You would think Laura Bush, being given the podium at the White House Press Room to appeal for help for hundreds of thousands of victims of Friday's killer cyclone that struck Myanmar, would have known better than to mindlessly repeat the toothless US policy positions on a government we disapprove of.
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.
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.
The Burmese constitutional referendum set for Saturday, the still-under-house-arrest democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, the generalized brutality of the military junta -- all were targeted by The First Lady while giving lip service to making a provisional offer of US assistance to storm victims.
Whether it's a hurricane or a cyclone, somehow one Bush or another flies too far above the clouds to feel the pain.
Richard Walden is President and CEO of Operation USA, www.opusa.org, a 29 year old international relief group based in Los Angeles.
Related: Laura Bush Discusses Jenna's Wedding During Myanmar Press Conference
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I am a committed supporter of Barack Obama and believe George Bush's legacy will be the worst of any president in history. I hate the war in Iraq and weep for the families who have lost sons and daughters there. What happened in Katrina is an outrage and George Bush is the most destructive president I have seen in my lifetime.
BUT on the very insignificant , narrow side issue of Jenna Bush and her wedding, it strikes me that the daughter of this Republican president has gone to Africa on an AIDS mission, written a book for children and gotten married in a quiet, private ceremony in her own home.
Chelsea Clinton, who I'm sure is a nice enough girl, is the daughter of a Democratic president whose first job was with Mark Penn's PR firm and now works at a hedge fund run by a wealthy supporter of her parents. She does no public good works except to occasionally be photographed at New York ballet society fundraisers.
When she gets married it's a safe bet Elton John will sing, the venue will be Madison Square Garden and big donors will get their own seating behind red ropes. If the unthinkable happens, and her mother actually steals this election, the guest who give the best presents will sleep over in the Lincoln Bedroom.
Now, in order to clean up her very sullied image, we're treated to lots of fanfare around Jenna on AIDs trips to Africa, and her supposedly writing childrens' books. And the fact that she's having a "quiet" wedding at the Faux ranch in Crawford somehow makes her suddenly tasteful and intimate.
Ironically, given the fact that they should behave much better given their money and heritage, the Bushes are not well-bred, or well-mannered people. In fact, if they didn't have all the money and political connections, I'd imagine Laura would be teaching in a small school somewhere in a small deadend town and she'd be supporting her drunken husband and her young grandchildren. The two girls would already have a couple of kids between them and one or two teenage marriages. They'd probably have std's - they might for real.
Don't waste your time supporting the effort to recreate the Bushs girls' history. These people are white trash and no amount of money or power can erase their genetics.
In 2005 when the Tsunami hit Sumatra and brought dead to tens of thousands of people, US was the first country to response to the disaster. A nearby US ship brought relief and her crew worked tirelessly to save as many people as they could. That is what we appreciate and the sign of a true leader. Not a country that declare enemy with almost every other country in the world and send her army on a destruction spree.
Would that be the same team that worked on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina?