I guess it's time for my monthly liberal rant. Even though my country disgusts me on a daily basis, I've tried to limit my number of outbursts. Usually when someone confronts me with the latest news of our government's despicable actions I just nod and say something to the effect of "It'll all be over soon...extinction should be right around the corner, God willing." I try to be a good American and accept the world's tragedies, either wrought by us our visited upon us, by hiding my head in the sand now.
But this week we have witnessed a tragedy of epic proportions. The tsunami that hit Asia. The rising death toll, currently at 80,000, is nothing compared to the 5 million people that have been left homeless. Disease is a looming threat with all the dead bodies tainting the drinking water. Each day the tale gets darker and darker.
But never fear... America will soon be here!
Yes, the world's wealthiest nation has gracefully pledged $35 million in relief funds. What a generous offer, thank you so so much for being so altruistic, you are certainly going to heav---wait a second---did you just say $35 MILLION?
That's right campers. 35 million smackeroos. In fact, if you play your cards right, we'll even throw in a wet-vac and an econo-pack of sponges!
Woo! I must say I've never been prouder of my American citizenship than I am now. What a charitable country we are. Why would so many people around the world dislike us? We just pledged what Julia Roberts would make on two films.
"Oh, but Dave," you say. "This isn't a numbers game. It's the thought that counts." Exactly. And this is how much we think of the rest of the world. We will gladly spend $820 million on two Mars Exploration Rovers to take pictures of dirt on another planet, but helping out our fellow human beings doesn't seem to rank that high up there.
Our government will spend $5 million MORE on GW Bush's inauguration than it will on disaster relief. (Chicago Tribune 12/28) "Wait Dave, you're talking out of your ass," you say. "That money was raised by independent donors, not the people of the United States." OK, I'll give you that one. With such a bleak future on the horizon and death in the air, I guess a nice $40 million party is in order.
We have spent close to $150 billion dollars to kill people in Iraq. I was never good at math but I think that is somewhere around 5,000x more than we're offering in disaster relief.
After Hurricane Charley last summer, Congress approved $13 billion dollars in aid.
The tsunami relief funds have currently gathered $350 million from around the world. The 9/11 relief funds brought in $2.9 BILLION. They've lost 80,000 people, we lost 3,000. Hmmm. Perhaps the tsunami victims should exploit their disaster like we did. Will we see "12/26. We Will Never Forget" bumper stickers on rickshaws some day?
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