Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Not Funny: First Lady Calls Burmese Kettle Black

The Washington Post says
Laura Bush condemned the military government in Burma yesterday for its "inept" response to a deadly weekend cyclone, marking an unusual foray by the president's spouse into a high-profile foreign policy crisis.

Appearing at a White House news conference, the first lady said the military junta in Burma is preventing the United States and other nations from providing help in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Nargis, and she alleged that the country's rulers purposely declined to warn people of the impending danger.

"Although they were aware of the threat, Burma's state-run media failed to issue a timely warning to citizens in the storm's path," she said. "The response to this cyclone is just the most recent example of the junta's failures to meet its people's basic needs."
...

Bush also called the Burmese regime "very inept" and urged it to cancel plans for a referendum later this week, which she said would "give false legitimacy to their continued rule."
It's kind of funny, isn't it?

People were saying exactly the same things about the Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina, and about the bogus "election" of 2004 that gave "false legitimacy to their continued rule".

But Laura Bush wasn't one of them. And the Washington Post wasn't paying any attention.

Maybe it's not very funny after all.