At some point, could the administration please release some sort of statement enlightening us about the help that the U.S. has offered the heroic Japanese — expertise, aircraft, personnel, clean-up materiel? Anything?
As it stands, America is referenced in the media hype mostly in three contexts: One, we are terrified over a “plume” floating over the U.S.; two, we keep telling Americans to leave Japan ASAP; three, we speculate whether a crippled Japanese industrial base might, in fact, help the American economy.
Fairly or not, the administration appears to have lost the narrative entirely. Instead of a superpower ally rushing to help one of its best friends in extremis, we project just the opposite image: self-absorbed Nervous Nellies growing paranoid about radiation while perhaps tens of thousands of Japanese have perished, and hundreds of thousands more are bravely battling to restore their very civilization from biblical ruin. Where is the U.S. of old — and where is the sense of urgency in helping a loyal ally in its hour of need?