“And Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid, for God has come in order to test you, and so that His fear may be on your faces, that you may not sin.” (Exo 20:20)
The first time it was suggested to me that it was entirely possible a tropical storm could nail the city of Tampa, Florida during the Republican National Convention, I laughed and said, “God admonishes us to hate evil, but even God wouldn’t pull such a cruel trick.”
Weeks later, here we are.
At the time of this writing, the storm is named Isaac and is about 100 miles off the coast at the mouth of the Mississippi River. And although Tampa was largely spared save for some crippling rain, the damage was done at the GOP convention, where late starts, cancellations and an overall feeling of “what did we do to deserve this?” prevailed well into the opening day ceremonies.
The party faithful played the role of Job as God sent test after test, waiting to see if they would finally crack and admit this was what they get for treating poor people so badly.
Think about this for a moment:
The Republican Party says they have a plan for the future of America, but they planned their own nominating convention on the Gulf Coast of Florida during the peak of hurricane season.
You really can’t make this stuff up.
Here are a few more head-slapping facts about the 2012 GOP convention:
The convention is being held in the Tampa Bay Times Forum, a hockey arena built in the mid-1990′s with mostly public money.
So, no, you didn’t build that.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was scheduled to address the convention, but since Isaac has turned toward New Orleans, Jindal has decided to stay home to govern. According to a report on ABC’s Good Morning America, President Obama gave Jindal a call on Monday to let him know his request for a “pre-landfall” federal disaster declaration had been approved. The declaration opens the federal spigot and soaks the state in federal recovery dollars.
Gov. Jindal said, “”We are going to need help after the storm as well. This is not going to be done just after the storm makes landfall or even just after the storm leaves Louisiana.”
That is the same Governor Jindal who refused to take federal money for emergency unemployment benefit extensions and who refuses to take federal money to implement the Affordable Care Act. But those ‘recovery’ dollars spend just fine, thank you very much.
Here in Louisville, my Republican friends are largely quiet on these issues, especially on the location of the convention. They won’t say much about Mitt’s compulsiveness to bear false witness against his neighbor, either. One of my buddies did admit Jindal was leading a state that only exists because of federal money. “He’s [Bobby Jindal] not my favorite person,” he tells me. “He talks out of both sides of his mouth with regard to the federal spending.”
So as of January 1, 2012, there has not been a bigger boondoggle than this convention.
But there’s always the Democratic National Convention next week in Charlotte, North Carolina.
And there’s another tropical depression on the horizon. Just in time.
Convention, I laughed and said, “God admonishes us to hate evil, but even God wouldn’t pull such a cruel trick.”
