Aloha Daze

Three years ago to the day, one of my first posts at Aloha Daze concerned the fate of New Orleans at the hands of Katrina. (See my August 30, 2005 post Atlantis Revisited.)

Welcome back, folks. Here we blow again. Hurricane Gustav, please take the stage.

Three years later, we may be looking at the same scenario playing out.

Well, not exactly. Mayor Ray “Noodlehead” Nagin - the same pinhead mayor that New Orleans had before - isn’t hiding under a desk this time. At least he’s learned a little something. Hot off of the wire from New Orleans’ official website:

Mayor Announces Mandatory Evacuation

Mayor C. Ray Nagin has announced a mandatory evacuation for the City of New Orleans beginning Sunday. Mayor Nagin called for a mandatory evacuation on the West Bank of New Orleans beginning at 8 a.m. Saturday. The mandatory evacuation is set to begin at noon on the East Bank.

The Mayor said Hurricane Gustav is likely to be larger and stronger than Hurricane Katrina.

The City Assisted Evacuation Plan will continue until midnight on Saturday and from 6 a.m. until noon on Sunday to provide transportation for citizens who cannot evacuate on their own.

Those who need transportation should go to one of 17 designated pick-up sites. Residents who have special medical needs should call 311 for assistance.

Mayor Nagin urged tourists to leave the city immediately.

According to Mary Beth Romig of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors’ Bureau said local hotels will heed the evacuation order and close for business. She further urged citizens to depart from the city.

Travelers who have airline reservations may board a shuttle at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown New Orleans. Travelers must have proof of a reservation in order to board.

The City is paring down its staff to a skeleton crew. Mayor Nagin said he will trim the staff from approximately 200 people to 50 people.

The New Orleans Police Department may also have some officers evacuate from the city. Most other city agencies are evacuating their entire staffs.

Mayor Nagin urged that the West Bank may be most severely impacted by the hurricane and storm surge. He reiterated that the area’s storm protection system is not adequate to protect the New Orleans area in the face of the anticipated storm.

So some questions may get an opportunity to be answered in the next 24 to 48 hours:

Have preparations for this kind of emergency been prepared and readied for New Orleans in the invervening three years? Or is it going to be a local fiasco again?

Louisiana Governor Jindal is already doing something that the previous governor - Kathleen Blanco - didn’t do: getting people OUT of the way:

As directed by Governor Jindal, Louisiana State Police will initiate contraflow at 4:00 AM Sunday morning. For the first time in history, the entire Louisiana coastal population will be evacuated due to the impending threat of Hurricane Gustav.

Good to know that Jindal may have a plan ready to go.

President Bush has already called the governors of four states to prepare for FEMA.

But, rest assured, that if any of the states screw up… the left will blame Bush for everything, and FEMA for everything else. Because, y’know, it’s up to the Government to take care of everyone. Wouldn’t want to be expected to take care of yourself. Responsibility? Of course. As long as someone else is dealing with it.

The damage and destruction that is coming may be unavoidable. (I feel a hike in oil prices coming soon.) But here’s to hoping and praying that lives lost are kept to a minimal. Gustav has already claimed 80 lives, and it hasn’t arrived in the United States yet.

And once again, the city that lives below sea level may be seeing the world through the eyes of Atlantis. The question of, “should we rebuild again?” will come up. And the answer should be, “No.”

Because one catastrophe is enough. A second one is a sign from above that some things aren’t meant to be.

RLR

Review the history of Katrina: The “Blame Game” Rebuttal.

What a refreshing breath of fresh air is Gov. Sarah Palin.

Yeah, it could be a big gamble, choosing a woman on your ticket. The prevailing argument is that if Hillary hadn’t been involved, then Palin probably wouldn’t be the choice for VP.

So what? That’s politics.

The fact is, she has been chosen, and now all the “HopenChangey” garbage coming out of the Obama camp takes another hit. It’s first hit occured when they chose the old war horse Biden. Not a lot of Change involved there.

And with Palin now part of the RNC ticket, the first thing out of the mouth of the Order of Obama was that she was too inexperienced to lead.

Excuse me? This from Mr. “143 Days and then Two Years of Running for President” Obama? I wouldn’t hire him to run a company, let alone the country. His pledged plans for Change in policy should scare the stink out of any sane American. Particularly those that run small businesses.

I’m looking forward to some exciting debates between these two parties. Although I admit that I don’t know how all the negative ad campaigns that the liberal left will run against Palin will affect her ability to debate. Or, for that matter, her debating skills.

But I think we’ve seen a preview of the Obama vs McCain debating skills, and I’m really looking forward to that. Obama is all talk, and has no history. At least McCain has a history to help a voter make a decision with.

Me? I really wasn’t big on McCain, and I still have some issues. Overall, I was leaning towards sending him a vote. But some things have happened that have sent me much closer to choosing the RNC ticket.

The Saddleback Debate - which wasn’t much of a debate - was the first. Obama looked like he couldn’t find an answer for any question, while McCain didn’t do a lot of searching, but just blurted out his answer.

Russia and Georgia. An issue that isn’t resolved. Obama wants to hold hands and talk to his new friend Putin. McCain sees “KGB” in the eyes of Putin, not a friend. McCain called it right again. An indicator of his understanding of foreign issues.

And, of course, choosing Palin for the VP position on the ticket. I’d seen an interview with her on Glenn Beck’s show a few months back, and I was really impressed with her then. I’m delightfully surprised that she’s McCain’s choice.

That choice alone, I think, has sold me on the RNC ticket.

Now… for those debates…

RLR

Sent to me by email…

Political discussion with six-year old

I was talking to a friend of mine’s little girl the other day. I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she replied, “I want to be President!” Both of her parents are liberal Democrats and were standing there. So then I asked her, “If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?”

She replied, “I’d give houses to all the homeless people.”

“Wow - what a worthy goal.” I told her, “You don’t have to wait until you’re President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I’ll pay you $50. Then I’ll take you over to the grocery store where there is homeless guy that hangs out there. You can give him the $50 to use toward a new house.”

Since she is only 6, she thought that over for a few seconds. While her Mom glared at me, she looked me straight in the eye and asked, “Why doesn’t the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?”

And I said, “Welcome to the Republican Party.”

Her folks still aren’t talking to me.

Oh well!

How very true.

RLR