Now, that's more like it

Bush now says the U.S. will pony up more assistence for the tsunami victims.

Of course, being Bush, he had to get all pissy.

The White House faced criticism on Tuesday over the fact that Bush, who is vacationing at his Crawford, Texas ranch, had not yet appeared in person to talk about the disaster.

 "These past few days have brought loss and grief to the world that is beyond our comprehension," Bush said.

 "The United States will continue to stand with the affected governments as they care for the victims. We will stand with them as they start to rebuild their communities," he said, adding that he had spoken by phone to the leaders of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia.

 "I assure those leaders that this is just only the beginning of our help," he said.

 At a briefing with reporters at an airport hangar near the ranch, Bush displayed pique at a comment by a U.N. official that rich countries had generally been "stingy" in aid to poor countries.

 "I felt like the person who made that statement was very misguided and ill-informed," he said.

 "In the year 2004, our government provided $2.4 billion in food and cash and humanitarian relief. ... That's 40 percent of all the relief aid given in the world last year," he said.

You'd think such a media creation as Dubya would appreciate the importance of appearances. Had he immediately made a statement and performed some symbolic act to show that he was taking this tragedy seriously, people would notice that. It was a golden opportunity to heal rifts with the outside world, and he missed it.Like anybody's really surprised...