By Tina Grazier
Most of us have experienced one of those rare moments when everything is perfect, when events converge to create something unexpected and differentsomething so rare you just know it will never happen again and cannot possibly ever be duplicated. We may have an opportunity to witness just such an event next week when the Republican Convention takes place. Actually, it could go either way but one idea being considered may tip the scales toward the magical:
GOPs RNC Cane Plan Republicans Might Delay and Transform Convention, by Carl Campanile
John McCain and the GOP are considering scrapping political speeches and turning their Minnesota convention into a “service program” to help victims of Hurricane Gustav, The Post has learned. *** The contingency plan – a worst-case scenario if the storm devastates Gulf Coast areas – would turn Republicans into Red Cross-type volunteers who would help collect donations, food and goods for storm victims. *** McCain’s campaign motto is “Country First,” and he said helping people during an emergency will take precedence over accepting the nomination. *** “It wouldn’t be appropriate to have a festive occasion while a near-tragedy or a terrible challenge is presented in the form of a natural disaster,” McCain told Fox News today.
Sarah Palin caused the left media to have a conniption fit this might push them over the edge. Heyit would be out of the box and oh so different. You could say it would represent quite a CHANGE from the same ol, same ol convention.
Well, its an interesting proposition and one that could become quite an event for a very good cause.
And by the wayit seems that the local folks in New Orleans are better prepared this time.
In fact, reporting suggests that it was the local folks, and not GWB, that caused most of the suffering following Katrina (something we’ve known all along):
New Orleans Residents Are Ordered to Flee Hurricane, by Adam Nossiter and Shaila Dewan
Mayor C. Ray Nagin said Gustav was larger and more dangerous than Katrina, and pleaded with residents to get out or face enormous flooding and life-threatening winds. *** Most left by car, causing miles of backups on some highways, but New Orleans officials also began a far more carefully planned evacuation of the citys less mobile residents than took place in 2005. Thousands of city residents began boarding buses and trains ferrying them to shelters in the north. *** I dont want to be stuck like I was in Katrina, said Janice McElveen, who was waiting for a bus in the Irish Channel section, recalling being stranded on the Interstate 10 bridge for five days in 2005. *** In the Central City section, families, elderly people and the visibly infirm those with wheelchairs and canes lined the sidewalk along Dryades Street for half a long block, waiting for a bus. After going through Katrina, that aint no joke, said Jody Anderson, an unemployed former cashier, who spent seven days in the fetid conditions of the Superdome following that storm. Its not worth it, trying to stay. *** In a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans, residents are not physically forced to leave, but are subject to arrest outside their houses. Officials have also warned that anyone who chooses to stay, as many jaded city residents are expected to do, will not be able to rely on public agencies for emergency assistance. *** Officials made an effort to soothe concerns about looting. Mr. Nagin noted that with 1,500 to 2,000 National Guard troops coming to New Orleans, the city would have twice as much law enforcement protection as it had in the days after Hurricane Katrina. In all, 7,000 members of the Louisiana National Guard were mobilized Friday. *** Jackie Clarkson, the president of the City Council, said the evacuation was proceeding more smoothly than any she had seen before. We can save everybody this time, Ms. Clarkson said. *** Some institutions hospitals and nursing homes, where many died during Hurricane Katrina were taking no chances, already ferrying patients north of the area on Friday.
Ray Nagin apparently learned something from Katrinagood for him.
The storm, Gustav, will likely be a big onewe pray the damage, especially in terms of human life and suffering, will not. Unfortunately its already killed 81 people in the Caribbean. Given these circumstances wisdom dictates that the Republican Convention take a back seat. If John McCain is true to his motto, country first, it will.