News Cycle

Gustav slammed into Cuba’s Isla de Juventud as a Category 4 hurricane today, causing havoc in that Caribbean island, evacuations in New Orleans, and political issues in St. Paul, Minn. Forecasters expected that the storm would grow into s Category 5 hurricane, but weaken somewhat before striking the U.S. coastline near New Orleans sometime Monday. The hurricane was expected to impact oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday. At least 81 have died in the storm so far.

There is much speculation tonight on how Hurricane Gustav will affect the Republican Convention in St. Paul, which is scheduled to open on Monday in St. Paul, Minn. As of Saturday night, it looks like there will be a scaled-down convention. But John McCain told Chris Wallace today during an interview for “FOX News Sunday” that he is watching the situation and is open to the idea of postponing the convention.

From a public relations standpoint, and a humanitarian consideration, putting the convention on hold would be a good idea. Nobody, even hard-core Republican conservatives and other party faithful, would be interested in political speeches, confetti and balloons while millions suffer in New Orleans in a replay of a national nightmare.

Here is FOX News’ report:

With the Republican National Convention set to open Monday in St. Paul, the threat posed by Hurricane Gustav has already prevented prominent GOP officials from attending and has John McCain on edge about whether the event should be postponed.

Convention planners insist the week-long celebration is going forward as scheduled.

But the presumptive GOP nominee told FOX News, in an interview to air on “FOX News Sunday,” that holding the convention while Gulf Coast residents suffer would be insensitive.

“I’m afraid … that we may have to look at that situation and we’ll try to monitor it,” McCain said. “But you know it just wouldn’t be appropriate to have a festive occasion while a near-tragedy or a terrible challenge is presented in the form of a natural disaster. So we’re monitoring it from day to day and I’m saying a few prayers too.”

McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin will travel to Mississippi on Sunday to check on people getting prepared for Gustav. The two are expected to receive a briefing at the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin late tonight ordered a mandatory evacuation of the west bank of New Orleans for 8 a.m. Sunday and the east bank for noon.

Leslie Williams of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports:

Warning that Gustav is the “mother of all storms,” Mayor Ray Nagin late Saturday ordered a mandatory evacuation of the West Bank of New Orleans for 8 a.m. Sunday and the east bank for noon.

“We want 100 percent evacuation,” Nagin said. “It has the potential to impact every area of this metropolitan area.”

Katrina had a footprint of about 400 miles, he said. Gustav is about 900 miles and growing, Nagin said.

“This is worse than a Betsy, worse than a Katrina,” he said.

The mayor speculated that Gustav is so fierce Baton Rouge likely will experience 100 mph winds.

“You need to be scared and you need to get your butts out of New Orleans right now,” Nagin said.

Nagin said he expects Gustav to “punch holes in the Harvey Canal,” which could cause the West Bank to become a bathtub.

The West Bank has 8-foot-high to 10-foot-high protection, he said. Gustav’s storm surge may be 15 to 24 feet high.

Anyone who opts to remain in New Orleans “will be on your own,” Nagin warned, adding that services will not be available.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the airport in New Orleans will shut down for commercial flights at 6 p.m. Sunday.

The American Red Cross is getting ready. See its press release here.

Hurricane Gustav is now a Category 3 storm, and it is expected to move over the western tip of Cuba late tonight and early Sunday morning. Right now the track puts it on the Louisiana coast Tuesday morning. Weather officials say the Gulf waters are cooler than normal, and this might help weaken Gustav as it approaches the U.S. coastline. But they warn that this is still a major hurricane.

UPDATE, 11 a.m., Eastern, Aug. 30: Gustav is getting even stronger, as per the 11 a.m. udated advisory by the National Hurricane Center:

…GUSTAV EVEN A LITTLE STRONGER AS IT CLOSES IN ON WESTERN CUBA…

THE MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE BASED ON RECENT REPORTS FROM AIR FORCE
AND NOAA RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT IS 954 MB…28.17 INCHES.

This was the National Hurricane Center warning eariler this morning:

BY 48 HOURS…ALMOST ALL OF THE GLOBAL MODELS SHOW AN
INCREASE IN VERTICAL WIND SHEAR NEAR GUSTAV. IN ADDITION…SINCE
THE LOOP CURRENT IS SOUTH OF ITS TYPICAL LOCATION…THE HURRICANE
WILL BE MOVING OVER WATERS THAT ARE NOT NEARLY AS CONDUCIVE FOR
STRENGTHENING AS THEY COULD BE. THESE TWO FACTORS WILL HOPEFULLY
WEAKEN THE STORM PRIOR TO U.S. LANDFALL. HOWEVER…GUSTAV IS
EXPECTED TO BE A LARGE AND DANGEROUS HURRICANE AND THE NHC FORECAST
CONTINUES TO SHOW GUSTAV AS A MAJOR HURRICANE AT LANDFALL.”

In just one weird moment, Michael Moore, appearing on “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” says Hurricane Gustav’s projected landfall on New Orleans during the GOP convention is proof that there is a God because it would disrupt McCain’s plans. Olbermann’s response is just a grin of approval. Moore and Olbermann seem to delight in New Orleans plight because of its political implications.

What’s in the soul of a person who can find joy in such a disaster?

Jeff Poor of the Business and Media Institute writes:

Sometime you really have wonder at what cost some are willing to see their political ideology advanced.

To liberal documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, the bounds are seemingly endless. Moore has made a recent career out of attacking President George W. Bush, bashing conservatives and criticizing business. His latest outrage occurred on MSNBC’s August 29 “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” and when he commented about the coincidental timing of an unfortunate disaster – the potential for Hurricane Gustav to make landfall at the beginning of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

“I was just thinking, this Gustav is proof that there is a God in heaven,” Moore said, laughing. “To have it planned at the same time – that it would actually be on its way to New Orleans for day one of the Republican Convention, up in the Twin Cities – at the top of the Mississippi River.”

After that comment, Moore backed off a bit and did say he hoped nobody got hurt and he hoped everybody is taking cover. However, he failed to make note of the $43.625 billion in damage the last hurricane to strike New Orleans caused – Hurricane Katrina in 2005 – and the billions of dollars the storm cost taxpayers.

I spent three years as an executive with Habitat for Humanity. I was in New Orleans a month after Katrina working on the ground in the relief effort. I’ve never seen such mass destruction in my life. Power was out, roads were still flooded, garbage was everywhere. My team was driving along to our work site one day, and a large boat was blocking the road. We were three miles from the lake!

A lot went wrong with FEMA and President Bush’s response, and they deserve all the criticism they received and more. But the proof that there is a God isn’t from natural disasters disrupting any political opponent’s plans. The proof there is a God is in witnessing the goodwill of thousands of people who reached out to help countless victims whose lives were so devastated. I saw that proof in New Orleans when so many people did what they could to help that community when it needed it the most.

My hope today is that federal, state and local officials have learned their lessons, so if Gustav does land as a Category 3, the people of New Oreleans will not suffer as much as they did three years ago.

UPDATE, 7:37 a.m. Eastern, Aug. 30: Here is the Washington Post story on the Palin investigation. It was published on page 11A this morning and is bylined by James V. Grimaldi and Kimberly Kindy.

Monegan, 57, a former chief of the Anchorage Police Department, said in an interview Friday that during his 19 months on the job the governor repeatedly mentioned [Palin's former brother-in-law and state trooper Mike] Wooten but “never directly asked me to fire him.”

“I’ve tried to explain to him,” Monegan said, ” ‘You can’t head-hunt like this. What you need to do is back off, because if the trooper does make a mistake, and it is a terminable offense, it can look like political interference.’

“I think he’s emotionally committed in trying to see that his former brother-in-law is punished.”

Monegan said he was also contacted by three other Palin-appointed officials, including the attorney general, regarding the trooper. Each time, he said, he told the administration officials that he would keep an eye on the trooper, but that unless he violated a rule, nothing could be done.

The Washington Post’s James V. Grimaldi caught up with Walter Monegan, the Alaska public safety commissioner who was fired by Gov. Sarah Palin. The dismissal has led to an ethics investigation. Here is a blog post by the editors:

The July firing of Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan by Gov. Sarah Palin, who was announced as John McCain’s running mate on Friday, has unearthed a stream of soap-opera-like details about Palin, her husband, her family and top state appointees. The controversy has also cut against Palin’s reputation for holding an ethical line and standing up to colleagues in the Republican Party over matters of principle.

Monegan, 57, a respected former chief of the Anchorage Police Department, said in an interview with The Washington Post’s James V. Grimaldi on Friday that the governor repeatedly brought up the topic of her ex-brother-in-law, Michael Wooten, after Monegan became the state’s commissioner of public safety in December 2006. Palin’s husband, Todd, met with Monegan and presented a dossier of information about Wooten, who was going through a bitter custody battle with Palin’s sister, Molly. Monegan also said Sarah Palin sent him e-mails on the subject, but Monegan declined to disclose them, saying he planned to give them to a legislative investigator looking into the matter.

Palin initially denied that she or anyone in her administration had ever pressured Monegan to fire the trooper, but this summer acknowledged more than a half a dozen contacts over the matter, including one phone call from a Palin administration official to a state police lieutenant. The call was recorded and was released by Palin’s office this month. Todd Palin told a television reporter in Alaska that he did meet with Monegan, but said he was just “informing” Monegan about the issue, not exerting pressure.

