What else would you expect from this White House? Some class?
"Laura Bush's Disastrous Diplomacy"
by Dan Froomkin May 6, 2008
"When a country run by a despotic and isolationist regime is laid low by a massive natural disaster, the diplomatic thing to do is to respond with a show of compassion. Not kick 'em when they're down.
More than 22,000 people have died in the staggering devastation caused by this weekend's cyclone in Burma. But when First Lady Laura Bush made her first-ever visit to the White House briefing room yesterday, to talk about what's going on in that country, it was not to deliver a message of goodwill.
Rather than announce the launch of a massive relief effort that could take advantage of a rare diplomatic opening, the first lady instead tossed insults at Burma's leaders, blamed them for the high death toll, and lashed out at their decision to move forward with a constitutional referendum scheduled for this Saturday.
The traditionally issue-averse first lady's concerns about the Burmese junta and its abuses of human rights date back several years, and she's been particularly outspoken since last fall.
But why respond to a catastrophe with such hostility? The awkward timing, as it turns out, may have had something to do with an event entirely unrelated to the cyclone.
"I'm going to leave tomorrow for Crawford, for Jenna's wedding, and I wanted to be able to make a statement about Burma before I left," the first lady told reporters.
Pfffffttt!! Un-frikkin'-real!
Yeah, the whole world revolves around your whore-daughter's wedding!
The Coverage
Dan Eggen writes in The Washington Post: "Laura Bush condemned the military government in Burma yesterday for its 'inept' response to a deadly weekend cyclone, marking an unusual foray by the president's spouse into a high-profile foreign policy crisis.
"Appearing at a White House news conference, the first lady said the military junta in Burma is preventing the United States and other nations from providing help in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Nargis, and she alleged that the country's rulers purposely declined to warn people of the impending danger. . . .
"Bush . . . called the Burmese regime 'very inept' and urged it to cancel plans for a referendum later this week, which she said would 'give false legitimacy to their continued rule.'
"The remarks underscore the first lady's uncommon emergence as the administration's most visible spokesman on Burma, also known as Myanmar, which is ruled by a junta that is widely criticized as one of the world's most oppressive and corrupt regimes. The news conference marked the first time that she presided at the White House briefing room, which is generally used for official pronouncements by President Bush or his senior aides."
I was wondering WhyTF she was there.
But other countries aren't holding back -- and Burma is apparently begging for help.
Amy Kazmin writes in The Washington Post: "Burma's government, which is traditionally wary of international aid workers, issued a rare appeal for outside help. The United Nations, the United States, Britain and the European Union all expressed willingness to assist, while India said Monday that it was already dispatching two naval ships with relief supplies."
In fact, despite the first lady's claim that Burma was blocking delivery of international aid, "Richard Horsey, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that the Burmese authorities 'are receptive to international assistance' and that 'discussions are taking place in New York and on the ground about what is needed, what the U.N. can provide and how to get it to the people.'
"U.N. officials said hundreds of thousands of people -- left homeless after the storm flattened fragile bamboo-and-thatch homes -- are in urgent need of clean drinking water and shelter. Teams from the local Red Cross have already begun distributing plastic sheeting and water-purification tablets from existing stockpiles in the country, but Horsey said far more will be needed, given the scale of the disaster."
Andrew Buncombe writes for the Independent: "The secretive military junta that has ruled the impoverished nation for two decades took the unprecedented step yesterday of issuing an urgent appeal for international help. . . .
"[A]t a meeting of foreign diplomats, Burma's Foreign Minister, Nyan Win, said he feared that 10,000 people could be dead and the worst of the damage was in the delta area. The diplomats were told that Burma welcomed international humanitarian aid including roofing materials, medicine, water-purifying tablets and mosquito nets. The first shipment of nine tonnes is due to arrive from Thailand today."
The Independent's editorial board writes: "If Burma's rulers have accepted that this disaster is too big for the country to handle on its own, and that relieving the suffering of their stricken people should take precedence over their hermit instincts, this is progress of a kind. The decision to open the country a crack is still progress, even if the response is born of fear for the regime's survival. . . .
"There have been times, though, when some real good has come of such aid efforts, when dire need has forced open not just the doors of government ministries, but minds of closed societies as well."
Richard Walden blogs on Huffingtonpost.com: "Most of us in the relief business have strong views pro or con about the governments of countries whose people we help. But when disaster strikes, a bad or ineffective local government is an obstacle to be danced around not bludgeoned to death thus guaranteeing it will not allow the entry of urgent humanitarian aid for its people.
Yeah, it is the LOSS of LIFE for me -- period!!!
There is so much of it now, I rue every single precious soul taken from this earth!
