Monday Newsbreak: 9/1

--Hurricane Gustav is hitting the Louisiana coast as this article comes out in the early morning hours. There is great concern in New Orleans as to the viability of their levee system, some sections of which still haven’t been properly repaired. But those in authority apparently have learned Katrina’s lessons and evacuated the low-lying city in anticipation of any unforeseen levee breeches. Meanwhile, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin is back to his old patterns of hyperbole, terming Gustav as “the mother of all storms” and “the storm of the century” only three years after his city was devastated by Katrina with enormous loss of life.

--Due to Gustav, the Republicans are cutting back on their convention activities this week, at least for Monday’s first day. They are taking no chances at possibly being accused of indifference towards those victimized by this storm. President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Texas Governor Perry, and Louisiana Governor Jindal are all getting into “position” around Gustav. John McCain and Sarah Palin made a public (i.e. campaign) appearance at a Mississippi emergency action center. Why? And McCain said in an interview that he may make his acceptance speech by satellite from the Gulf area. Why (again)? Why doesn’t he just stay out of the way and let the people do their work there?!

--Speaking of Sarah Palin, how much of an asset or a liability to McCain’s quest for the presidency she’s going to be comes down to two factors. One, does Palin have something embarrassing from her past that could trip up the campaign? And two, the more she speaks and interacts with the press, what is the developing national image of her going to be? But let’s keep in mind that people are still going to primarily vote based on McCain vs. Obama as the chief presidential candidates, not on the second-fiddles.

--This past Tuesday saw only about 25% of the registered voters actually voting in local elections here in Alachua County. The incumbents, some of whom I voted for and some of whom I didn’t, pretty much sailed through to their reelections with only a couple of them being defeated (one by a former incumbent). And I wondered how many of those who didn’t bother to take just a few minutes and exercise their civic responsibilities to vote actually support Bush’s Iraq War and its rationale of establishing democracy there on the other side of the world, even at the sacrifice of thousands of our brave soldiers.