“She never directly asked me to fire him,” Monegan said.

But he said Todd Palin told him Wooten “shouldn’t be a trooper. I’ve tried to explain to him, you can’t head hunt like this. What you need to do is back off, because if the trooper does make a mistake, and it is a terminable offense, it can look like political interference.

“I think he’s emotionally committed in trying to see that his former brother-in-law is punished.”

The allegation against Palin, “undercuts one of the points they are making that she is an ethical reformer,” said Democratic state Sen. Hollis French, who is managing a $100,000 investigation into the firing of Walter Monegan.

Even at the Daily Kos, the sexist remarks have gotten out of hand. So much so one blogger asked if it could stop. They can’t stand Palin, but remarks like what we have been seeing really need to stop. They have no place in the blogs or in the mainstream media.

Please can the sexist comments about Palin
by SaucyIntruder
Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 10:34:58 AM PDT
Come on, we’re better than that.

Considering how John McCain treats his wife, we don’t need to stoop to his level. The beauty queen nonsense is unnecessary.

Sarah Palin is Spiro Agnew, Dan Quayle and Geraldine Ferraro rolled up into one. McCain’s judgment was that bad. This is like shooting fish in a barrel. So cut the sexist crap already.

Keith Olbermann’s first word of note in his comment tonight concerning Sarah Palin was that she was a beauty pageant queen. Rachel Maddow chimes in that “John McCain’s mate – Cindy McCain – and his running mate – Sarah Palin – are beauty pageant ladies, which may tell us something that we didn’t know before about what John McCain likes in women.”

Would they make the same comments about a liberal who backs Obama? This is where the double-standard in today’s media is so troublesome. Can you imagine the howls from MSNBC if Rush Limbaugh had said something like this about Michelle Obama?

On the other hand, in her defense, Maddow talks about how from what we know about the ethics investigation concerning Palin’s firing of a state official in Alaska does not seem to be something that will be politicized because of the events surrounding the case.

Also, is there any more evidence of MSNBC’s lack of professionalism when someone put up the graphic: “How many houses does Palin bring to the Republicans?” under the Breaking News banner?

The Los Angeles Times didn’t do much better. Its headline on a feature story about the sitting governor read: “Palin a gun-toting former beauty queen known for ambition and grit.”

The question is, would the paper run a headline about a male governor just named as a vice presidential candidate in the same way? Would the paper write a headline about a liberal office-holder running for national office in such a snide manner? I don’t think so. On Aug. 24, the Joe Biden sidebar in the Los Angeles Times was headlined “In his home state, Biden is a regular Joe.“

The Obama campaign gave mixed reactions to the announcement today that Sarah Palin will be John McCain’s running mate, signalling that they may have been caught off guard by the choice.

“Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency,” Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement released by the campaign soon after the announcement. “Governor Palin shares John McCain’s commitment to overturning Roe vs. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush’s failed economic policies. That’s not the change we need, it’s just more of the same,” he said.

Hours later in Pennsylvania, Barack Obama had to distance himself from his own spokesman by saying this, as reported by Ben Smith of Politico:

“I think that, uh, you know, campaigns start getting these, uh, hair triggers and, uh, the statement that Joe and I put out reflects our sentiments,” he said, according to the pool report, apparently criticizing his staff for going overboard, as he did occasionally in the primary.

He was referring to a more gracious statement of congratulations he issued later with Biden, which he then reiterated.

“I haven’t met her before. She seems like a compelling person … with a terrific personal story.”

This is one of the few moments in Obama’s campaign where we saw headlights in their eyes.

Here is McCain’s introduction of Sarah Palin today in Dayton, Ohio. It’s almost a half-hour long.

The Washington Post has a Q and A with Gregg Erickson
columnist and reporter for the Anchorage Daily News and editor at large for Alaska Budget Report taking questions from readers about Palin and her impact on the race.

One interesting sample:

Washington, D.C.: I was an apathetic McCain supporter until this. Now, I am energized. She does not have much experience but she is VP not POTUS. She seems smart, tenacious and just what McCain needs to beat the rap of “more of the same.” This is definitely not “more of the same.”

Gregg Erickson: You are right: smart and tenacious are good words to describe our governor. She was in Texas this spring when her water broke. Rateher than staying there to have the baby, she jumped on a plan for an 11-hour flight back to Alaska, so her baby would be a “Alaskan-born.”

It will be interesting to see what happens when she confronts the national media regarding her positions on Roe v. Wade, airborne wolf hunting, etc.

Are Vladimir Putin and Keith Olbermann on the same page?

Putin said in an interview with CNN on Thursday that “The suspicion would arise that someone in the United States created this conflict on purpose to stir up the situation and to create an advantage for one of the candidates in the competitive race for the presidency in the United States. … They needed a small victorious war.”