So, the Bush Administration’s initial pledge to the Tsunami Relief fund was $15 million. After some arm-twisting and “public embarrassment” from the UN, the number was ratcheted up to a whopping $35 million, with promises that the figure marked “only the beginning” of US aid, though no firm amount was disclosed. Just to put this into perspective, we spend $35 million in a day or two over in Iraq, blowing up people. In reference to the amount, Andrew Natsios, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said, “We just spent it… We’ll be talking to the (White House) budget office … (about) what to do at this point.”

Also, we’re about to head into an inauguration, the festivities for which are rumored to cost $40 million.

Let me rephrase all this for clarity’s sake: The Bush Administration’s idea of a pledge to aid a tragedy that left five million homeless and well over a hundred thousand dead is five million dollars less than what it’s going to spend on a self-congratulatory party.

Think how much armor that $40 million could buy our troops. Think what else it could be spent on.

It should also be noted that Roosevelt, during WW2, took great pains to ensure that his inagurations should be understated affairs, because the country was at war, and the troops needed the money more than he needed a big party.

Oh, and for the first 96 hours after the tragedy, Bush himself made no public statement, and was reported to be “riding his bike and clearing brush” at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Priorities, indeed.