Democracy Has Prevailed.

January 16, 2010

BRESMA Orphanage Update (Updated 5x)

UPDATE 5: Most recent news here (1/18/10, 6:30 AM ET).

UPDATE 4: 10/17/10, 4:30 AM ET, from the sister-in-law of the McMutrie sisters:
UPDATE 3: 10/16/10, 10:27 PM ET:
UPDATE 2: They are now out of water. Contact anyone you can to help.

UPDATE: Very lastest update from the family via Facebook is here:
i'm sure you all know that the girls were on CNN (Anderson Cooper) last night. even though the show was on at night, they talked to the girls much much much earlier in the day. since then the babies have started to get very sick. the girls have started to get sick. the fact that CNN has found and interviewed them, unfortunately, doesn't mean much...call your senators. and donate. the senators and political higher ups are now involved. but, that doesn't mean that you should stop harassing them. we need them to stay involved. we need them to stay passionate about this cause. especially now that it's the weekend. so please just keep calling. call and call and call and call. email and email and email.


For how you can help, see here.
For CNN video, see here.
For WAPO article, see here.


Stories in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review this morning agree that former U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan claims that she has obtained "a humanitarian parole"/"one of two key permits" to allow the children of the BRESMA orphanage in Haiti to come to the US. Both articles also quote Rep. Jason Altmire on his efforts (along with Gov. Ed Rendell, Sen. Bob Casey, Sen. Arlen Specter and Rep. Mike Doyle) to secure passage for the children.

However, the P-G positions Buchanan's efforts as "one part of a two-prong push to get permission for the children to enter the country early" (with Altmire & others as the other prong), while the Trib has a somewhat different slant:
...Rep. Jason Altmire said he and other government officials -- including those in the White House -- knew nothing of such plans [speaking of Buchanan's efforts] and still were trying to secure the permits.
Bram Reichbaum of The Pittsburgh Comet blog was assisting Mary Beth Buchanan last night. I asked him (via email) if the two factions were working at cross purposes or if it's just a matter of everyone attacking the problem from different angles with their own resources (which could maximize the chances of pulling off a rescue). Bram answered as follows:
It was DEFINITELY different channels and not cross-purposes. We definitely got the impression that some Dems weren't thrilled with our attempts, but I never once got the impression either effort was screwing up the other one. If anyone succeeds in getting some aid thru it'll all be worth it.

For the record though we didn't know about what Jason Altmire was doing any more than he knew about our effort. ;) Cong. Tim Murphy was our man on the inside, called us every hour or so.
For those who don't know it, Buchanan -- a Republican -- may be a challenger for Democrat Altmire's House seat.

I say: The more the merrier.

I'm trusting that everyone has the best intentions and KUDOS to all of them for trying to work a miracle. However, it's likely going to be easier -- and nothing is the least bit easy in any of this -- to get the 30 children who are already well into the adoption process with American sponsors into the country than the 120 who don't already have future US homes. Jamie and Ali McMutrie have expressed their intentions to get all 150 children out together as a group because any child left behind would face a high risk of death.

BRESMA is running out of water and food and the children and staff are not safe. Let's hope all the parties involved can work some magic and that all of you reading this who have called and emailed these public leaders keep up the pressure.

NOTE: Photo removed at the request of the tweeter/photographer.

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4 comments:

Clyde Wynant said...

MBB's "two pronged approach" is this;

1) Get noticed and get her name in the paper.

2) Get elected.

Ditto all the rest of them, including Altmire & Doyle. If it wasn't about that, they would do their work quietly. But you don't get any points for that.

Bram Reichbaum said...

MBB never sent out a press release. The media learned because she asked the P-G reporter who wrote about the BRESMA children for details. I'll be posting later. Sorry for tweeting, I guess.

EdHeath said...

During the last few years, when Guantanamo Bay was changed from a confusing relic of the cold war into a prison, I always had trouble reconciling the line from the Declaration of Independence "All men are created equal" with the notion that terrorists have no rights at all. I never understood how "all" changes meaning at the water's edge.

Which is to say, if people get the money together and the kids of the orphanage are flown here or anywhere in the US, why can't they stay for a while, while their legal and adoptive status is sorted out? Aren't we supposed to be the huddled masses country?

Yet, I can practically guarantee that there will be problems, that people who think that their rights to own deadly hand cannons and drive SUV's that are impovrishing their grandchildren was handed down to them straight from God (or at least through Moses) have no problem declaring that harmless and helpless orphans are not really part of the "all men" part of the declaration because those Orphans chose to be born south of Key West. Yes, it is the orphans fault. Or so John Yoo would say.

Actually, I have done just enough interning in congressional offices to know that in fact there is a fair amount of quiet work going on, writing letters to Social Security or the Postal service or some other government agency on behalf of constituents. The work isn't quiet because the Representative or Senator is modest (those guys, modest?), it's just that the papers can only cover the story of Representative Murphy's or Senator Spector's flunky writing a form letter to Medicare asking them to review the attached (constituent) letter so many times (which is to say never, these days). The orphanage story however, is novel; Congresspersons or would-be Congresspersons like MBB will milk the orphanage story as best they can, being careful not to invest too much in case someone starts talking about furiners. Meanwhile, unless your grandpap is an aging celebrity like Springsteen or Bono, the newspapers aren't going tell us when Murtha gets him his correct benefits from the railroad or whatever.

Maria said...

Also know that hundreds/thousands? are contacting elected officials and celebrities and anyone who might be able to help about this.

To give you some idea, see here