(2004-12-29) — The Bush administration today promised additional aid would flow to victims of this week’s earthquake and tsunami in South Asia and, perhaps more importantly, the White House will increase the frequency of presidential statements to the news media.

“Along with the millions of displaced victims are dozens of reporters and their crews trapped in Crawford, Texas, during the holidays,” said presidential spokesman Trent Duffy. “The White House press corps is in desperate need of quotes and video of the president’s reaction to world events. We assure you that we have speechwriters and public relations strategists working around the clock to meet this urgent need.”

But to many in the White House press corps, the promise is too little too late.

As one unnamed reporter put it, “In the hours immediately following the disaster, millions of people in Thailand, India, Indonesia, Somalia and elsewhere turned their eyes toward America to discover whether the president would rush back to Washington D.C. and empathize with their plight. But Bush stayed in Crawford and made just one official statement, as U.S. military planes surveyed the damaged area and Air Force C-130 cargo planes with humanitarian goods headed for the region. It’s as if Bush thinks that action is a substitute for news conferences.”