We suck at giving things.
First it was DVDs.
Then an iPod.
Now we've donated the diplomatic equivalent of a fairly nice bottle of port to the earthquake relief effort in Italy.
The United States said Monday it would donate 50,000 dollars in emergency aid to Italy after a powerful earthquake killed at least 100 people.Also delivered were a gorgeous bouquet of freshly picked lilies and a "Sorry All Your Medieval Buildings Were Destroyed" hallmark card.
[...]
President Barack Obama earlier offered his condolences on a visit to Turkey and voiced hope that the United States could send rescuers.
The earthquake killed at least 100 people and injured 1,500 more as it reduced medieval buildings to rubble in the central town of L'Aquila.
50 grand? Seriously? This is so frickin' embarrassing.
UPDATE: An aftershock of 5.1 magnitude was just felt in Italy. Obama just sent them a Home Depot two-for-one coupon.
h/t: Topspin
Wow. Pathetic. The church I attend in Grand Rapids, MI gave twice that amount to the tsunami relief effort.
ReplyDeleteI just spoke to a colleague, a Navy Captain, about this. One of the reasons why the funding might be so low for this catastrophe is because US forces are already all over that region of Italy so they might have provided all of the support that they are capable of giving. I'm one of the last people on the planet who would ever defend any thing that Obama does (I voted for McCain), but I think that this information could shed some light on his decision.
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