Gustav The Guilter - How a Hurricane Reminds Republicans They've Failed Americans

There is no way I am about to applaud the media circus that has become Bush, Cheney and Chertoff dancing around in front of cameras, making preparations for hurricane Gustav's land fall, due to slam the northern Gulf Coast in about a day's time. Nor will I subscribe to McCain's iterations that he's making changes in the GOP convention to be sensitive about this possible catastrophe. This all "day late, dollar short" bullshit by politicians as usual. I, for one (out of dorky interest and car crash mentality too, no doubt) regularly read the National Hurricane Center's forecast pages around this time every year and Gustav has been brewing for well over a week now. If you see the map there are more "Convention Spoilers" coming off of Africa right now - how 'bout "#2" there huh! Betcha that'll be something to pay attention to ... when it gets within a hundred miles of a coastline...maybe.... But it is only within the last 24 hours that Republicans and the President's Office have swung into action... er, um, swung in front of the cameras anyways. But not to save Louisiana or its people... to save their political careers. With the third anniversary of hurricane Katrina just passed people are well aware of what they've not done, they see the political damage this cost... and it will cost them the Presidency. As it should.

Recapping then for action to take place now, three years later, it requires the confluence of the humility-inducing hurricane Katrina, a vacationing president (as usual), a horse racing focused idiot FEMA director, formaldehyde filled trailers (which were never supposed to be used), three years of inaction, stupidity, politicking and bickering (Dems too), and THEN a pending Republican Convention (following the brilliance of the Dems frankly) and the arrival of hurricane Gustav - and importantly on the eve of the Republican Convention - to remind Americans that a) they've not done their due diligence to help New Orleans back to its feet, and b) that "small government" Republicanism has NOT been the solution to "getting things done".

No, instead while we funnel billions of dollars overseas - whether in war or in corporate investments, oil and so forth - we let our own folk live in a risk society that is not of their making, in which they are basically imprisoned. And instead preparations for avoiding a second "Katrina" scenario have evolved into photo ops and lots of talk about "acting as Americans not republicans" and being sensitive about the plight of others during the coming onslaught.

So changes are afoot! Action is being taken! Convention schedules altered! Republicans are standing to together as AMERICANS on the eve of this possible disaster! But wait.... Why is there NO mention AT ALL of Gustav on the Republican Convention website pages (this is 3:20PM on Sunday btw). I really, really, really hate bullshit and lies:

All talk and no action? While McCain talks of changes to the Republican convention because of hurricane Gustav, yet the GOP Convention website makes no mention of Gustav... at all.

To be fair the Democrats don't have it on their pages but they're not the ones saying they're changing their convention schedule. So let's face it - this is window dressing on the need to accomplish two separate goals for the Republicans - get the convention in and look good, and show that Bush has done something in the past three years, that Republicans have done something for Americans. If McCain really wanted to he could cancel the convention, delegates could send in ballots by mail, etc. But, no, you can't do that can you? Too much MONEY has been invested. Too many DONORS have contributed etc. Truth is laid bare here I think. And as for Shrub... it's just a pathetic swan song. New Orleans remains a disaster area and he remains the President under whom it happened - and allowed much of it to happen. No amount of sucking up to cameras will change that.

And three years later were still sitting on gas prices increases caused during Katrina. That's not going away. In this political cartoon Keefe notes we need a better energy policy. Yet, three years later where are we? Oh, wait, all of a sudden McCain is all about "windpower"!... Hmmm, maybe it's just "the prunes" talking....