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Today we bring you yet another story reminding me that we need to ask T-Steel for a “WTF” category for stories. Congressman Duncan Hunter of California apparently decided that some personal action was required to help out with the dire refugee situation in Chad, where hundreds of thousands of Darfur citizens are seeking safety. His team quickly leapt into action. Hunter’s staff contacted the embassy in N’Djamena, Chad, last week to see whether Hunter could distribute food at a camp. Hunter also wanted to put together an outing to hunt wildebeest and distribute the meat to refugees . The embassy was decidedly lukewarm. It worried about logistics and the need to divert scarce staff to coordinate Hunter’s schedule. There also were concerns about coordinating with the World Food Program’s distribution schedule. Hunter is, to the best of my memory, not running for election again this fall, and his presidential bid is over. He doesn’t really need to do this for political reasons, so perhaps he really is trying to help out. Bravo! But as is so often the case, politicians are usually better off helping from afar, as showing up in person can cause all sorts of logistical issues. These comments would apply to the fundamental question of food distribution. But… a wildebeest hunt to distribute the meat? Ummm… How many Wildebeests do you plan on shooting? How and where will you process the meat to safely distribute it? The embassy pointed out ...
Anytime
Today we bring you yet another story reminding me that we need to ask T-Steel for a “WTF” category for stories. Congressman Duncan Hunter of California apparently decided that some personal action was required to help out with the dire refugee situation in Chad, where hundreds of thousands of Darfur citizens are seeking safety. His team quickly leapt into action. Hunter’s staff contacted the embassy in N’Djamena, Chad, last week to see whether Hunter could distribute food at a camp. Hunter also wanted to put together an outing to hunt wildebeest and distribute the meat to refugees . The embassy was decidedly lukewarm. It worried about logistics and the need to divert scarce staff to coordinate Hunter’s schedule. There also were concerns about coordinating with the World Food Program’s distribution schedule. Hunter is, to the best of my memory, not running for election again this fall, and his presidential bid is over. He doesn’t really need to do this for political reasons, so perhaps he really is trying to help out. Bravo! But as is so often the case, politicians are usually better off helping from afar, as showing up in person can cause all sorts of logistical issues. These comments would apply to the fundamental question of food distribution. But… a wildebeest hunt to distribute the meat? Ummm… How many Wildebeests do you plan on shooting? How and where will you process the meat to safely distribute it? The embassy pointed out ...