Haiti's Extraordinary Ambassador

Seth Lipsky on Haiti's Raymond Joseph, from everything I've heard a splendid man:

Ray Joseph himself drew the assignment, again, of representing his government in Washington, where, in the years since, he has been doing an eloquent job in seasons of hard work and frustration. He would be among the first to acknowledge how much work yet needs to be done, even without an earthquake. Whether Robertson was trying to make a useful point about the importance of religion and culture in Haiti, I do not know. He certainly failed. But he set Ambassador Joseph up for a riposte that will be remembered.

Ray, himself a devout Christian, did not attack Robertson, or even name him. What he did say, on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show, was this: "I would like the whole world to know, America especially, that the independence of Haiti, when the slaves rose up against the French and defeated the French army, powerful army, the U.S. was able to gain the Louisiana territory for 15 million dollars, that's three cents an acre, that's 13 states west of the Mississippi, that the slaves' revolt in Haiti provided America.

"Also the revolt of the rebels in Haiti allowed Latin America to be free. It was from Haiti that Simon Bolivar left with men, boats to go deliver Gran Columbia and the rest of South America. So what pact the Haitians made with the devil has helped the United States become what it is."