Calm In Their Eyes

As Hurricane Gustav approaches New Orleans for a possible repeat of Katrina, political meteorologists are struggling to figure out exactly where it will make landfall, and political analysts are struggling to figure out how this will affect the Republicans.

The convention has already been scaled back to avoid the image of the Guardians of Privilege seeming unconcerned about the potential devastation. This will make them unable to present a festive, energizing pep rally to pump up the party faithful and introduce Sarah Palin to the American people. On the other hand, because John McCain has already taken charge of the convention and canceled several events and speeches, he could make himself look like he is in touch with the voters. There will be fewer television viewers and fewer opportunities to draw comparisons with the Democrats, but there will be several opportunities for McCain and Palin to look like . . . they get it! They care! They really rock! And they're different from Bush!

Yeah, right. Speaking of the First Doofus, he was supposed to address the convention tomorrow, but he already canceled. Ditto Dick Cheney. Had the convention gone on as planned, though, they would still have been speaking on a holiday Monday, when few people would be watching anyway - which is why, no doubt, they had been scheduled to speak tomorrow in the first place. No one would have listened, but no one should listen to them now when they say they're on top of the situation.

Anyone notice that the convention begins on Labor Day, a day to honor workers - a group of people business-friendly Republicans have never been friends of?