TSUNAMI4.CBS 01/04/05 10:12 PM-DLR   1:43
The Osgood File.  Sponsored by ________.  This is Dave Ross.  On the CBS Radio Network.
As the outpouring of donations continues - the comparisons begin.  More after this from Charlie:
 (SPOT)
The campaigns for tsunami relief donations might as well be printing money at this point.  The numbers are overwhelming.    In fact, Americans, acting on their own, have already out-donated the governments of Britain, France, and Germany COMBINED.
It's been so brisk that one group, Doctors Without Borders, told its supporters that it has  enough for now, and urged them to give to other programs.
Corporations have stepped up too - $10 million from Coca-Cola, $5 million from Dow Chemical, 500,000 from The New York Stock Exchange Foundation.
Drug companies such as Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Bristol-Myers Squibb have given cash and supplies.
Celebrities are stepping up.  Sandra Bullock gave a million dollars.  Jay Leno will auction off an autographed motorcycle.  Leonardo DiCaprio will put a link on his web site.  Willie Nelson will do a benefit concert.
As a result, we have two things going on ... a wonderful and uplifting outpouring of aid to people who need it, and quiet mental comparisons to determine in our own minds who is and is NOT doing their part.
In Saudi Arabia, for example, newspapers have been lamenting that the Persian Gulf States only managed to scrape together $50 million dollars.   Some Saudis think that looks bad.  They want to correct the Western stereotype that portrays them as decadent and sympathetic to Osama.
  And this type of political calculation is bound to spread as the tsunami becomes not just a relief effort but, because of the large Muslim populations in the affected areas, becomes an irresistible way to measure which nations really CARE about Muslims, and which don't.
I predict, by the way, that the US will win.  The Senate is already talking about extending the deadline for claiming a charitable tax deduction for 2004.
The Osgood File.  Dave Ross.  On the CBS Radio Network.


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