From Rexblog:
…I’m tuning out the misguided attempts by some to come up with moral or monetary equivalences to the tsunami and to suggest that we should cancel this or that and give the money to relief. Stop with the politicizing of this tragedy, people. Even Mark Cuban, my favorite billionaire blogger, has called for the cancellation of the presidential inauguration festivities so that funds can be diverted to tsunami relief. Huh? Why not call for the cancellation of the NBA season and take all the dollars advertisers have committed for broadcasting it and send those funds to tsunami relief? What, the advertisers won’t do that? Have you asked?
What will canceling a two hundred year old national celebration of democracy do to promote tsunami relief? Much better, gather all those barrons of industry together in D.C. in a few weeks and make them challenge each other to prove they can be more generous than each other. Let the President use his inaugural address to articulate our nation’s commitment to feeding those who hunger. Let’s agree this is a cause we can all agree on. This is not liberal or conservative. This is about 150,000+ men, women and children being killed without warning…and those left behind who are in desperate need.
We’ve already established that Americans are not stingy. The fact is, we are the most generous nation on this planet. Probably more than on any other planet, too. But as we continue to try to do our share of taking care of those in Asia who truly need it, let’s not lose sight of the fact that life does go on…here and everywhere else.
Let’s not forget that the presidential inauguration will also provide a lot of people with a burst of work…caterers, hotel staff, restaurant personell, cab drivers, etc. A lot of people who are already counting on it.
The presidential inauguration is an important part of our history and traditions, much more so than a few meaningless NBA games. I like Rex’s idea. Let’s have the inauguration, and let’s cancel Thug TV the NBA season.
Or maybe Cuban can host another inane reality show where he lets some tsunami survivors vie for a million dollars of his money. Cuban would get to donate to a worthwhile cause while lifting up exploiting the ‘downtrodden’ (hattip to Nick Coleman on that term) …it’s a win-win.
