Bush country, invitation-only
“ The spokesman for Clinton's 1993 Inaugural Committee said the inaugural events would cost about $25 million – largesse exceeded only by the $50 million Ken Starr was forced to spend when "Clintonland" turned out to be populated with felons. Think of all the starving children in Angola, Somalia, Bosnia and elsewhere that $25 million could have fed! And don't even get me started on Michael Moore's "on location" food budget!
Full Article
I wouldn't mention it, except for the Times' recent editorial snippily remarking that the amount of foreign aid to tsunami victims offered by the United States within the first few days of the disaster was "less than half of what Republicans plan to spend on the Bush inaugural festivities." By that logic, why hold the Golden Globes, the Academy Awards, or spend money on restaurants and theater productions praised in the New York Times? That money could go to tsunami victims! ”
If there's one thing bilious siren Ann Coulter loves more than exploiting the tsunami disaster (by accusing "liberals" of exploiting it), it's trashing Bill Clinton. Finally she has managed to combine the two -- it must be a dream come true!
Read On! |
 |
|---|---|
|
The media were soft and gushy on Clinton's inauguration. "'It has all been so much fun,' Frank Rich and Maureen Dowd gushed in the New York Times in January 1993. It was Bill Clinton's one-week inaugural celebration. 'Is it too much to ask that it go on forever?' (For those who loved America, the next eight years would only seem to go on forever.)" |
It really should be pointed out that those quotes are dripping with sarcasm in the original. They added: "Though this inaugural celebration has already lasted longer than 'Gone With The Wind,' 'Roots' and 'The Winds of War,' let it be remembered that there is always room for more. Think about 'Scarlett,' 'Roots: The Next Generation,' and 'War and Remembrance.'" And of course, by 1997 Clinton's second inaugural, a subdued affair in which supporters paid their own way, was just a blip on the radar, competing with Paula Jones, Whitewater, supposed fund-raising scandals, and whatever else Republicans could think of to attack Clinton with. |
|
Clinton ignored tragedies in Africa during his inauguration. "While dead bodies rotted in the streets of Angola and Somalia, the only "dead soldiers" in evidence in Clinton-land were the empty Cristal bottles lining the parade route. The most massive relief efforts that week took place at the rows of portable toilets circling each site of drunken Clintonista revelry." |
Wait a sec, wasn't George H.W. Bush the president? What exactly did you expect the Governor of Arkansas to do about Somalia? The lame-duck Bush I had already sent an ill-planned but brave peacekeeping mission to Somalia a month before -- a move so controversial even his own son repudiated it. It was a rough lesson in foreign policy for the new president. But there was nothing controversial about aiding victims of the tsunami, where as many as 290,000 are presumed dead. |
If there's one thing bilious siren Ann Coulter loves more than exploiting the tsunami disaster (by accusing "liberals" of exploiting it), it's trashing Bill Clinton. Finally she has managed to combine the two -- it must be a dream come true!
Bush made us an international embarrassment yet again when he proposed a $35 million aid package to Southeast Asia -- while at the same time planning a $40-million-plus private party in downtown Washington. He made up for that gaffe in real terms by pledging more later, but once again, America gets a soiled reputation in exchange for self-servicing leadership.
His second inauguration should have been a somber affair. These are no longer giddy times, like they were when he took office. The nation quite tenuously re-elected him, while his approval rating dipped below 50 percent. He has the burden of all the decisions he made in his first four years, including near-sole responsibility for 150,000 American soldiers being in Iraq.
Instead, he shut down the city and sold off its sidewalks to the highest bidder. Opulence was the theme, with a motif of stifling dissent. How small a man would choose to gloat so ostentatiously while his singular doings unravel the lives of American and Iraqi families? It was not an American celebration, it was an ideological love-in for Republicans in power and their wealthy backers. "Let them eat crap!"
comments@polianna.com
