Tears of shame...

You don't get it?

It's not money that was needed from the President in the face of this huge Tsunami, it was the much more general concept of support: troops, solidarity, voice and vision. Certainly, it's not in his Constitutional job description, but a good president would have done it (largely because it is an ephemeral duty passed down from Washington himself). To pick a random name from a hat: had FDR learned of a crisis such as this he would have been on the radio immediately to rally congressional and public support to help. It's because of leaders like FDR that the machines of TV and Radio are there for immediate use, should the President wish to call Americans to arms in the face of great tragedy. Sure, patience is nice when you can afford it, but in the face of such great natural tragedies time is often a luxury that cannot be afforded.

Whether or not the American public is doing its part to help in this time of crisis, the American President is the figure that the entire world looks to to give a human voice to the commitment of the American public.

The sad thing is that these are the same concerns I voiced on September 11th. In the face of the greatest national tragedy of recent memory, our President's first action was not to speak to the American people, to assuage their grief and provide an anchor to the American public of trust and decision. Instead, the President ran and hid until his speech writers had had time to provide the "proper subtexts and spin" necessary to help push the President's agenda in a time when agendas should have been pushed aside.

Each and every speech Bush has given ...