McCain will get a pass for overreacting to Gustav; the MSM would already be panning Obama

[BeyondGeography]

if he made the same miscalculation.

Gustav, which has been downgraded to a cat. 2, will not resemble Katrina in any way, shape or form. There is no redemption story here for BushCo and the Republicans. They tried to make a big political score out of nature and she didn't cooperate.

Imagine if Obama had camped out in the South, set up meetings with key politicians and made plans to deliver his acceptance speech from a disaster area that never quite materialized. He would be done.

But the MSM will shake this off, no one will dare accuse the Prisoner of Waaaaaaa of posturing instead of keeping his powder dry, and most will even compliment him for his "sense of nationhood over politics."

Business as usual. March on.

[skooooo]

1. You might wait until the storm is over...

...to see how much damage there is.

:eyes:

[EV_Ares]

2. Good point; I say give him & the republicans enough rope to hang themselves as the old saying goes.

[BeyondGeography]

4. You might try reading about what's actually happening

In New Orleans, officials were anxiously watching to see what kind of storm surge the city would face: If forecasts hold, the city could experience a storm surge of only 4 to 6 feet, compared to a surge of 10 to 14 feet at the site of landfall, said Corey Walton, a hurricane support meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center.

Katrina, by comparison, brought a storm surge of 25 feet, causing levees to break. While the Army Corps of Engineers has shored up some of the city's levee system since then, fears this time center on the city's West Bank, where levee repairs have not been completed.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hblwpbfkh_9JH9nsNU1Xn9ttNKKQD92TUPGG0

:eyes:

[skooooo]

10. Your entitled to your opinion...

...but others disagree with you.

[TwilightZone]

3. Should we give you a pass if you turn out to be wrong?

Just about everyone made a big deal about Gustav, including every weather organization in the country. We should be thrilled if it turns out to be not as bad as predicted, not looking to turn it into a political opportunity.

By the way, there are reports that water is overflowing at least one levee in NO, so you might want to withhold your prognostication until the storm actually passes through.

Oops, too late.

[BeyondGeography]

6. Link...I've cited a report where the storm surge is expected to be one-fourth of Katrina

And the point holds, Obama would be getting raked over the coals for politicizing a storm; McCain will get a pass no matter what happens.

[goodcitizen]

5. Way too soon to call

Having grown up down there I can tell you the worst damage comes later on from flooding. The levees didn't give during Katrina until hours after the storm had hit. Right now on our homepage is breaking news about one levee being breached.

[BlueManDude]

7. whatever happens John McCain has NO BUSINESS hanging out in the Gulf Coast

getting in the way of the those who jobs it is to deal with this situation.

They are using this for political gain including this idea that Bush and Cheney aren't going to St Paul because of the hurricane. Cheney wasn't going anyway and I seriously doubt Bush was going either.

[DeschutesRiver]

12. A 72 year old with no judgment making another rash decision

Look, we are nation subjected to many natural disasters every year. Wildfires eating up large chunks of California, massive flooding in the midwest, tornados that take out whole towns like Greensburg, snowstorms that threaten the health and safety of those in the NE.

Yeah, I expect that someone wants the CIC job is a person who can handle multiple disasters at one time, should the occasion arise. This old guy completely shuts down the RNC this week because of a single disaster that may occur in one area. You can't shut the whole damn .gov down everytime something bad happens somewhere - even during 9/11, the gov kept trying to do business as usual.

And as far as I could gather from the MSM, McCain was ordering delegates to go home or not come yesterday - while the MSM was already reporting that this particular hurricane might downgrade to a 3 or 2 at landfall, and not hit NOLA dead center. The people of LA were doing a much better job already than during Katrina - I saw the busing and train loads of people going out, the switching of the highway to get folks out in a more orderly fashion, the eldery in nursing homes being given rescue, heck, even the a/c trucks and crates to handle some of the pets that got left behind last time. So the capable candidate would have not only held the RNC, if nothing else just to prove he could do two things at once, but used it as a promotion vehicle/platform to do and encourage others to do charity work/red cross relief for storm victims.

IMHO, McCain didn't want to have a RNC at all this year - bad for him coming on the heels of a spectacular DNC, bad for him coming on the heels of his disasterous Palin pick (which fallout he seeks to postpone as long as possible), bad for him with all the Ron Paul protesters geared up to bitch to the heavens outside the convention. So rashly, he grasped the opportunity he hoped that Gustave would bring him - cancelling the RNC to avoid a personal disaster and gain good will and a bounce from a truly horrific cat 5 hurricane. NOLA used this time as a means for advancement of his candidacy.

But it isn't working out that way.

[napi21]

8. It's called PRECAUTION folks! I don't blame anyone for preparing

for what could have been a terrible disaster! No matter what the final outcome is, nothing was certain, and people are much better off being too careful than ignoring the possibilities and end up DEAD!

[dansolo]

9. But that doesn't explain John McCain's presence there

John McCain is once again trying to project the image that he is already president. He has absolutely no business being there, and will only serve to get in the way of the people who are doing the actual work.

[napi21]

11. Is he getting any publicity? I've had CNN on all morning and I haven't

heard any candidate's name mentioned...even once!

Yesterday I did hear that he was going somewhere near the disaster area and might do his acceptance speech from there, but that's all the coverage I've heard on him. If he doesn't get any coverage, all he's doing is for naught!

[Erin Elizabeth]

13. My husband is watching MSNBC and the on-screen guide says it's

supposed to be coverage of the convention, but they have yet to mention it at all, it's all Gustav coverage.

I wonder if they're covering it on CSPAN? I'll check.

[mzmolly]

14. I was thinking much the same thing. McSame was going to attempt to capitalize

on tragedy and it looks like (thank goodness) it's been averted. McCain is still saying he plans to make his acceptance speech from the Gulf. :eyes: