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So, America is Stingy, eh?

December 30, 2004 – circa 7:15 A.M. -- Katty Kay of the  BBC, which may be losing audience because it is so flaming liberal and Howard Fineman of Newsweek, which, if it isn’t, should be losing audience because it is so flaming liberal were interviewed by Matt Laur of NBC which definitely has lost audience because it is so flaming liberal, in a segment they (the network titled) "Tsunami Aid: Too Little Too Late?"

President Bush, according to Fineman (a definite misnomer), thinks a vacation  is sitting in a bass boat.  This, based on  facial expressions and voice qualities, is a bad thing.  No real president would think of a vacation and see that scenario.  Katty Kay said that America is despised around the world (since Bush became president), in particular by Moslems.

Well, Since at least two of those three "journalists" (and probably all three) are losing audience, which is not normally a sign of growing public affection and respect, and since all three were flat whipped by Bush in the wonderful General Election of 2004, we are left wondering at the motives of Laur, Katty and Fineman.

(Of interest here is the criticism concerning Bush’s "slowness" with respect to his public reaction to the disaster.  Did you know that Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations, was on vacation when it happened, and took the same amount of time to return and speak up?  How odd that these three "journalists" aren’t criticizing Kofi. But, that couldn’t be explained as hypocrisy, could it?  Liberals never do that.)

The smell of sour grapes seeped from my TV screen.  Bitterness, thy name is liberal journalist.  What a shame these people don’t know that they no longer matter because they no longer control the complete flow of information to the public.  Their denial of the reality borders on addictive response to challenge.

Here’s where this began ...  

Chris Cuomo (related to Mario?), subbing for Charlie Liberal on ABC morning news, 12/28, 7:20AM, repeated the charge below to Colin Powell, and asked if "we couldn’t do more."  His question was stimulated by text from the Washington Post or the New York Times.  Now, some segments from the piece on the subject in the Washington Times.
 

U.N. official slams U.S. as'stingy' over aid

By Bill Sammon
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The Bush administration yesterday pledged $15 million to Asian nations hit by a tsunami that has killed more than 22,500 people, although the United Nations' humanitarian-aid chief called the donation "stingy." 
                            
But U.N. Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland suggested that the United States and other Western nations were being "stingy" with relief funds, saying there would be more available if taxes were raised

In response to Mr. Egeland's comments, Mr. Duffy pointed out that the United States is "the largest contributor to international relief and aid efforts, not only through the government, but through charitable organizations. The American people are very giving." 
 
"Even before the crisis in the Asia-Pacific region and the Indian Ocean, the demands for food aid were stretching capacity: demands in Sudan, demands in West Africa, demands in other areas hit by drought and fighting," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.   "So even though we're giving a lot, the demand is very high," he added. "We're going to have to look at, as we move forward, what we can do to meet that demand." 

Now, you know. The United States gives more humanitarian aid each year than all other nations on Earth, combined.  Not that our foreign aid budget reflects this.  Contrary to common belief foreign aid -- that is formal government to government aid -- represents a small slice of the national budget pie. A few percent.  Social Security and other social programs, plus the defense budget are the big busters, here.

But, when you factor in philanthropic organizations, and the simple unorganized giving of private citizens, the U.S. becomes the number one most generous nation in the world community.  

This makes the Swedish U.N. employee quoted above a moron.  That is a job requirement where he works.

In case any of you are wondering, the reason Bush is focusing on assembling a coalition of nations to help with the Tsunami disaster, thus bypassing the U.N in large degree, it is because he doesn't have a lot of faith in the U.N.  The Iraqi Oil for Food scam, the biggest financial "humanitarian" fraud in the history of the planet, is just one of the reasons why he feels that way.  The U.N. ran it.

(LL)

© 2005 Oregon Magazine