Pat Robertson believes that 666 is the number of the Beast (and, with equal certainty that gay people cause hurricanes, voodoo causes earthquakes, and that he, personally, has some special insight into the mind of God). I beg to differ. Forty-one is, obviously, the number.

Toting tea bags and shouting "41," the followers of this new beast slouch toward Washington.

The key to crippling healthcare reform? "41."

The number needed to halt any and all progressive legislation affecting control of rampant corporate greed, job creation, renewable energy, the environment, women's rights, and the rule of law? "41."

The number needed to bring on the second great depression? "41."

And wasn't "41" the father of . . . "43?"

The earthquake in Haiti started in 1804 and has continued to today. In that year Toussaint L'Ouverture and an army of ex-slaves overthrew French rule.

The French demanded and received reparations from the new and first black independent country in the world, because they claimed ownership of the black slaves who revolted. This, in itself, is as unbelievable as the myriad of misfortunes that have been visited on the island.

The debt was staggering and would be equivalent to billions of dollars in today's money. So the new, independent country started out in bankruptcy.

The western world called for an embargo on the country under the direction of Thomas Jefferson, in order to punish the uppity blacks who kicked out the French.

(Pat Robertson recently said the Haitians signed a pact with the devil and that is what caused the recent natural earthquake. I would like to ask him if he thinks America signed the same pact when we kicked out the British).

But I digress. Forget about that idiot who calls himself a Christian. What a despotic and stupid man.

Haiti remained under the embargo until the Emancipation Proclamation in the United States. It took until 1860 before the Vatican even recognized Haiti as a country. From about that time, 1860 or so until 1915, Haiti remained relatively calm and was beginning to become somewhat prosperous left to its own devices.

But in 1915 under Woodrow Wilson, U.S. Marines invaded and occupied Haiti until 1934. They seized land redistributed it to American Corporations, took control of the country, and ran it as if it were an American possession.

After the occupation ended in 1934 Haiti drifted along with a number of presidents, several of whom were overthrown with military leaders and "executive councils" running the country.

During quite a lot of this time revolutionaries such as Che Guevara were drifting in and out of the country and the United States started to worry about the communist threat, the excuse for so many atrocities committed by the United States. The solution: To install Poppa Doc Duvalier as president for life, followed by his son.

All was well until even we could not stomach the rampant corruption of the Duvalier's.

After Jean-Claude Duvalier was overthrown, Haiti again drifted along with president after president being overthrown until a poor parish priest, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected in 1991. He had plans to nationalize the country's resources and give Haiti back to the Haitians, but we could not abide by that and participated in a coup to overthrow him months after he was elected.

Several American puppets were then installed but Aristide would not give up and was reelected in 1993 and with a slight interruption, served out his term until 1996. Rene Preval, the present PM, was president from 96-2000 when Aristide was again elected. We would have none of that and backed yet another coup and removed him bodily in 2004.

During the time of U.S. interference, industries such as flour and cement were privatized and eventually closed making the Haitians dependent on U.S. and other foreign countries to sell them needed food and construction materials.

Another example of how we have abused the people of Haiti.

Even as little as a week before the earthquake, the telephone company Teleco was privatized and diminished and then sold to a Vietnamese company, making the people dependent on foreign-owned cell companies.

From all reports on the ground in Haiti there is little or no violence, less even than before the quake, and if left alone the people can easily handle the distribution of food, water and medicine, which has been evidenced in neighborhoods all over Haiti. The LAST thing the beautiful, smart resourceful, resilient people of this ravaged country need are thousands and thousands of soldiers with huge guns pointed at them, the victims. They are a disruptive force and as one doctor said in an interview, "we need gauze not guns"

As we saw during Katrina, there is such unfounded fear of poor black people in desperate situations. Colin Powell very haughtily said in a recent TV interview "we can't air drop aid without security, there would be chaos". I wonder if he would feel the same if the quake had occurred in Beverly Hills.

So enough history, I will close by expressing my extreme disappointment in President Obama's choice of sending Presidents Clinton and Bush. The Lesser to help raise funds, both of whom contributed in many ways to the miserable state of affairs that Haiti was in even before the quake. Send a respected humanitarian such as Jimmy Carter instead of those two former money grabbers. And return Aristide who could do so much for the moral of the proud Haitians.

Instead, Reid led a shameful effort of arm twisting and deal cutting behind closed doors. There was the "Louisiana Purchase", the "Arkansas Sell Out" and to get Nebraska on board, there was the "Corn Husker Kick Back". Those deals, to exempt these States from paying billions of dollars under the healthcare legislation, made many wonder why, if it was such a great program, they would want to be exempted.

Then there was the deal with the Unions. Crafted by the White House despite Obama's promise to do away with 'Sweetheart Deals" with lobbyists, he made just such a deal with one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington.

It is estimated that Unions spent more than $500 million in the 2008 elections supporting Obama and other democrats.

So, if you want a good deal from this healthcare legislation, all you have to do is join a Union, cozy up to Pelosi, give Reid a political contribution, take your AARP card and move to Nebraska.

Is it any wonder that there is populist anger in this country? Americans don't like the process or policies coming out of Washington. A recent poll shows 62% think our country is headed in the wrong direction. But, change is coming. The vast silent majority is finding its voice. The first signs of the pendulum swinging were in Virginia and New Jersey and dramatically, last week in Massachusetts. The next could be the defeat of Harry Reid, now running 10% behind in his re-election bid in Nevada.