The Repubs take a hint from God and Gustav

[thatcrazycajun]

Announcements are in the news today that the 2008 Republican National Convention will be scaling back its activities, which begin today in St. Paul, MN, to show respect for those Americans still dealing with the Gulf Coast weather crisis. From the GOP's point of view, this is merely common sense, given that the unmitigated fiasco that was federal/state government's response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita three years ago happened on their incumbent's watch. The party of Michael "Heckuva Job" Brown and Junior Bush abso-frakking-lutely cannot afford to even give the appearance of fiddling while New Orleans drowns (again) if they want any hope in hell of winning this fall's elections. (They already have way too much of an appearance of being out of touch with ordinary, non-wealthy Americans' situations, thanks to their presumptive nominee John "I Can't Remember How Many Houses I Own" McCain.) None of the usual speechifying and hullabaloo today; only basic parliamentary and platform activities will be held. Beyond today, reports are that the party poohbahs are eyeing storm coverage and making decisions on a day-by-day basis. And many of the privately-funded parties planned around the convention site have been turned into fundraisers for the American Red Cross or canceled altogether.

While we're on the subject, who among the Republican National Committee leadership had an attack of the stupids bad enough to schedule the first day of the convention on Labor Day itself, smack in the middle of most Americans' holiday weekend (including those of their own people)? Memo to RNC Chair Michael Duncan: If you want to be seen as the party that will do more for the working middle class than the Democrats, you do NOT want to make them show up for party work on a federal holiday, let alone the one dedicated to honoring the working men and women of America. (Then again, if you really wanted to project a "friend of the American worker" image, you'd have picked someone other than McCain...but we've covered that already.) Do you really expect us to believe you couldn't have waited one lousy day until Tuesday to start this shindig? Do we need any more proof that the GOP cares more about its own political agenda and the coffers of corporations and their upper management than about the labor force that fills them?

Preznit Chimpy, for his part, has shown some smarts for once and decided not to speak at GOP-Con after all, taking a cue from Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and staying on the job. (This has led some to speculate that GOP plotmeister Karl Rove, who is still very much in action consulting for the McCain/Palin campaign—and not in the slammer for defying a Senate subpoena, for some inexplicable reason—ordered the storm up in order to keep his party's single biggest political liability safely away from the convention podium.) Today he's in Texas overseeing federal response to Gustav in order to make sure that the idiocy that made the acronym FEMA a byword for screwups and inaction after Katrina does not recur. That agency is also showing it has learned at least a little from the prior experience, opening two new refugee centers here in Georgia along the interstate highways for Gustav evacuees fleeing the neighboring Gulf states.

There is even talk that Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin may actually not show up at the convention at all themselves even to accept their nominations, depending on how Gustav, Hanna and their aftermath play out. McCain, to give him his due, showed class in ordering the scaleback of the convention, saying it was "time for us to take off our Republican hats and put on our American hats." So did his chief opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, who said he was staying out of the storm zone to avoid his Secret Service detail and other security precautions usually taken when a candidate travels disrupting needed storm response.

Personally, I'm giving thanks to all the gods and goddesses above and below that the storm waited until after my party's convention to hit. Maybe it's petty of me not to take off my Democrat hat entirely, but as fearful as I am for all those in the storms' path, I'm also enjoying just a teensy bit of partisan schadenfreude at the GOP's cosmically, comically bad weather luck.

Comments

[robin-june.livejournal.com]

What was that I heard (maybe from the Stephanie Miller Show) that one of the rightwing notorious preachers (possibly Dobson, but I leave the Googling of the true source as an exercise for the reader) prayed and prayed for rain to ruin Obama's speech in the open stadium.

Not only was the weather perfect for that time in Denver, but instead the skies opened up in Minneapolis and downpours delayed the RNC preparations. Now we have Gustav, a.k.a. Katrina Redux.

Somehow, though, I doubt the person praying will put 2 and 2 together and learn from this to not pray for evil to befall one's enemies. (Despite its preponderance in the Old Testament, such a deed is now a big No-No for those who say they root for the Jesus team.)

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

Hee. I'm reminded of the old Jewish admonition, "May you have twice as much of whatever you wish on someone else." Thanks for sharing.

[singingpatient.livejournal.com]

that's an excellent saying.

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

I almost wish we had our share of preachers who would say that the hurricanes striking during the Republican convention (first Gustav, now Hannah) are signs from God Himself that if the Red States vote for the GOP one more time . . . . .

[singingpatient.livejournal.com]

LOL!
yes it's only punishment when it fits their cause...

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

So far, it looks like Gustav's going to be gentler on New Orleans than we'd feared. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[singingpatient.livejournal.com]

it was obvious tot me that they purposely scheduled bush and cheney on labor day because no one would be watching tv on labor day. then they could have their cake and eat it too. appease bush and cheney lovers (all 2 of them) but hide it from the rest of the world. now they get to say "oh well we tried to have them, it's not our fault." even luckier for them.
and i'm really glad new orleans was spared this time. i don't know how good or bad this is for either side, i'm just relieved. people are still living in trailers that are tiny and unsuited for long term use. how about the news talking about that??? i don't imagine any katrina survivors being fooled by the sudden concern on the party of the GOP.
what kind of country do we live in when karl rove is not only not imprisoned for his behavior but rewarded with a job as a news consultant? for that matter why does rush limbaugh ALSO not get prosecuted AOR lose his job. if he were a poor black (or even white) man he's be in prison for life for what he did. those drug offenses were multiple felonies.

[stevemb.livejournal.com]

My inner cynic thinks that the Labor Day date was designed to allow Bush and Cheney to make their appearances as inconspicuous as possible (until Gustav provided an excuse to make them even lower-key via telepresence).