Bush Bollocks It Up Again

The Bush Administration response to the tsunami disaster exemplifies everything I dislike about this president, his cohorts, and their leadership. Since the onset of America’s response to the tragedy, I have felt at turns mortified, livid, and awed, and I am reminded once again of why I so desperately wanted this man replaced, both as our President and as our foremost diplomat, our envoy to the rest of the world.

Incompetence. Though our official pledge now stands at $350 million and counting, the original sum offered was $400,000:

The United States' initial offer of aid for the tsunami victims drifted from a miserly $400,000 to a ridiculous $15 million to a paltry $35 million in a 24-hour news cycle.

[…]

The figure is now $350 million with a promise of more to come, raising the question of what idiot came up with the $400,000 figure in the first place and what kind of handle the president had on the disaster […]

Having—or, more aptly, not having—a handle on something seems to be a recurring theme with this president. While his infamous 7-minute delay before reacting to the events of 9/11 tend to be viewed along partisan lines, with liberals seeing paralyzing ineptitude and conservatives seeing calm under fire, I cannot imagine the defense for so vastly underestimating the need generated by this disaster. With many Americans questioning the $400,000 pledge when it was first offered, it seems the populace had a stronger grasp on the situation than the administration.

If this wasn’t blatant incompetence, then it was willful disregard of the magnitude of events—in either case, a pretty paltry display from the White House.


Questionable Priorities. In everything from the funding of sex education programs to the appropriation of resources in Iraq, the Bush Administration never fails to use politics and ideology to govern their choices. The only side they’re ever on is their own.

Their original pledge to the tsunami victims was one-tenth the cost of the nine official balls and associated festivities planned for Bush’s Jan. 20th inauguration. Even still, with countries such as Australia doubling our aid contribution, Bush is taking his usual wait-and-see attitude about upping our pledge, and has promised that the inauguration will go on as planned. Aside from what many consider a general inappropriateness of such a lavish celebration in close proximity to such a heart-rending tragedy, expending an inarguably egregious sum on the fête while delivering one of the lowest pledges of assistance from the Western world can only be described as questionable priorities, as best.

(In a tangentially-related aside, when the NY Times Magazine’s Deborah Solomon recently asked Jeanne L. Phillips, the chairwoman of the 55th Presidential Inaugural Committee, whether she or the president had ever discussed canceling the nine balls and using the $40 million inaugural budget to purchase better equipment for the troops, Phillips replied:

I think we felt like we would have a traditional set of events and we would focus on honoring the people who are serving our country right now -- not just the people in the armed forces, but also the community volunteers, the firemen, the policemen, the teachers, the people who serve at, you know, the -- well, it's called the StewPot in Dallas, people who work with the homeless.

[Solomon:] How do any of them benefit from the inaugural balls?

I'm not sure that they do benefit from them.

[Solomon:] Then how, exactly, are you honoring them?

Honoring service is what our theme is about.

Because, you know, a theme of honoring service is a priority, even though actually honoring those who serve is clearly not.)


The Shifting of Responsibility. Not wanting to sacrifice his balls (ahem) and under pressure about use of taxpayer dollars with no end to spending in Iraq in sight, Bush has opted to try to elicit direct contributions from corporations and the American people to augment the government’s contribution. Let it be noted that, as ever, many Americans are eager to help and would do so with or without the President’s urging, but when he tells us “The greatest source of America's generosity is not our government…It's the good heart of the American people,” he fails to recognize that the American people pay taxes to their government to provide funding for situations just such as this, not because we are unwilling to donate personally, but because our national policy expresses something separate and unique from the actions of individual Americans. Indeed, traveling abroad will teach you very quickly that views of the American people and views of the American government are vastly different things.


Hypocrisy. Quite simply, it’s yet another case of what’s good for the goose….

To help in what he called ''this urgent cause,'' Bush urged Americans to send money […]

Bush himself plans to make a personal donation but has not done so yet.

Of course he hasn’t.


Cronyism/Political Opportunism. All wrapped up in one. Jeb Bush, currently leading the delegation dispatched by his brother-in-chief, was allegedly sent for his experience with natural disasters. I’m not about to try to quantify the likenesses or differences between the hurricanes in Florida and the tsunamis, but something tells me that a potential ’08 presidential run has significantly more to do with Jeb’s selection than some kind of unique meteorological experience.


Selective Bipartisanism. Despite his promises to be a uniter, not a divider, Bush has, of course, been anything but. The country is truly polarized, Bush’s ideologically-driven policies are rammed through Congress running roughshod over any opposition (meager though it may be), and he clearly has no use for anyone who disagrees with him; those who do are quickly braded traitors. Yet suddenly, Bush—who couldn’t even contain himself from acting like an ass at Clinton’s Library opening—suddenly needed the Big Dog’s master fundraising skills, and sent him, along with his own father, to circulate and drum up cash to contribute to tsunami aid efforts. As Robert Kuttner suggested in The Boston Globe, “[Bush’s] version of bipartisanship is that good old Bill Clinton gets to shill for private money that a decent government would be providing.”

I guess that’s the problem, though, isn’t it? We don’t seem to have a decent government right now. Instead we have a leader who prefers to spend $40 million on a party for himself while others suffer. And if you think I just mean the tsunami victims, take a look around your own community. There are people there who could use a little help, too.