NYT, pg1: It's About Aid and an Image (Bush perception: America first)

[DeepModem Mom]

It's About Aid, and an Image
By DAVID E. SANGER

Published: December 30, 2004


CRAWFORD, Tex., Dec. 29 - As Asia suffers through a 9/11 of its own - a natural calamity instead of a man-made one, but at least 25 times more deadly - President Bush's response in coming weeks may well determine his success in repairing relations strained by three years of relentless American focus on terrorism.

It took 72 hours after the tsunamis washed away countless villages and tens of thousands of lives before Mr. Bush appeared in public to declare that the United States had the rudiments of a plan for addressing "loss and grief to the world that is beyond our comprehension." His aides said it took that long to understand the magnitude of the tragedy and to plan a recovery effort that must stretch from remote villages of Indonesia to the eastern coast of Africa.

But the aid effort that has now begun presents Mr. Bush with an opportunity to battle, with action rather than just words, the perception that took root in his first four years in office that he is all about America first....

***

....perceptions set in a first term have a way of becoming the political canvas of the second. And America's response to this tragedy, some administration officials acknowledged, is crucial in places like Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, where the earthquake and tsunami first hit and where Islamic fundamentalism, never a political force during the cold war, is seeking to make inroads....

***

To some degree, the war of perceptions has to do with whether the Asian nations believe Mr. Bush focuses on the tsunami tragedy with the same kind of energy he put in to making sure that other nations signed on to his counterterrorism agenda after Sept. 11. Just weeks after those attacks, Mr. Bush traveled to Shanghai for the annual summit of Asian leaders and made clear he would judge allies on the basis of how well they joined the fight. Among the first visitors to the Oval Office after the attack was Megawati Sukarnoputri, then Indonesia's president. She pledged to join the hunt for Al Qaeda operatives on her territory, and largely made good on the promise....

(The article includes a response by Senator Leahy, Democrat of Vermont: "I just about went through the roof when I heard them bragging about $35 million. We spend $35 million before breakfast in Iraq." Senator Leahy suggests that some of the unspent $18 billion allocated for Iraq reconstruction be used for Asian relief.)


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/international/worldspecial4/30prexy.html?oref=login

[Lost4words]

1. Americs first, my ass, Bushs base are his first and only concern!

cold hearted little SOB.

[Hekate]

2. Maybe it took Dubya's handlers 72 hrs to get him to...

...stop hollering about the End Times and focus on a statement that wouldn't make the rest of the world think he's a lunatic as well as a moron.

That's my theory, anyway.

Good for Senator Leahy, btw.

Hekate

[WhereIsMyFreedom]

15. He was so drunk

that it took 72 hours for him to sober up enough to deliver the statement.

[dbt]

3. In all fairness to bu$h,

The empty-headed, clueless little Puppet Moron couldn't be expected to make any sort of statement concerning this horrible event on his own. He could not express his opinion on the subject because he had not yet been GIVEN his opinion.

Somebody had to find The Dick first to ask, "What does the pResident think about all this?" And, of course, it took 24 hours for Cheney to lose the two-inch woody that he got over the thought of 100,000 brown-skinned people dying at the Hand of a Just and Merciful God.

The Regime moved as fast as it was capable, given the fact that there was no oil involved.

:puke:
dbt

[DeepModem Mom]

4. That's a quotable quote, dbt --

"The Regime moved as fast as it was capable, given the fact that there was no oil involved."

[Skittles]

8. two-inch woody

HA HA HA :thumbsup:

[rooboy]

12. He didn't want to scare the children. n/t

[DoYouEverWonder]

5. God forbid someone ever decides

to nuke us. It will take W three days just to find his dick.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. Well, add another quotable quote to dbt's above!

[itzamirakul]

6. Such a nice little...

heiney-spanking the NYT is giving Bush. Just a couple of warm pats on his well-padded covered butt to remind him that "we are still watching..." Damn! They could have done better than a mere chiding.

[Sporadicus]

9. More Like 'Saudi Royal Family First' n/t

[JI7]

10. he doesn't give a shit about America either

in fact if he did give a shit then he would do something to truly help the tsunami victims.

