A Tale of Two Presidents
In a radio interview with the BBC yesterday, President Clinton expressed his empathy for the victims of the Christmas tsunamis and threw out some ideas for dealing with the massive destruction they caused.
Meanwhile, Bush has been busy "clearing brush" on his Crawford ranch. That's all this guy does! How much effing brush is down there? Maybe it's a euphemism. "Feeling a little brushy, Karl - gotta go clear some brush". Anyway, Bush immediately sent a spokesman out to clarify that he too was concerned about the tsunami victims and to voice his own idea for a relief plan. Just kidding. According to the Post, he actually sent a spokesman out to throw barbs at Clinton.
Earlier yesterday, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said the president was confident he could monitor events effectively without returning to Washington or making public statements in Crawford, where he spent part of the day clearing brush and bicycling. Explaining the about-face, a White House official said: "The president wanted to be fully briefed on our efforts. He didn't want to make a symbolic statement about 'We feel your pain.' "
Many Bush aides believe Clinton was too quick to head for the cameras to hold forth on tragedies with his trademark empathy. "Actions speak louder than words," a top Bush aide said, describing the president's view of his appropriate role.
You think the Post is misinterpreting Bush's reaction in order to make him look like an a-hole? Check out how the right wing rags trump it up. Bush looks even more like an a-hole. After donating less in aid than the cost of his re-inauguration ceremony, his first remark about this tragedy is to take a slap at Clinton - for talking about the tragedy!
Also, as others in the 'sphere have mentioned, this was a huge opportunity for America to step up to the plate and really show some empathy for the Muslim world. Bush is right about one thing: actions speak louder than words. He could put his ass on a plane (maybe have a good mile-high "brush clearing" in the bathroom) and land in Jakarta to announce a billion in aid and get in some photos showing his compassion for the Muslim folks. Imagine this, but with a brown woman. Or this, without Laura in a lei. Those pictures would go a long way.
Now maybe, after being called out on this, Bush actually will do something along those lines. I sincerely hope he does. Any love we can show the Muslims will help us succeed in this democracy-by-warfare experiment we've got going on in the Middle East. Hearts and minds, people. Hearts and minds.
posted by Abe at 12/29/2004 08:14:00 PM
3 Comments:
Another example of why the world dislikes W. Of course, who cares what other countries think, right? The funny thing is, if W did not have to send aid for political reasons, I doubt he would send much at all. I can't believe we have four more years of this asshole, but American people you asked for it and now you will get it. Get ready for more chaos around the world due to our experimental foreign policy. I don't mind experimenting with foreign policy, so long as it comes from a president or cabinet member who has historically shown an interest in that area of politics. W. had rarely ever left the continental USA before stealing his presidency. He is simply extremely stupid and has no idea what the hell he is doing. This Tsunami reaction is a prime example.
"Stealing his Presidency"- Hilarious! Will you libs ever get over it? I doubt it. Show me one piece of credible proof that Bush stole ANY election. Why can't you just finally admit that you lost? France sent about $160k the last I heard. Why don't you pick at Chirac? Have you been to Bush's ranch? I'm betting he has plenty of equipment and aides there to allow him to keep up with what is going on. Of course, you libs just eat it up when Clinton does one of his " I feel your pain" things, don't you? How did that help anyone? It didn't! We are sending more help every day. The total of our aid grows as you read this. I'm sure whatever Bush does won't be enough for you lefties. The whole tsunami disaster is a sad occurance. The whole world is racing to help. What you lefties need to do is find a way to blame Bush and Republicans for it happening in the first place. I'm sure some will try.
why are we ever surprised about our president. he has never shown any sign of being a thoughtful (ha ha) or "with it" guy. so....you can fool me once - shame on, hmmm...shame on you? fool me twice...well....you can fool me once but you can't fool me twice.
anyone expecting anything different from old W is living in a different reality.
should we make a big deal of the fact that he has no expressed empathy to the thousands of victims in Southeast Asia? hell yes we should and we should never stop - because hell maybe someday some conservative will open his mind and hear the truth.
but more importantly we should look and see what kind of men and women we are. we should look to see if we can do what our president can not (because if the employees aren't doing the job someones got to) we can't wait around and see if our president will make a charitable donation to help those countries (though he probably will once briefed on what it all means anyhow)- we need to make donations ourselves - to the organizations that are over there helping. you can live in thailand in a nice apartment for $100 a month - any amount would surely help.
So, point fingers and call the man out! But don't forget the real tragedy.
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