Or, “Let Them Eat Fois Gras.”

Dallas businesswoman Jeanne Johnson Phillips is proud of the work she is doing as chair of the 55th Presidential Inaugural Committee. “We know the world will be watching,” she said.

Yes, they will, and I suspect the world will be disgusted.

Usually, inaugurations for a second term are toned down a bit from the first term. But not for George W. Bush. The upcoming four-day celebration promises to be the most expensive inaugural in U.S. history.

Maureen Fan of the Washington Post interviewed the head concierge at the Hay-Adams Hotel. “We’re not calling it an inauguration,” he said. “Because the president’s supporters believe he has a mandate, there’s going to be, in effect, a coronation.”

“People are coming from all over the world for the world’s biggest prom,” said the concierge for the Ritz-Carlton. “It’s like a prom gone crazy.”

According to the events calendar, there will be nine official balls. There will be three official candlelight dinners. Plus a Chairman’s Breakfast, a Youth Concert the traditional parade, and a couple of “salutes” and “celebrations.”

I bet every ice sculpture artiste in America has been called upon to do his bit.

Today, the tsunami death toll approaches 150,000. Today, U.S. military fatalities in Iraq, a war most Americans now believe is a mistake, total 1,333. Today, a Staff Sargeant injured in Iraq in 2003 is still waiting for surgery. He has been waiting for 18 months. Yesterday, insurgents killed 17 Iraqi police and National Guards.

But a triumphant George W. Bush plans to party. And, contrary to what the Bushies tell their critics, historically presidential inaugurations held during times of war or disaster have been muted, solemn affairs.

Elisabeth Bumiller writes in today’s New York Times,

… last week two pockets of the capital were humming: the State Department, where officials were trying to coordinate aid to the tsunami victims in Asia, and the fifth floor of the old Department of Education building on C Street, headquarters of the inaugural committee, where 450 paid staff members and volunteers buzzed about concerts and balls.

The contrast between the two sites was not lost on inaugural organizers, who have already had to justify their plans to spend as much as $40 million on partying at a time of war. Last week they came under new questions when the United States initially offered only $15 million to aid the tsunami victims, although by Friday Mr. Bush announced that the American aid would be at least $350 million for what he termed an “epic disaster.”

In either case, the organizers were ready with an answer to critics who questioned the price tag on the merriment, which is similar to what was spent for the inaugural in 2001. A presidential inaugural, they said, has never been canceled, even during world wars. Mr. James, who has staged events for both President Bushes, went back and checked. “The celebrations went on, that’s the lesson we learned,” he said.

You can count on the Bushies to miss points. Yes, there were inaugurations during the world wars, but according to this New York Times article from 1989, “Franklin Roosevelt held no ball in 1937, 1941 and 1945 in recognition of the Depression and World War II.” Woodrow Wilson held no ball for either of his inaugurals, because he thought dancing inappropriate for a solemn occasion.

On the other hand, Richard Nixon’s Vietnam-era inaugurals were glittery and gaudy. Clearly, the Bushies prefer Nixon to Roosevelt as a role model. And what lessons, pray tell, were learned?

Bush likes to prance around in military costumes; he fancies himself to be a “war president.” He makes speeches about “resolve” and “service” and “sacrifice.” But for the Bushies, service and sacrifice are, like taxes, for the little people.

From an editorial in the Portsmouth Herald:

While our president hob-nobs with the rich and powerful, another round of genocide is taking place in the Sudan, where hundreds are dying each day from diseases that in America are easier to cure than the common cold.

And as the president prepares to greet the senators, lobbyists, generals and the CEOs of multinational corporations who will be the invited guests at his inaugural bash, U.S. soldiers are scavenging scrap metal in Iraq in an effort to armor vehicles that have no business being in a theater of war.

What a show of disrespect and arrogance, not only to people who suffer daily around the world for whom a few pennies would pay the cost of another day’s survival, but to our own honored servicemen and -women who are being told they are putting their lives on the line for freedom, not displays of opulence.

Clearly, the Bushies are utterly insensitive to the message their prom gone wild will be sending to the world. But Marie Antoinette would be proud.