Earthquake/Tsunami Relief

The relief effort is in full force with the US at the lead, however the WaPo has this snide little article slamming Bush and the US response. If Bush would've made a huge show of touring hurricane-ravaged Florida back in August, it would have been a political stunt. Now that Bush is staying low-key and making sure that the money is available he's "absent". Glenn answers that.

LGF has a nice round-up and a direct refutation of the "stinginess" of America.

The evil Donald Rumsfeld is doing his part:

U.S. military relief efforts include:

U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo aircraft in Yokota, Japan, loaded with relief supplies are expected to deploy to Utapao, Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand.

U.S. Navy deployed P-3 aircraft from Kadena, Japan, to operate in the vicinity of Thailand with Utapao, Royal Thai Air Force Base, serving as a hub for operations.

Other forces enroute to the region that could be committed to relief efforts, if necessary, include USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, including USS Shoup, USS Shiloh, USS Benfold, and USNS Ranier and USS Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group, including USS Duluth, USS Milius, USS Rushmore, USS Thach, USS Pasadena and USCG Munro. (That's some serious naval power--ed.)

U.S. Air Force will deploy KC-135 aircraft from Japan and Guam to provide assistance as directed.

Let us not forget the looney left:

So Mr. Magnanimous in Texas has responded to a calamity with up to 100,000 dead by offering a measly $35 million. That is less than Bush will spend on his coronation. It's what the US spends in Iraq roughly every 3-4 hours.
As other nations up their ad packages (including Australia, Japan and the EU), the US will be shamed into offering more. It's inevitable. But our nation's first feeble efforts at generosity, coupled with Bush's utter silence on the matter (until shamed by Clinton into opening up his mouth), will further add to the animosity the world holds against the US.
At a time when we could've shined, and made true on our promise of international generosity and a beacon of optimism and hope, the Bush administration gave us the opposite.

Several things pop to mind when reading this:

• "Screw 'em" Kos lumps France and Germany in with the EU as a whole. A true pittance is what France offered up at first. Last I saw this morning was that was roughly $200,000 (USD). The American public had given ten times more than that (and climbing by the minute) in 24 hours on Amazon.com. The French have since offered up $15-million Euros.
• What was Kos saying back when an oppressive regime in Rwanda murdered ten times the amount of people killed in this natural disaster? Did he push for Clinton to assist those people. This was a natural disaster that occurred out of the blue, yet Bush failed to act fast enough in pledging what Kos would deem a correct amount of relief aid, while Clinton sat back and watched one million people exterminated over the course of year with full knowledge that it was happening.
• What about Australia whom donated money , in large amounts, immediately to assist their neighbors.
• How many of those effected nations offered us assistance with hurricane relief? We give when the need arises and give abundantly. Only Markos--in cahoots with the MSM--could make this political when it is so much more than that. Shame on him.

If you wish to help and be productive instead of blaming Bush and bitching about how piss-poor America is, go here, here, or here to donate.

Update: I was wrong to intimate that Kos could make any issue non-political, he is a political operator extraordinaire, just ask him. Perhaps he should find something he's better at. Hell, I'm just an Environmental Director for a major corporation and I could have done better than 0-15.

Update II: James Taranto joins the fray.

Update III: The Watcher comments:

All talk, hates the US, Israel and the West and nothing productive is achieved. The UN and Indy Media seem to have a lot in common.

Go read the numbers concerning UN costs and relief that reaches the folks who need it most.