Grim Gustav ruins the GOP's party

I have lots of family in New Orleans, so I've been fairly glued to local coverage via internet. My sister arrived here in Dallas last night to stay w/ us for the duration...Watching the coverage, even on a national level, I'm struck by how different the process is going to be this time. New Orleans is effectively under martial law since about Thurs or Friday. The near-instantaneous presence of national guard troops in place well before the storm was something no local failed to notice and appreciate, a very strong message that the lord of the flies aftermath of Katrina will not be repeated. Agencies at all levels -- federal, state and local-- have been working together this time. It's a whole different deal. Besides being three-years tired of non-stop caterwauling about how "bush" bungled Katrina, I'd love to see people -- and the media -- acknowledge that the reason things are running smoothly is that the myriad unintended failures have been addressed and anticipated. Without Katrina's debacle, we wouldn't be seeing a more effective response system.
That being said, the big question mark is the levees. If the city floods again, I"m wondering how on earth they're going to go to the American taxpayer again with their hat in their hands.

Jindal can't help but come out better than Blanco did. He at least has the history of her mistakes to not repeat.

The story of post Katrina revelations reads like the everyday life of playing politics. And as to my limited involvement in the emergency efforts post-storm, I can say that the FCC, FEMA, and the American Red Cross all played infuriating political games with people who were volunteering to do the most essential work.

Do I think that will change by altering the party of the Beaurocrat? Not a lot. Perhaps the ideology, but more importantly, the character of the people at the top, or at least those who make decisions.

Sadly, such judgements are incredibly difficult to be able to make in organizations that large, and so it's the roll of the dice.

Imagine the difference that would have been made, had Nagin told the lawyers to stuff it and had ordered all the busses be used for evacuation, and had not hamstrung ALL the emergency personell by sticking them on a digital, single point of failure communications system, had the parishes not played turf wars with the Corps of engineers over contracting the dike and wall improvements.

These were and are relatively "small" things, but they had a profound impact.

AFter the power was out, the firemen, police, ems, etc, were unable to communicate AT ALL, with each other, or even centrally, because the city chose a duplex digital "state of the art" radio system. Sold to them by consultants, of course, but effectively creating a single point of failure when the power failed and ultimately the switching system went out, leaving all of them on their own, with no coordination at all.

Traditionally, they have analog radios, and can hear each other, and communicate, at least over short distances, to relay information. But not post Katrina.

The upgrades to the seawalls/ dikes had been on the agenda in every parish at least once or more, but some wanted other things done ahead of them. Blame the Corps if you want, but locally, the parishes were ultimately to blame for the failure points.

Days passed while Blanco, FEMA, the military, and even Nagin appeared on TV and begged for help, but yet out of sight argued over turf and who was going to get "credit".

Mississippi, however, had NO such turf wars, and was harder hit by the storm by far, than antyhing but the eastern edge of LA. Why? Because the governor settled those issues ahead of the storm and let the chips fall where they might, to be argued later. Ultimately, the people of the state approved.

Say what you want, but in these instances, the party, the ideology, they didn't matter, but the character did.

Ultimately, those of us who are at a distance, all we can do is pray. May the angels of mercy camp around ALL the people in the storm's path.

McCain and Palin were invited by Barbour. I rather doubt this is symbolic or anything like that. More likely, it is an educational experience for them to see this stuff in action from the bottom end.

I know that if I were President, I would dispense with my entourage, and start with the mayors and commissioners and learn exactly what and how and if there's any real federal role to play, and by gum STAY OUT OF THE WAY of people who know what the hey they're doing.

Being on the ground is far more educational than any number of seminars or conferences, and it tends to dispell the cumulative BS that tends to infest life in DC.

Oh, yes he can. He CAN dismiss an entourage. Besides, if you're talking about McCain, he's got Palin with him. A crack shot. I don't think you'd want to cross her in a dark alley.

Ok, enough funnies. Seriously, I'd dump the security people and go with just one. Either you got guts or you don't. Just don't tell anyone who you are or where you're going and you're pretty safe.

a LOT of lives are at stake here, and the chance to be a MUCH better executive lies right there at your feet. it would be unconscionable to not take advantage of it.

It would be unconscionable to take advantage of it, especially if he's using it in lieu of his convention speech. Even Bush is staying away from the most threatened areas because he doesn't want to detract. The security and press and entourage that would accompany such an event would be a horrific waste of resources.

Utter folderol.

I can't say what McCain will do publicity-wise, but I can tell you what I would do. No press. Period. Not only that, I'd never tell them I was there or what I did. Just invisible. They can do that, if they choose. Obviously, they know how, the stunned reaction to Palin is evidence they can evade the clucking herd very effectively.

It depends on who they intend to serve. Palin serves the people. That's obvious. McCain serves... whoever he's on a bent for at the moment. I'm not impressed with his history, but I am with hers.

She's opted repeatedly to do the right thing when there were no consequences to NOT.