8678: Re: 8673: corruption, or its appearance? (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Amy Wilentz <amywile@panix.com>

Aristide has always been reluctant to defend himself against what he
considers baseless charges in the American media and against such
charges generally from his opponents and enemies. His reluctance stems
from a sense, I believe, that to join in a debate about his own
character (his psychological makeup, his supposed attachment to
violence, his supposed corruption, for example) would be self-abasing,
and eventually fruitless if not counter-productive; and that the 
propaganda deck of those who make such charges is so stacked against him
that it's probably not worth it. He also, I believe, thinks that he gets
more respect from the Haitian people by not responding, and that he
would only be entering into a pointless, energy-consuming  game by
joining the fray.

But his silence on this stuff is really a character-based thing, and has
nothing to do with whatever charge is being leveled. You will always
find him reticent on such "issues." 

Amy Wilentz