Tsunami Roundup

Remember when Bush announced the US would give FIFTEEN MEELYON DOLLARS (I imagine him doing that Dr. Evil pinky routine) for tsunami relief?  Well, to show how pathetic that is, German racing legend Michael Schumacher has donated TEN MILLION.  Kinda puts our initial stinginess into perspective, doesn't it?

Speaking of perspective, about 4000 Americans are missing in the wake of the disaster.  That number is coming down as people are located, but the number is still staggering.  Given that this could well be worse than 9/11, will Bush start talking about the 26th of December, 2004, in all his speeches to rally the country to spend hundreds of billions on learning about earthquakes and tsunamis and creating warning systems and quick response military units to assist the tens of millions of people who are impacted?

Nah.  Instead I'm sure Bush and his apologists will use this to show just how trivial the death and destruction in Iraq is.  Oops, looks like they already are:

I have been in war...but I have never seen anything like this.

Thanks, Colin, for putting it all into perspective.  We will never forget.

ntodd

PS--Yes, I appreciate the extent of the devastation and what Powell was saying.  The cynic in me, however, looks at this as just one more meme that can be picked up to justify what we do in Iraq, just like those inane "more people die in traffic accidents..." comparisons.  Bottom-line: just because something or someone is incomprehensibly evil doesn't mean automatically what we are doing is right.

[Update: Kristof puts our short-sighted stinginess into a more enlightening perspective.]

['nother update: dKos commenter rockin in the free world was also a bit disturbed by Powell's comments.]