Just days after the nation cleans up from Hurricane Gustav, Tropical Storm Hanna is preparing to make landfall early Saturday morning along the southeast coastline.

Some residents of New Orleans who have been housed in shelters to escape from Hurricane Gustav are upset about the deteriorating conditions of the place where they have been housed.

Filed under: BlackSpin, Elections, John McCain

The Republican National Convention kicked off with prominent party members wrapped in earnestness and widespread Gustav Gulf Coast weather worries.

The ever charming First Lady Laura Bush kicked off the convention with an address to the delegates that focused more on service to those impacted by Gustav than on wrangling power. Mrs. Bush started off by emphasizing the theme for today - support for the people in the Gulf Coast hit by Hurricane Gustav. She introduced messages from governors of the states affected by the storm - Texas, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama. Then Cindy McCain spoke standing next to Bush and echoed a similar message.

Listening to them I had to ask myself "why does it take a natural catastrophe for prominent Republicans to remind us to 'remember that we are all Americans' and that 'this is a time when we take off our Republican hats and put on our American hats'"?

I for one always walk around in my "American" hat, but NOT the one pictured above. ...
I guess that's why I don't have to actually experience poverty, inadequate education opportunities, lack of living wage job opportunities, lack of police protection or police brutality to be a strong advocate for those situations to be remedied.

Hopefully, the increased attention to social service agencies responding to Gustav's destruction will translate into increased funds and supplies that will make it directly to the people needing help the most.

We are ALL in this together. Please help a little, a lot if you can.

Here are some ways for you to get involved:

Red Cross

Cause Greater

Incite-National.org

Enterprise Corporation of the Delta Hope Community Credit Union

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

---

SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: BlackSpin, Elections, Barack Obama, News

Hurricane Gustav hadn't even blown into New Orleans and it's already blowing up plans for the Republican National Convention, just as conservatives were hoping to capitalize on the momentum following Sarah Pallin's nomination.

Already, nearly all activities at the GOP today have been canceled.

The first session will start in the early afternoon and end a few hours later; the party says for now it will only be handling official business. Spokespeople say they do not want to take Gutav lightly and appear to be partying while a national disaster approaches.

However, the timing could not be WORSE for the Republicans and this is almost comical. The storm, which is expected to make landfall on Monday afternoon as a Category 4, comes one week after the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which is blamed for at least 1800 American deaths. For Republicans, their handling of the weather front which has been the source of the great controversy, and at times, outrage. Thus, it makes perfect sense that with just a whiff that the storm may cause damage to already fragile, barely repaired levees, the RNC would be conducted as a play it by ear event. ...



Meanwhile, as the rush is on to get out of New Orleans, there is no rush to get to the GOP convention here in St. Paul, Minnesota.

There is cold breeze in the XL center here in St. Paul Minnesota Convention headline speakers won't be there, i.e. President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. While others like Florida Governor Charlie Christ and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal are iffy at best. It's understandable, the National Hurricane Center expects Hurricane Gustav to hit on the right side of the "Big Easy," which could be devastating because the strongest part of the surge will be on that side.

You can't blame the Republicans though. The public fallout out from Hurricane Katrina irreparably damaged the Bush administration's image in the eyes of the public; a slow response and even less progress in the years since has all Republicans on edge, hoping this time things go smoother. John McCain's camp knows this. Ironically, Bush is supposed to speak tomorrow, but you guessed it, he is instead headed to the Gulf Coast where he has ALREADY declared a state of emergency. The Republicans want the world to see that they are compassionate and care about our fellow countrymen on the Gulf Coast.

Better yet, they want to win the White House and they know that Democratic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama is watching. In fact, he pointed out the GOP's failures in New Orleans during his historic acceptance speech just last week. The sting from the Democratic National Convention still lingers and now their party convention is being cut short by a hurricane almost 1200 miles away from Minnesota. Not to mention, the GOP convention was the coming out party for McCain's surprise VP pick, Sarah Pallin, the self-proclamied "Hockey Mom" (whatever that means is still a mystery to most of the country.)

Well on the bright side, Minnesota is a hockey state, so maybe she will blend right in. To bad there is no one here to greet her.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

---

SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Three years to the day after Hurricane Katrina hit, Republicans are preparing as Hurricane Gustav threatens to strike not only New Orleans but Minneapolis as well.

Hurricane Gustav could put next week's Republican National Convention in jeopardy. See also: POW story