Why the Chinese Earthquake is More Significant than the Boston Bombings

Not seen here on American Trusim, but seen broadly in response comments on websites such as CNN.com and Huffington Post, I think a lot of folks missed my point entirely my blog post contrasting the obsession with everything Boston Marathon Bombing related and the complete indifference to the deaths and injuries in China.

I UNDERSTAND that people are more interested and more obsessed with the Boston Bombing for two main reasons:

• Boston is in the United States - That act of terror happened here, in our backyard, on American soil.
  
• Terrorism is a Deliberate Act, Earthquakes are Acts of Nature - Terrorism is much more grave.

I GET that, OK?  That was never in question.  You'll get no argument from me that there would naturally be more interest in a bombing inside the United States vs. an earthquake in China.  WE'RE ON THE SAME PAGE.

What I DON'T get is that there was next to NO coverage of the devastation and death caused by the Chinese earthquake.

What's worse, in the small amount of coverage we're now seeing, it appears that impacted Chinese citizens are not getting the help nor the attention they deserve, either. 

100,000 Homeless in China  

"We are in the open air here. No place to sleep, nothing to eat. No one is paying any attention to us," said Peng Qiong, 45, a farmer in Chaoyang village on the outskirts of Lushan, near the epicenter.

Thousands of displaced survivors are living in Red Cross tents following an earthquake in China's Sichuan province, though many are left with no form of shelter. Saturday's 6.6 magnitude earthquake killed more than 200 people and has left an estimated 100,000 homeless.

Caring about the 200 who died, the 11,000 who were injured and the 100,000 left homeless does not take away from how we feel about the tragedy in Boston, but we MUST treat these situations very differently and ask the world to begin paying attention to the needs of the Chinese people affected by this natural disaster.

Three Die in Boston, 186 in China - Which Gets More Media Attention?

The two Boston Marathon bombing culprits have been killed in one case and captured in the other.  They turned out to be brothers who had lived in the Boston area for quite a while, but felt tied to Chechnya, and possibly conducted this act of terrorism as a Chechnya protest.  Maybe?

That one of the terrorists is dead, and the other captured is a good thing.

Along with rest of the United States, I sat, transfixed Friday night, as police forces (local, state and federal) converged on a covered boat parked in a Watertown, MA driveway, bringing an incredible manhunt to a close, with the second terrorist, a 19-year-old, being shot and eventually surrendering to authorities.

Their deadly act killed three people in Boston, and injured hundreds more.

Then, half a world away, a major earthquake struck the Chinese province of Sichuan at 8 a.m. local time, killing 186 and injuring more than 11,000.


How much television coverage have you seen of the earthquake in China or the 186 deaths there?

All I've seen is a text crawl at the bottom of the screen while wall-to-wall, repetitious coverage of the Boston Marathon Bombings continues on all the 24-hour news networks (CNN, Fox, MSNBC, etc.) non stop.

Three people died in Boston.  186 in China.  11,000+ were injured in China.

Where are the five-minute profiles of children who died in the China earthquake?  Instead, we're treated to "deep background" pieces on the Boston Terrorists, the Tsarnaev brothers and speculation by talking heads about what might have radicalized these men.

What about the dead and injured in China?

I'm not saying the events which unfolded in Boston aren't newsworthy.  They clearly are, and I was among the "consumers" of news all week long, and especially into the weekend.

But, do they justify the amount of international news coverage they're receiving, especially on the same weekend that a 7.0 magnitude earthquake killed nearly 200 people (sure to be more) and injured 11,000?

We need to get our priorities straight, here in the United States and elsewhere.

Why Attack Aretha? She Gave Whitney Houston R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and TRUTH

Recent media stories would have one believe that the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, purosely disrespected Whitney Houston's memory in a televised NBC interview with Al Roker and THAT is the reason she ultimately did not sing at Houston's funeral.

At least one story found it odd that NBC had removed the interview from its website, yet it IS possible to find the story (thank you YouTube) if you're patient enough and resourceful enough.

I watched the Al Roker interview of Aretha Franklin expecting to hear her claim that Whitney couldn't hold a candle to her or maybe saying that Whitney turned to the dark side or SOMETHING.

Instead, what I saw was a very balanced view of Houston's life, struggles and death, unlike most of the coverage seen since Houston's death which were either sensationalized and macabre or exultations proclaiming Houston to be a faultless angel.

No, in this story, Franklin's sadness comes through.  It is obvious that she understands what a tragic and unnecessary waste Houston's death was. 

Coverage of the piece implies that something Franklin said must have offended Houston's family.  But, if that's the case, I simply don't see it.

The ONLY thing that one could stretch into a dig might be the highlighted remark below, but I would strongly disagree.  Here is a partial transcript of the NBC interview in question: 

AF = Aretha Franklin -- AR = Al Roker

AF:  “When one has as much success as she did, almost overnight, and she had phenomenal success overnight, so I’m sure it was very overwhelming for her at times.  You get a lot of adoration when people like you.  It’s easy to lose sight of yourself. 

AR:  Did she ever talk to you looking for any sort of guidance or counsel?

AF:  No, but early on, I let her know then that if she needed any advice, and if she needed to talk about anything, she could always call me.

AR:  But the call never came.  And, so, Franklin watched from afar as Whitney’s success faded and she desperately tried time and again to regain her superstar status including the 2009 European tour, when dogged by rumors of alcohol and drug abuse, Whitney’s once magical voice, tragically let her down.

AF: She had a number of difficult evenings in Europe.  I watched that online myself.  I didn’t like what I saw happening.  The audience was very rude.  I’m sure she was totally devastated by the time it was over.

You know, when you’re a singer, and you can’t sing what it is you want to sing, when you can’t give the audience what you want to give, it’s very disheartening.

AR: Franklin says she saw something else in those scenes of anguish, that fighting spirit that her mother Cissy had instilled in Whitney.  That was still there.

AF:  She stood there, let me tell you, she stood there and with the heart of a champion, she went through it night after night. 

AR: At the end of 2011, Franklin says she finally saw hopeful signs that Whitney could finally resurrect her career, in a preview of “SPARKLE,” in which Whitney executive produced and starred in. 

AF:  She looked fresh, healthy.  She looked gorgeous, and I thought, ‘Yes, she has conquered her challenges and she’s on her way.' 

Certainly her body of work is going to go on for generations to come, from generation to generation. 

AR:  This ending, do you think it tarnishes it at all, or takes away from it?

AF:  No, I don’t.  I don’t think we should focus on the challenges that she had because in some ways, we all have challenges from time to time.  Look at the character of a person, and the character of a woman.  Think about the hits, and forget about the misses.

AR:  How are you going to remember her?

AF:  As an adorable young lady, as Cissy’s baby, a great artist, a very kind and giving person, a very sensitive young lady. 

AR:  Isn’t it ironic that it comes full circle, back to New Hope Baptist Church?

AF:  She didn’t just smile, she twingkled, so I wrote something with that in mind.  “Twinkle, twinkle, superstar, we don’t wonder where you are.  Up above the world so bright, like a diamond in the night.  Twinkle, twinkle, she’s still alone, I can’t believe that she’s gone.”

American Truism #4.