Acts of God

Those Republicans are shrewd mothers. Of course, you already knew that.

Their little pep rally is going on this week in Minnesota while Hurricane Gustav (who names these things?) is taunting New Orleans.

In a show of support for those put-upon people of the gulf they decided to cancel the day-one events of the convention which included a speech by George W. Bush and surely a ringing endorsement of John McCain - whether he likes it or not.

President Bush skipped his planned speech to go to disaster and relief centers, determined to avoid a repeat of the disaster mismanagement of Katrina.

Of course he did. Why be a leader and make a speech when you can pack boxes?

"This is a time when we take off our Republican hats and put on our American hats," Cindy McCain said.

Do you really want 4 years of crap like that?

Added the first lady: "Our first priority for today and in the coming days is to ensure the safety and well-being of those living in the Gulf Coast region."

I'm having trouble finding the link between a political convention and a storm in Louisiana - that wasn't as big as expected, by the way - but that doesn't keep the Repugnicans from playing it for all it's worth. What they were really concerned about was having a big party while people were treading water. But isn't that what they do every day anyway?

There's rampant poverty in this country that goes on every day and they don't stop partying for that group so why a storm? There isn't any difference other than one is a news story and one is a way of life. Your convention was scheduled and the storm was not, so why not continue? Whether or not you have your convention won't change a thing that goes on in Louisiana - other than make you look like humanitarians - or maybe that's the point?

"If things turn out to be not so bad as we had expected, things probably will go back to a more normal agenda," said Grace Hickman, an Oklahoma delegate. "I would like for us to be able to have a more complete convention, like the Democrats had theirs, but we also have to think about the country and the people in Louisiana."
White House officials held out the possibility President Bush would make a televised address to the convention from Washington. The decision on Bush's role, if any, appeared to rest with the McCain campaign, which has tried to distance the Arizona senator from the unpopular president.

The McCain campaign must be living right. A hurricane hits the gulf on the day when President Worthless is going to make a speech to endorse a candidate who would like nothing better than to distance himself from the last 8 years, so they cancel it and look like heroes, and we buy it because it's supposed to be 'the right thing to do'.

That's what worries me about November.

THIS JUST IN: The president will address the convention by satellite from the White House for about eight minutes.

We'll be hanging on his every word.