It's All The Rage!

President Bush's reaction to the Tsunami disaster. There's a lot we don't know about behind-the-scenes wrangling but what we DO know is this: He initially issued a statement wherein 15 million American dollars were pledged to help.

When I heard that I thought "15 million? I've got half of that in the bank myself!" Okay, I didn't actually think that. I'm short just almost 15 million to be able to think that.

But I did marvel at how at least twice that amount was being spent in Bush's honor and glory for the second inaugural. And really, tell me this: what exactly is an inauguration? More specifically, what's a second inauguration? I'm going to give you a hint: a 2nd inauguration is, in a national sense, very much what Monica Lewinsky is known for.

Isn't it?

And it's not as though Bush is spending 40-60 million that we have. We don't have it. We're borrowing money to waste on giving the president a national Monica.

Last I heard deaths the in South Pacific are approacing 80,000. And this will only get worse. Are we being stingy with our aid? I'm no expert, but it looks like it to me. This article makes some interesting comparisons.

To recap: Bush's initial relief dollars started out really small. Then western nations were called stingy, and Bill Clinton stepped into the picture. Suddenly, the steadfast and resolute George W. Bush, who never lets polling or the public whim dictate the way he steers this ship of state, suddenly doubled the amount of aid. Then Bush trotted out one of our most ethnic faces--Colin Powell (it looks good to those ethnic faces who are suffering so horribly overseas)--and now they're talking about monies and efforts will likely amount to more than a billion dollars. My calculator tells me that a billion is roughly 66 times the 15 million originally pledged.

Is there anyone foolish amongst us enough to believe that Bush had planned on that amount from the start? Does anyone actually believe that his change from 15 million to a billion isn't a HUGE shift in course--a shift that we're told he's constitutionally incapable of making?

Methinks ol' George did what right wing folks always accused Clinton of doing: bowing to the whim of public sentiment.

Well allright. If I'm going to borrow money I think the relief efforts are a worthy cause. Now if we can just eliminate the inauguration...