9/29/2008

Nobama '08


An informed voter is not only a wise voter, he or she is probably also a good American. In this regard, the press has always been the cornerstone in the foundation of American democracy … that is, until the press became such an advocate of socialism and liberal politics that it can no longer be relied upon to convey “fair and balanced” information.

For this reason, Papa Frank joins with several others in a Noobama08 blog burst each Tuesday of the week until Election Day. If we cannot obtain the truth about our politicians from an unencumbered press, then we’ll form a cooperative to distribute information independently.

Stanley Kurtz is a journalist and senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Mr. Kurtz’ article in the Wall Street Journal explains why Barack Obama is untrustworthy for the office of the President of the United States. He lacks integrity … and if it is one thing we do not need in the White House, it is yet another dishonest politician.

Mr. Kurtz writes: [BEGIN QUOTE]

Despite having authored two autobiographies, Barack Obama has never written about his most important executive experience. From 1995 to 1999, he led an education foundation called the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC), and remained on the board until 2001. The group poured more than $100 million into the hands of community organizers and radical education activists.

The CAC was the brainchild of Bill Ayers, a founder of the Weather Underground in the 1960s. Among other feats, Mr. Ayers and his cohorts bombed the Pentagon, and he has never expressed regret for his actions. Barack Obama's first run for the Illinois State Senate was launched at a 1995 gathering at Mr. Ayers's home.

The Obama campaign has struggled to downplay that association. Last April, Sen. Obama dismissed Mr. Ayers as just "a guy who lives in my neighborhood," and "not somebody who I exchange ideas with on a regular basis." Yet documents in the CAC archives make clear that Mr. Ayers and Mr. Obama were partners in the CAC. Those archives are housed in the Richard J. Daley Library at the University of Illinois at Chicago and I've recently spent days looking through them.

The Chicago Annenberg Challenge was created ostensibly to improve Chicago's public schools. The funding came from a national education initiative by Ambassador Walter Annenberg. In early 1995, Mr. Obama was appointed the first chairman of the board, which handled fiscal matters. Mr. Ayers co-chaired the foundation's other key body, the "Collaborative," which shaped education policy.

The CAC's basic functioning has long been known, because its annual reports, evaluations and some board minutes were public. But the Daley archive contains additional board minutes, the Collaborative minutes, and documentation on the groups that CAC funded and rejected. The Daley archives show that Mr. Obama and Mr. Ayers worked as a team to advance the CAC agenda.

One unsettled question is how Mr. Obama, a former community organizer fresh out of law school, could vault to the top of a new foundation? In response to my questions, the Obama campaign issued a statement saying that Mr. Ayers had nothing to do with Obama's "recruitment" to the board. The statement says Deborah Leff and Patricia Albjerg Graham (presidents of other foundations) recruited him. Yet the archives show that, along with Ms. Leff and Ms. Graham, Mr. Ayers was one of a working group of five who assembled the initial board in 1994. Mr. Ayers founded CAC and was its guiding spirit. No one would have been appointed the CAC chairman without his approval.

The CAC's agenda flowed from Mr. Ayers's educational philosophy, which called for infusing students and their parents with a radical political commitment, and which downplayed achievement tests in favor of activism. In the mid-1960s, Mr. Ayers taught at a radical alternative school, and served as a community organizer in Cleveland's ghetto.

In works like "City Kids, City Teachers" and "Teaching the Personal and the Political," Mr. Ayers wrote that teachers should be community organizers dedicated to provoking resistance to American racism and oppression. His preferred alternative? "I'm a radical, Leftist, small 'c' communist," Mr. Ayers said in an interview in Ron Chepesiuk's, "Sixties Radicals," at about the same time Mr. Ayers was forming CAC.

CAC translated Mr. Ayers's radicalism into practice. Instead of funding schools directly, it required schools to affiliate with "external partners," which actually got the money. Proposals from groups focused on math/science achievement were turned down. Instead, CAC disbursed money through various far-left community organizers, such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (or Acorn).

Mr. Obama once conducted "leadership training" seminars with Acorn, and Acorn members also served as volunteers in Mr. Obama's early campaigns. External partners like the South Shore African Village Collaborative and the Dual Language Exchange focused more on political consciousness, Afrocentricity, and bilingualism than traditional education. CAC's in-house evaluators comprehensively studied the effects of its grants on the test scores of Chicago public-school students. They found no evidence of educational improvement.

CAC also funded programs designed to promote "leadership" among parents. Ostensibly this was to enable parents to advocate on behalf of their children's education. In practice, it meant funding Mr. Obama's alma mater, the Developing Communities Project, to recruit parents to its overall political agenda. CAC records show that board member Arnold Weber was concerned that parents "organized" by community groups might be viewed by school principals "as a political threat." Mr. Obama arranged meetings with the Collaborative to smooth out Mr. Weber's objections.

The Daley documents show that Mr. Ayers sat as an ex-officio member of the board Mr. Obama chaired through CAC's first year. He also served on the board's governance committee with Mr. Obama, and worked with him to craft CAC bylaws. Mr. Ayers made presentations to board meetings chaired by Mr. Obama. Mr. Ayers spoke for the Collaborative before the board. Likewise, Mr. Obama periodically spoke for the board at meetings of the Collaborative.

The Obama campaign notes that Mr. Ayers attended only six board meetings, and stresses that the Collaborative lost its "operational role" at CAC after the first year. Yet the Collaborative was demoted to a strictly advisory role largely because of ethical concerns, since the projects of Collaborative members were receiving grants. CAC's own evaluators noted that project accountability was hampered by the board's reluctance to break away from grant decisions made in 1995. So even after Mr. Ayers's formal sway declined, the board largely adhered to the grant program he had put in place.

