Eh. There was so much bigger stuff happening then that one-offs like that don’t amount to a sand grain on a mountain. The same will be true of this instance – heck, the guy is already calling the specific relief efforts generous. As to the broader issue, well, it’s kind of his job to complain that he’s underfunded. A bureaucrat who doesn’t want to enlarge his bureau is almost too rare a creature to ponder.
If you don’t like how much the US government is giving, then break out your checkbook and write a friggin’ check yourself. Don’t just sit here and stew about it.
I gotta back elucidator on this one. Dubya could make his second term golden by just what luci suggested. Not to mention the rehabilitation factor of backing the Red Crescent with supplies and cash.
It won’t matter to the hard-core US haters, but it will win back some of the rest, and dammit, it’s the right thing to do!
My bolding.
Double it. Triple it. Quadruple, and so forth. Be at the very forefront, front and center. Be lavish, go massive. And make sure that every outstretched hand we fill with food and medicine knows that there is an American flag behind that. Make up some color of ribbon, let our leaders be seen publicly adorned. Telethons. Super Bowl ads from General Electric, Raytheon, etc. “We’ve bought this ad, and donated ten times the cost of this ad for Wave Aid, and encourage your donations to this toll-free number…” After Daunte Culpepper throws the winning touchdown, he can make a personal plea (hey, gonna fanticize, go for it…)
This is a golden opportunity! A billion? Two? Five? Let’s do it! We’ve already spent upwards of 200 billion making ourselves the worlds number one bully boy and pariah. We need every friend we can get, and we can buy them wholesale, on the open market, for chump change. You want spys and informants? You want world-wide demonstrations of love and approval? Write a check.
(I hate talking like this, but I’ve already got the Christians and other idealists on my side, got to get to the cynics, and to do that you gotta have a bottom line…realpolitik makes the Baby Jesus puke His little guts out, but you gotta do what you gotta do…)
The UN official is backing off, so maybe what Manhattan said is correct, that the guy is overwhelmed by the extent of the tragedy.
I applaud the US for the aid given so far, and am sure that much more will be forthcoming. The UN worker’s comments were totally unhelpful, but it’s odd that a criticism of all the world’s rich nation is taken so personally but some of you Yanks.
Having said that, $15 million really really is absolute derisory pocket change, to the US, and to countries like the UK, which has seemingly pledged less than $1 million, for fuck’s sake. And Ireland, which has pledged $1 million. Fucking crap. This is one of the biggest disasters the world has ever seen. As fellow humans we surely have a responsibility to help. [urk=http://www.dailynews.lk/2004/12/29/new02.html]Here’s how Sri Lankans are reacting to the aid.
Fuck those, by the way, who are bitching about the UN’s distribution: whatever you may think of the UN, this is the sort of shit it’s good at. The UN has stockpiles of supplies all over the world for this sort of thing.
By the way, I for one applauded Bush’s pledge to fight AIDS.
I agree with the UN guy. 15 million is chickenshit. We can spend tens of billions to slaughter Iraqis for no fucking reason but we can’t loosen up the purse strings for this? Fuck that. We should be giving billions not some token little kiss off. I also agree with 'lucy that this is an opportunity to prove that we’re NOT a bunch of fat, self-absorbed, callous, indifferent assholes…oh well…that would actually require a kernel of truth.
I would also be FOR jacking up taxes to raise money for those people, by the way. Another 5 or 10 dollars isn’t going to kill anybody. Anyone who’s seriously offended by the suggestion that the US should act like a caring citizen of the world for fucking once needs to serioulsly examine their priorities and don’t make any plans for going to Heaven just yet.
France has pledged an amazingly generous 100k euros. I don’t even see Switzerland on the list. What really steams me about this is that Egeland has the nerve to recommend fiscal policy changes in America so that we can afford to give more. What a little prick. As much as I’d like to think this would be an opportunity for the US to mend some relationships, the anti-American contingent will just say “Look at the sick capitalists who think they can buy our approval with charity! Now I hate them all the more!”
Very well put; I agree wholeheartedly (FWIW).
Or maybe, just maybe, your entire OP was radically inaccurate and taken from a completely dishonest article from a paper that is routinely dishonest in its reporting.
The UN guy didn’t back off. He simply stated that he never called out any country specifically, nor did he ever talk about any specific crisis. He simply stated that overall the wealthy Western countries could afford to be more generous. That was spun by the liars at the Washington Times to be a statement that the US specifically is not doing enough for this specific tragedy. That article was then gobbled up by conservatives who lack the ability to critically think, and merely regurgitate whatever their puppet masters feed them in the news.
Wahhh…why should we give a shit about other human beings…wahhhh…Those UN guys are meanies…wahhhhh…us poor Americans…we’re so mistreated…
You fucking people make me sick.
In these circumstances, I really don’t think this will happen.
nd the US has now increased its pledge to $35 million, so maybe the nasty words did the job.
Anyway, if we agree that our governments are shit, then let’s take matters into our own hands. And if we think the governments’ responses are OK or more than enough, well, charitable giving instead of government aid is a big conservative ideal, isn’t it? So let’s put our money where our mouths are.
No, idiot. He never mentioned the United States.
Oh, your right. He didn’t mean us when he said “rich western nations.” Don’t be so obtuse.
Agreed that this is a golden opportunity for the U.S. to help out (as it has often done) and burnish its image. The initial dollar amount didn’t sound too impressive, but this is an administration that has a truly lousy public relations capability.
I suspect that massive pledges of aid will be met with cynicism about U.S. motives from the Usual Suspects. Let 'em carp.
While the Bush Administration is often tone-deaf regarding image, you have to wonder about the idiocy of that U.N. official. Suggesting that America and other Western nations raise taxes to fund relief because that’s what their citizens want is amazingly stupid and presumptuous, and provides fodder for anti-U.N. advocates.
Add in the U.N. oil-for-food corruption scandal and you’d have to wonder how anybody over there would have the gall to criticize others’ relief efforts.
Unless it was seen as a way to take some of the heat off the U.N.
You think if Kofi Annan’s son is named to head a U.N. relief commission for the region, the aid will start to really pour in?
But he didn’t in any way say it was just the United States that was stingy. He only implied that western countries could afford to help more, that he thought they should, and that he believed the citizens of those countries agree.
Man: People are idiots.
Elbonia Daily: Man slams Elbonian people as “idiots”
I don’t know what kind of newspaper the Washington Times is, but I’d guess it’s less than reputable.
Fox News was banging on about the comment all day, too. They cleverly obscured the fact that the comment was about all rich western nations (again, why do some people think it’s only the US that’s “rich”?).
Powell: U.S. aid will total ‘billions’ “Clearly, the United States will be a major contributor to this international effort. And, yes, it will run into the billions of dollars.”
The article mentions the UN guy and the very bristly response of the US Govt. to his suggestions. But this quick that’s-not-all-we-meant-to-give sort of gives the lie to the “$15 million was exceedingly generous” argument, doesn’t it?
Halleluja! Hosannas in the highest, yippie skippie, my beloved country is doing something right! I’m as happy as the pig who just heard he missed the luau!
HALLELUJAH!