Jon Dougherty brings up a great point regarding the help that is coming to those affected by Katrina:
Do you want to know what the definition of ungrateful is? It is being clearly spelled out for us in the world's response – or rather, its lack of response – to the carnage wrought by Hurricane Katrina earlier this week.
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As of this writing, I've seen exactly two offers of assistance. The first comes from Venezuela, whose left-wing leader, President Hugo Chavez, is simply pulling a public-relations stunt and using our misfortune to jab a stick in the eye of the Bush administration, which opposes his anti-U.S. regime.
The second comes from Ontario, Canada. Yes, that's right – just that lone province, not the whole of the Canadian central government.
Excuse me if I don't exactly get misty-eyed from all of this generosity.
While the Clear Cut Kidder pushes the far-left ant-war message that money spent on national security should instead be spent on those who want a levee that allows them to live below sea level, Dougherty brings up another idea:
According to the Los Angeles Times, the United States spent a record $18.7 billion on foreign aid in 2003 – a figure which has risen substantially since President Bush took first took office in January 2001. That figure alone would take a huge chunk out of the price tag for Katrina.
We also spend billions more dollars abroad to help others deal with everything from AIDS prevention to stamping out anti-government militias. And let's not forget that little $1 billion donation to help the Asian tsunami victims earlier this year. Aren't we the thoughtful ones?
But it's always this way, isn't it? I mean, haven't the professional and collegiate sports clubs said it best when they reminded us this week, as they ramped up relief efforts and dug into their own pockets, that it is the American way to be generous to a fault when our neighbors are down and out?
That simply means, of course, when the chips are down we Americans know who to count on in a crisis: ourselves.
So to the rest of the world – you ungrateful leeches – I say this: When we decide "unilaterally" to defend ourselves the next time we're attacked; when we next opt to "unilaterally" battle a global evil like terrorism because no one else can or will; when we act "unilaterally" to insist global organizations like the United Nations clean up its act; now you know why. We're used to going it alone.
And one final note: Don't call us ... we'll call you.
And why does the Democrats want us to be more like the rest of the World's "ungrateful leeches"?
