Georgie goes to Indonesia
And here's the Welcoming Committee!
Thousands of people are protesting in advance of Georgie's visit to Indonesia, the world's most populous muslim nation. Although Indonesia is a democracy and an ally in the so-called "War on Terror", Bush is immensely unpopular there. (Ya think?)
The protests have precipitated howls of outrage from the usual right-wing suspects, prompting some to say that the next time there's a tsunami, America should just "let the ungrateful bastards drown". But this kind of thinking misses an important point: the Bush administration is not America, and in fact about 2/3 of America feels the same way as the Indonesian protesters. That Bush happened to be in the white house when the tsunami hit is irrelevant; any administration and any congress would have responded the same way.
The fact that America helped, even led, the tsunami rescue effort doesn't free the Bush administration of responsibility for their reprehensible conduct elsewhere. It only means that the old America, the America that did so much good in the world, is still alive and well in spite of Bush, surely not because of him.
Thousands of people are protesting in advance of Georgie's visit to Indonesia, the world's most populous muslim nation. Although Indonesia is a democracy and an ally in the so-called "War on Terror", Bush is immensely unpopular there. (Ya think?)
The protests have precipitated howls of outrage from the usual right-wing suspects, prompting some to say that the next time there's a tsunami, America should just "let the ungrateful bastards drown". But this kind of thinking misses an important point: the Bush administration is not America, and in fact about 2/3 of America feels the same way as the Indonesian protesters. That Bush happened to be in the white house when the tsunami hit is irrelevant; any administration and any congress would have responded the same way.
The fact that America helped, even led, the tsunami rescue effort doesn't free the Bush administration of responsibility for their reprehensible conduct elsewhere. It only means that the old America, the America that did so much good in the world, is still alive and well in spite of Bush, surely not because of him.
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