"Laura Bush read the administration's long-standing talking points on Myanmar while simultaneously demanding that its government accept a team of US disaster officials to make an independent assessment of its needs. That the International Red Cross, the United Nations, the European Union and a number of highly competent relief agencies were already on the ground doing exactly that did not seem to matter. Giving Laura a mike and a little halo seemingly was the intent, especially with George W. Bush's popularity hovering at 27% in the polls."
Translation: The Bush White House saw a POLITICAL OPPORTUNITY!!!
The first lady tried to make a big deal of the aid the government had already provided: "Americans are a compassionate people and we're already acting to provide help. The U.S. has offered financial assistance through our embassy." But that financial assistance has thus far amounted to a total of $250,000 -- a mere trifle considering the scope of the disaster.
I love it when they say how great they are -- the fucking misers!!
Did they really only offer $250k? That's like spitting in their hand!
How about cutting them some of the TRILLIONS in WAR FUNDS?!
An Inappropriate Segue
And then she started talking about Jenna's wedding.
As Huffingtonpost.com reports: "A White House press conference given by First Lady Laura Bush took a bizarre and insensitive twist when the focus of the conference, the devastation wrought by a powerful cyclone in Myanmar, switched to Jenna Bush's upcoming wedding."
Hey, what's more important to the self-centered Bush's, anyway?!
For all we know, that damn cyclone spoiled the party!
Andrew Malcolm blogs for the Los Angeles Times that "alas, MSNBC's directors in New York, who were carrying the Q and A part of her appearance live, left up the caption from the earlier part -- 'Breaking News First Lady talks about deadly cyclone in Myanmar' -- and continued showing looped news footage of the devastation while the bride's mom obligingly answered wedding queries about their idyllic country getaway, their daughter's happy day and getting their first son in the family."
I love it when the MSM looks like the shit they are!!!
Here's how the first lady's briefing on Burma concluded:
Q. "Is it true there is an altar of limestone --"
Mrs. Bush: "That's right, the President told that this morning on ' Good Morning America.' This was his idea, to build this beautiful limestone altar, and it's the Texas limestone -- the same that our house is made out of -- from a local quarry, and they're the ones that made it -- "
Q: "Is he more nervous or are you?"
Mrs. Bush: "Neither one of us are nervous. I'm very, very excited. It's a very interesting passage of life when you get to that time in your life when your child, first child is getting married -- and we're getting, for us, our first son. So it's a thrill and we're very happy about it."
Q: "When some grandchildren come will they be named George -- "
Mrs. Bush: "George or Georgia -- Georgina. Georgette. (Laughter.)"
Puke!
Adding More Insult to Injury
President Bush this morning added to his wife's incitement of the Burmese junta, publicly signing a bill granting the Congressional Gold Medal to Burmese democracy activist and Nobel Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
She is CIA. Surprised, readers?
First the Dalai Lama, now her!
That's why they get AmeriKan MSM press!
"This is a fitting tribute to a courageous woman who speaks for freedom for all the people of Burma, and who speaks in such a way that she's a powerful voice in contrast to the junta that currently rules the country," Bush said.
Then he added: "Burma has been hit by a terrible natural disaster. Laura and I and members of the Senate and House here express our heartfelt sympathy to the people of Burma. The United States has made an initial aid contribution, but we want to do a lot more. We're prepared to move U.S. Navy assets to help find those who've lost their lives, to help find the missing, to help stabilize the situation. But in order to do so, the military junta must allow our disaster assessment teams into the country.
"So our message is to the military rulers: Let the United States come to help you, help the people. Our hearts go out to the people of Burma. We want to help them deal with this terrible disaster. At the same time, of course, we want them to live in a free society."
At this point, with the rest of the world chipping in, I would tell Bush to fuck off!!!
You want to let the CIA destabilizers into your nation?
Bush's Twilight
Dana Milbank writes in The Washington Post with "Dispatches from the twilight of a presidency":
"Eight months before the end of his second term, President Bush is forgotten but not gone. Power has shifted to Congress, attention has moved to the campaign trail, and the White House seems at times to be just going through the motions. For many reporters who remain on the White House beat, it has become a time to phone it in -- literally.
"Four minutes after the scheduled start time for yesterday's White House briefing, only 14 of the 49 seats were occupied -- and the 14 included flamboyant radio host Lester Kinsolving, who sat in the Bloomberg News seat; Raghubir Goyal of an obscure Indian American publication, who occupied the New York Times chair; and a foreign journalist in the back row, perusing the White House's Cinco de Mayo dinner menu. Though attendance eventually swelled to 28, many of the nation's leading news outlets left their chairs empty. . . .
"To react to the main news of the day -- thousands of deaths from the cyclone in Burma -- Bush sends his wife out to make a statement. She criticizes the Burmese government for its failure 'to issue a timely warning to citizens in the storm's path' and 'to meet its people's basic needs.' Reporters, too tactful to draw parallels to New Orleans, quiz her instead about daughter Jenna's wedding."
One word, beee-ach: KATRINA!!!!
