Tsunami? Tsu damn bad.

Last night on Crossfire, Paul Begala and Bob Novak discussed, with James Gilmore and Eleanor Holmes Norton, the response of the United States to the tsunami disaster in South Asia. From the CNN transcript of the show, we get these exchanges:

NOVAK: Ms. Norton, to listen to the left-wing media and the left-wing members of Congress, you would think that we've been cutting foreign aid. I want to show you what the -- you know, sometimes, I would have thought we had cut foreign aid. I would kind of in favor of that. But I want to show you what the USAID administrator, Andrew nations, said today...

Later:

NOVAK: Ms. Norton, do you think that the United States government is obliged to spend a lot more money on the devastated people of the Indian Ocean than the victims of the Florida hurricanes?

NORTON: Bob, I'm sure we should always take care of home first, but compassion shouldn't stop at the water's edge for a compassionate conservative.

(APPLAUSE)

BEGALA: Governor, in fact, President Bush went to Florida. Nobody says he should go to Asia. But he was quick on the spot when Hurricane Charley and the others hit. We only lost 17 souls to Hurricane Charley. Do you think President Bush would have moved faster if Sir Lanka had some electoral votes?

(APPLAUSE)

GILMORE: Oh, my gosh. This -- this is quick, too.The president has come forward. He has made a strong, decisive statement. They've given all the money the that Agency of International Development has got that is available. And, quite frankly, he pointed out the truth, which is that the American people are supporting 40 percent of the humanitarian money spent worldwide this past year, and that's frankly well within the traditions of this country, all through the Cold War and beyond.

NOVAK: Ms. Norton, let me give the other side of what I'm saying. Don't you think the president of the United States owes a lot more to -- a lot more to the people of Florida than to some foreigners?

NORTON: Those...

(LAUGHTER)

NORTON: The people of Florida will always get what they deserve. They'll get it even if they don't vote for President Bush. But I hope that our country will always recognize its obligation to the world at large. Let's start with the president of the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, it is my feeling that Bob Novak is doing his utmost to make himself a fringe figure in the Republican party, but for now he's a respected voice of the right. Republicans often accuse Dems of having a pre-9/11 outlook on the world, but I cannot think of anything more shortsighted and damaging than suggesting that foreign aid ought to be cut, or that the victims of hurricanes in Florida deserve more than those suffering in the aftermath of the South Asian earthquake. The hurricanes in Florida were tragic, but they were not scenes of apocalyptic devastation in one of the world's most dangerous and unstable regions. Moreover, we'll continue to take hits from people all over the world, and continue to fail as a humanitarian leader, as long as we insist that American lives are just worth more than the lives of others. And not just a little more either.

Everything in the world indicated that we ought to have come out swiftly and strongly with aid and support for the victims of the tsunami, from rational self-interest to compassion for human souls. That it took four days and international pressure to generate a response from the President is both a terrible shame for our nation and another indication that Bush is wholly unfit for the Presidency.