Hurricane Gustav and Other Natural Disasters

Image from source, Washington Post

Every part of the country seems to have some vulnerability to natural disasters. That's why I get frustrated when I hear people say, "well, why does anybody live there?" One reason is, what's home is home. And whether you have to deal with earthquakes or tornadoes or forest fires or hurricanes or floods, we've all got something.

Even here in Las Vegas, we have drought, though we've managed to survive so far. Outside of that, the occasional localized fire or dust devil are about it. So the scale of a natural disaster lives only in my memories of the strong tornado seasons of the 1970s in Ohio. Xenia was flattened, and we seemed to have dozens of tornado warnings every year for years. But we stayed there.

Hurricanes in particular are quite peculiar in the way they affect us. Unlike earthquakes--where we can only react, or tornadoes, where we have only hours or minutes to prepare--hurricanes give us days of warnings. We can only sit and wait for it to come. Ride it out or flee, you can't stop it from coming, and it seems to plod along on its destructive path.

The most unusual aspect might be the way technology has brought it into our living rooms. In the last few years, there has been a communication convergence of sorts. Multiple channels of 24-hour cable news have become a ubiquitous reality, and so has instant information on the internet. We can know more about what's going on, faster than we ever could before. And yet, the hurricane takes its sweet time. It's a strange combination of anticipation and dread, and you just want it over with, while simultaneously having a morbid curiosity of what is going to happen.

While I am an avowed cynic, have Mark Twain's view of humanity, and am rampantly morbidly curious, I'm still hopeful that Hurricane Gustav wreaks as little damage in property and life as is possible. I also hope that no political party over-hypes or exploits the aftermath to their advantage. But that's a lot of wishing.

To see a particularly interesting interactive map of Gustav and other storms, click here: Washington Post

GOP Convention Cancels First Night for Gustav

Photo from source, Huffington Post

Heavens to mergatroids. The GOP must be in a full-on panic that the voters are going to have a Katrina flashback this week. Were it not for the colossal blunder at all levels of government in 2005 during that storm, you can almost guarantee that no change would have occurred at the Republican National Convention.

But change it they have, and--for people like Karl Rove, and those who have learned at his chubby knee--it will be almost 100% impossible to resist the urge to exploit the coming storm. There has already been talk about turning the convention into a "relief effort" or something akin to a telethon. John and Cindy McCain and Sarah Palin are down on the Gulf Coast today. As most Americans are dreading the landfall of Hurricane Gustav, I can assure you the Rove camp sees it as both an opportunity, and as the change-up they needed after a spectacular Democratic National Convention.

Be prepared in the next couple of days to hear any criticism of Republicans by Democrats to be demonized more than usual as "playing politics," even as they themselves exploit the situation for all it is worth.

[Excerpt]

GOP Cancels Convention Opening Night

John McCain tore up the script for his Republican National Convention on Sunday, ordering the cancellation of all but essential opening-day activities as Hurricane Gustav churned toward New Orleans. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Hurricane Gustav and Its Effect on GOP Convention

Photo from source, Raw Story

One of the cries you'll hear shouted when anything bad happens, is "let's not play politics." I would agree with that on principle, except for the fact that the request is never heeded. Everything is fodder for politics, and if one side sits it out, the other side will clobber them, right?

Well, this time the "bad thing" is another hurricane headed toward New Orleans. If Katrina had never happened--or if it had been handled differently--there would probably be no thought given to altering the style or substance of the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis next week.

But Katrina was bungled badly. Whether you're like my Mom ("Yeah, right, George Bush made Katrina happen?") and think that President Bush was not to blame for anything, or if you're like me, and think Katrina underlined and bold-faced the incompetency of the Bush Administration, I think everybody can admit that it didn't go at all well. And so, having your big party pep rally while a potential Katrina-type disaster is happening again--well, Karl Rove can't let that happen, without some creative response.

There have been rumors that the convention would be postponed, or that George Bush would cancel his speech. The story excerpted below paints a much more likely picture. The Republican National Convention had the potential to pale mightily against last weeks Democratic one. But what if you turned it into a big Hurricane telethon?

[Excerpt]

Will McCain turn RNC into telethon for hurricane victims?

A top aide in the McCain campaign said officials may turn the Republican National Convention into a service event to aid possible victims of a hurricane headed towards the Gulf Coast, CNN reported Saturday. . .

Read more at: Raw Story