Sheesh

Much like atrios, I must begin with the disclaimer that I know nothing about the nuances of the situation in Haiti or any details regarding whether Aristide or his successor would be "better for the country." But, given our overwhelmingly successful history of helping to oust democratically elected leaders (/sarcasm on) should we really be ditching Aristide simply because a powerful member of the DC elite doesn't like him? Perhaps he has totally legitimate reasons, but articles like this make me nervous about the motivations behind my government's actions.

"'Roger Noriega has been dedicated to ousting Aristide for many, many years, and now he's in a singularly powerful position to accomplish it,' Robert White, a former U.S. ambassador to El Salvador and Paraguay, said last week."

-snip-

"'On a day-to-day basis, Roger Noriega [has been] making policy, but with a very strong role played by Otto Reich,' Birns said.

Reich is a controversial Cuban-American criticized by some who have lingering concerns about his contacts with opposition figures who plotted a short-lived coup against Venezuela's leftist president, Hugo Chávez, two years ago. Reich also is linked to the Iran-contra scandal of two decades ago that was part of President Ronald Reagan's policy of defeating Marxists in Central America."

In more personal news, this past weekend was remarkably good, considering that I was alternating between studying for and freaking out about my three (now two!) midterms this week. Spent a beautiful Saturday afternoon playing in the fountains in Centennial Park with prospective students, was rescued from a long Saturday night studying at Caribou by Travers and Sanna's insistence that I join them for gelato, and dinner with Andy's parents last night turned into hours curled up on the couch watching the Academy Awards and drinking beer. Took 35 minutes to complete my health policy and management midterm, so I now have a little over an hour to study (aka - catnap in the sun) before yoga. Life ain't half bad.