Understatement of the Year

From the LA Times:

With the war in Iraq steadily claiming American lives and the world in mourning over the tsunami disaster, planners of the 55th presidential inauguration face an awkward challenge: how to throw the traditional four-day celebration without appearing to have too much fun.

A few critics — including a Republican Texas billionaire — have called for cancellation of everything but the swearing-in because they find it unseemly to spend $40 million on shrimp, spirits, floats and frivolity while American soldiers must scrape together money for phone cards to call home.

I really have no comment. Res Ipsa Loquitur.

Comments

[Dave Schuler]

Actually the res does no such thing. Cancelling the inauguration festivities would take money from the hands of cooks, waiters, chauffeurs, custodians, florists, delivery people and hundreds or thousands of plain working people who need that money to support their families. Unlike the thousands of other government doings this affair doesn't put money in the hands of a standing bureaucracy who should be ashamed of themselves and go out and get honest jobs, it puts money directly into the hand of a lot of actual workers.

So, sure, there's a war on. Sure, there was a horrible disaster in the Indian Ocean. Let's abolish the NEA or the Department of Labor or the Department of Commerce or any of the thousands of welfare programs for the middle class. But leave the inauguration alone. It employs a lot of poor working stiffs and pumps money into a segment of the local economy in DC that really needs it.