s a sad state of affairs when our political discourse has led to the lauding of common decency.

But, since they’re both listening, let me see if we can bridge where a chasm now yawns.  Let’s join hands, the 3 of us, and think about what has happened to this country in the age of polarization, and ask ourselves if we can move past it all.  Now, close your eyes and chant with me, “Yes, we can!”

Well, I tried.

I Accept Allahpundit’s Apology in Advance

Over at Hot Air, some righty troll has posted the news that I was 100% correct in my assessment of Robert Gibbs’ comments on Iran yesterday.  Your plate of crow awaits, Mr. Pundit.

I Didn’t Think Green Avatars Were a Left/Right Phenomenon

It was a nice kum ba yah moment while it lasted.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs made a remark at today’s briefing that has even the normally reasonable right-wingers in an insane froth.  The key passage is Gibbs’ last line of this clip:

Q But does the administration recognize Ahmadinejad as the legitimate President in Iran?

MR. GIBBS: He’s the elected leader.

Now, Gibbs may or may not deserve some ire for his execution, but he was obviously trying to parse the difference between formally recognizing Ahmadinejad as President, and acknowledging the fact that he has been awarded the election.  “He was awarded the election” might have been a better word choice, but as the last in a series of follow-ups, there wasn’t opportunity for much clarification.

What it is not is this: (from Hot Air)

Instead, so desperate are these tools to get Iran to the bargaining table and show Americans some sort of dividend from Hopenchange diplomacy that Gibbs actually acknowledges Ahmadinejad as the “elected leader” — the same lie the regime’s been telling the world and the same lie Iranians have been dying in the streets to challenge. As a de facto — and entirely gratuitous — endorsement of their corruption, it’s the lowest moment of The One’s presidency so far.

However, while I find this overreaching attempt to score political points on the backs of Iran’s protesters distasteful and disappointing, I’m absolutely shocked by this presumption of bad faith:

And the only thing that’ll take the sting out of it is watching all the dumb liberals who painted their Twitter avatars green two months ago in solidarity with Mousavi’s supporters hemming and hawing now over how our lord and savior really had no choice but to kiss ass here.

This is a sickening violation of an unspoken armistice that rose up between the left and the right during the Iranian unrest.

When this whole thing started, when conservatives on Twitter took the lead in supporting protesters of the Iranian election, there was a suspicion voiced among some liberals that this was pure opportunism, that the concern was feigned as an excuse to criticize President Obama.  Indeed, this was true of some GOP politicians, but in the Twitter community, the Iranian election developed into a moment of surprising unity.

At times, liberals would, privately, evince feelings of superiority at their late-arriving conservative counterparts’ seemingly new-found concern for Iranian citizens, but I wouldn’t entertain that.  A sincere change of heart is to be welcomed, not scorned.  You would have to think pretty poorly of your fellow man to think he wasn’t moved to the core by events such as the killing of Neda.

Alas, the right seems unable to extend that same benefit of the doubt.  Now, we either agree with Allahpundit, or we’re trendspotting dilletantes who could give 2 shits about the Iranian people.  This, from the same guy who cheered when John McCain cracked wise about bombing those same Iranian people:

It’s obvious that this is less an example of Maverick’s vaunted “straight talk” than him just being playful on the spur of the moment. Even if so, joking about bombing Iran certainly won’t hurt his standing with the base, to whom he needs to feed a lot more red meat if he wants the nomination. He’s already starting to do that; the trick is to not alienate the centrists and leftists who admire him in the process.

Here’s that ruddy, meaty crowd-pleaser now:

The accomplishments of the Twitter community (right, left, up, down, and center) during the Iranian unrest were remarkable.  Here’s hoping that the desire to score cheap political points doesn’t overshadow them completely.

As for Gibbs, you could argue that he deserves some measured criticism here, but I don’t think this statement alone warrants it.

Updated Follow Friday Recommendations and How To Guide

When I first did this, I intended to add some commentary as I went along.  Being a columnist for 3 websites and a White House reporter AND a dad is actually pretty time-consuming, as it turns out, so I sometimes don’t get back to things.

I’m going to re-publish my list, and begin to make some comments.  Before I do, though, please understand that this is not a list of who I like, and why.  There are great follows whom I personally can’t stand.  So, don’t take it personally if you’re not on the list, or if I don’t put a comment there.  This list is about who is on my radar as a good follow, by the criteria I set out at Mediaite.  Also, the comments are a work in progress.

About my radar: It ain’t all that good.  If you’re not tweeting @TommyXtopher, then you’re leaving it up to chance that I’ll even see what you said.  I read all of my @tweets.

This is also an excellent way to get on my radar if you’re someone I don’t follow.  Lots of tweeps automatically follow-back, which is fine, but I don’t.  I have a hard enough time keeping track of the 190 or so people that I follow now.  I am easy enough to lobby, though.  Strike up a conversation, or just come out and demand the follow.  I’ll give it a shot.

Keep in mind, too, that some of my best friends aren’t on the list, mainly because they just don’t tweet enough.  Brian Simpson is an excellent example of this.
For Mediaite readers who followed my link here, these are my secret weapons, the Tweeps who help my Twitter experience be all it can be. There’s a good mixture here, people from both sides of the aisle, above, and below it, too.