[Dr Batsen D Belfry]

11. Give Bush a break

Reasons why it took three days to speak about the Southeast Asian Crisis

1) He can't help it took him as long as it did to figure out how to pronounce Tsunami. No Child Left Behind wasn't around when he was in school.

2) Bush kept pronouncing Phuket as "Fuck It"

3) Bush kept laughing when told there was an area named Phi Phi that was pronounced "pee pee"

DBDB

[slor]

13. "We never could have imagined a tsunami..."

would have been created by an underwater earthquake": Condilethal Rice, Dec. 29, 2004.

[The Zanti Regent]

14. David Sanger, please stop kissing Bush's ass!

Typical PRESSTITUTE hired by the Screw York Times!

[WhereIsMyFreedom]

16. Keep your eye on the ball

The only monetary promises that he's ever kept have been tax cuts to the wealthy and money for Haliburton. All other promises of aid and support he's shortchanged. If he promises $35m, they'll only get $15m.

[htuttle]

18. Actually, $15 million IS all they're getting

The rest of it is supposed to be a loan.

[moondust]

17. His plan: Marginalize the U.N.

I suspect he's setting up his own "coalition" so that the U.N. does not have the lead role in organizing the relief efforts. It's the Repug alternative to the U.N. whereby the U.S. is always in charge and can't be voted down. A benevolent dictatorship.

(Whew, the things you can do with borrowed money!)

[DainBramaged]

19. 7.083 billion bbl of oil reserves in Indonesia will get * off his ass

Don't think for one pretzelsecond that there won't be a deal forced on them.

[Oversea Visitor]

20. We was watching CNN on tsunami coverage

There is like 12 of us in the office watching
Then Bush pop on
We all saw the curtain backdrop and the sole lonely rostrum he was speaking from.
There was total silence .... and whisper of bastard silently swear.

The President of the USA in all is glory telling the people of Asia he cares.
Please go see CNN for yourself ....
see wheather what I describe is wrong ....
Sadly thats is how it is projected

[DeepModem Mom]

21. Thanks so much for posting, Oversea Visitor --

our hearts are with you, and my family has joined many other DUers in making our own contributions to organizations that I hope will bring help and hope.

[Catchawave]

22. I saw his "comments" yesterday,

and was totally embarrassed for our country. He's such a neener-neener. He dribbles, he shoots, he smirks...and that annoying "Beavis and Butthead" heh-heh he does drives me up the flipping wall.

Here's a great opEd from today's NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/opinion/30thu2.html?oref=login&th

[TexasChick]

23. "His aides said it took that long to understand the magnitude of the ...

tragedy and to plan a recovery effort that must stretch from remote villages of Indonesia to the eastern coast of Africa."



Hey, presidunce Chimp, maybe if you would pull your head out of your ass and perhaps read or watch the news, you would probably grasp the magnitude of things a lot quicker, asshat!

[Javaman]

25. In less than 24 hours after the quake and wave, it was known 40K were dead

He's full of shit. chimpyboy moron.

[readmylips]

24. God Bless America and to Hell with Everybody Else...

that's bush's and his christian follower's motto.

[durablend]

26. Nah, the corrected title should be

"It's About Aid and an Image (Bush First: The Hell With Everyone Else)"

[yorkiemommie1]

29. god bless 'red' amurrika

n/t

[catmandu57]

27. If we had a real president

They would have been on top of this from the beginning. I'm not saying they would've had a plan, but at least they would've been doing something.
We're going to be reaping some bad karma from this and all of the chimps* fuckups.

[Tempest]

28. The real implication here is Indonesia terrorism

Muslims in Indonesia are the largest growing group of recruits for terrorism today.

Bush had the perfect opportunity to nip this in the bud by reaching out to Indonesia and throwing all of America's available resources into this tragedy.

Instead of an olive branch, Bush held out a rotting sack of garbage.

[canadianbeaver]

30. You nailed it........n/t

[durablend]

31. So what's the problem?

More incentive to keep the "War on Terra-Terra-Terra" going on perpetually...A neo-con/PNAC wet dream!

[malachi]

32. Except for Israel, when has this nation ever come up big for

non-white, non-christian countries?

[DBoon]

33. And for Israel only because it is useful to Christian Fundies

without the end times prophecies, there would be nowhere near the support for Israel we see

[oly]

34. God, the guy claims to be a Christian!