"I don't have to let those assholes speak for me..."

Another excellent commentary on the recent 'donations' by the US. I see we are now up to almost as much as we are going to spend on the inaugural ball. And he's absolutely right, if you're disgusted with our government's response, you don't have to let those assholes speak for you. You may not have a choice about the $200,000,000/day that is spent in Iraq but you do have a choice about $20 or $50.  Please follow the links and help if you can.
...

I don’t want to sound like I’m trying to make a political statement here, this isn’t the appropriate place for that kind of thing. This disaster transcends petty politics, no doubt. But, I have to say honestly, I’m effin ashamed of my country. We first pledged 15 million, and then increased it to 40 million. Forty-Million dollars … Sounds like a lot? To put that in perspective, we’re going to spend 40 to 50 million in Washington, DC, in one afternoon, on the Presidential Inauguration. To give our pledge some context, we’re spending about 100 to 200 million dollars a day in Iraq. We spend damn near 40 million for beer, chips, and soft drinks in this country every day.

Our leaders, the leaders of the richest, most prosperous nation on Earth, could have been flown in on Air Force One and other senior executive aircraft to the region in a few hours, check-book in hand, to respectfully represent our sorrow, our grief, and most important, our life-saving generosity. Surely that would have made a better photo-op than a carrier landing. They could have shown the Muslim World and the international community what the America you and I know is really about, and done so in a positive, charitable way. Instead, our White House is on vacation … Godamn, our response so far makes me feel ashamed to be an American. It’s not just poor leadership and poor PR, it’s immoral.

And you know what? I don’t have to put up with that shit. I don’t have to let those assholes speak for me. I just gave 50 dollars to Red Crescent, earmarked to save my brothers lives, and I feel pretty damn good about doing it! I felt so good about it, I gave another fifty for those of you who may be struggling. It’s a few days after Christmas, it would be truthful for me to say that things are a little tighter than usual around DarkSyde Manor. But that’s a cop-out. I can easily afford it. Hell, by not eating fast food at lunch for a month I can afford it. Save lives and avoid fast food for a month? That’s a bargain I can’t pass up. ...(link Pharyngula)