Mr. Ayers's defenders claim that he has redeemed himself with public-spirited education work. That claim is hard to swallow if you understand that he views his education work as an effort to stoke resistance to an oppressive American system. He likes to stress that he learned of his first teaching job while in jail for a draft-board sit-in. For Mr. Ayers, teaching and his 1960s radicalism are two sides of the same coin.

Mr. Ayers is the founder of the "small schools" movement (heavily funded by CAC), in which individual schools built around specific political themes push students to "confront issues of inequity, war, and violence." He believes teacher education programs should serve as "sites of resistance" to an oppressive system. (His teacher-training programs were also CAC funded.) The point, says Mr. Ayers in his "Teaching Toward Freedom," is to "teach against oppression," against America's history of evil and racism, thereby forcing social transformation.

The Obama campaign has cried foul when Bill Ayers comes up, claiming "guilt by association." Yet the issue here isn't guilt by association; it's guilt by participation. As CAC chairman, Mr. Obama was lending moral and financial support to Mr. Ayers and his radical circle. That is a story even if Mr. Ayers had never planted a single bomb 40 years ago.
[END QUOTE]

To say Mr. Obama is not ready for the presidency is a gross understatement. It is not simply that he lacks experience … it is also that he repudiates traditional American values and culture by embracing Marxist ideology, has been an acolyte of black racist theology, cuddled up with the anarchist activism of Saul Alinsky, and even worse … the man is simply and irrevocably dishonest. There is nothing about Barack Obama that may cause us to think he honors American tradition, or shares with us our time-honored values. Significantly, a man who works to undermine our education system through socialist engineering is a man who seeks to destroy America.

If the American people elect this man to the presidency, he will certainly destroy the cultural and political fabric of the United States, and when he has finished his work, none of us will recognize what he has left behind: The People’s Socialist Republic of the United States.

Cross posted at:
Always on Watch And Rightly So Big Girl Pants Confessions of a Closet Republican Farmer’s Letters ForeLeft GeeeeeZ Has Everyone Gone Nuts? Papa Frank Paleocon Command Center Political Yin and Yang Pondering Penguin Social Sense The Amboy Times The Crank Files The Jungle Hut The Logic Lifeline The Merry Widow

Thank You!!!


Thank you House Republicans and Democrats for keeping us from spending more in 5 days than we have in 5 years of the Iraq War.

9/28/2008

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!!!



Okay, so I can already feel you groaning and rolling your eyes. Sorry, I just can't help it. I am so overjoyed about the upcoming Christmas! For three years now we have been planning our girls first trip to Disney World. Disney has been a lifelong friend of Kimberly and I. We both grew up loving Disney cartoons and shows. We would watch the Wide World of Disney on Sunday nights as a family while we ate pizza and popcorn. Before I was even born my family was at Disney World for the grand opening in 1971. My most memorable vacations from my childhood were when we drove down to Florida and went to Disney World. Only now do I realize the tremendous sacrifices my parents made in order to be able to take us there. My parents were missionaries with Child Evangelism Fellowship and would arrange for us to drive down to Florida and be able to sleep on the floor of the CEF office in Orlando. We had to be out early in the morning and couldn't come back until late at night but that was no problem as the Disney Parks were where we wanted to be anyway. We didn't think that strange at all but rather we KNEW that we must be the most fortunate people on earth as we were at Disney World. What could possibly be better than that?

We never have stopped going back to Disney World and only grow to love it more and more. Kim and I even went to Disney World on our honeymoon. You might say that it is in our very blood to love it. If not in our blood it is certainly under our skin. In that vein (I know -- bad joke) we are thrilled to be able to bring our girls to Disney World this Christmas for their first time. We know the parks backward and forward and yet they always amaze us with how clean they are and how well done they are. We feel very blessed to be able to share that love with our girls this year. I can't wait to watch them watch everything and experience everything for the very first time. I am eternally grateful to my parents for providing that experience for me. Incidentally, they will also be going with us as well so they can see their grandchildren fall in love with it even as I did.

9/26/2008

The ACTUAL View of Henry Kissinger


"Senator McCain is right. I would not recommend the next President of the United States engage in talks with Iran at the Presidential level. My views on this issue are entirely compatible with the views of my friend Senator John McCain. We do not agree on everything, but we do agree that any negotiations with Iran must be geared to reality."

Sorry Obama. Nice try but YOU ARE NO HENRY KISSINGER!!!

9/25/2008

Alcee Hastings


WARNING: COMPLETELY IGNORANT STATEMENT AHEAD. IF IGNORANCE OFFENDS YOU PLEASE DO NOT PROCEED.

"If Sarah Palin isn't enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention," Rep. Alcee Hastings of Florida said at a panel about the shared agenda of Jewish and African-American Democrats Wednesday. Hastings was explaining what he intended to tell his Jewish constituents about the presidential race. "Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don't care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through," Hastings added as the room erupted in laughter and applause.

9/23/2008

Joe Biden Better on the Economy


Joe Biden on the present economic situation:

“When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the princes of greed. He said, ‘look, here’s what happened.’”

What a great quote. Well, except for the fact that the television wasn't commercially available until the late 1930s. Oh yeah, and the stock market crash was in 1929. And did I mention that FDR didn't come into power until 1932. Other than that, Joe knows exactly what he's talking about. SHEESH!!! He must have been cheating off of Al Gore's paper again!

Hat tip to Cube.

9/22/2008

My Small Army

I have come to the realization that there are a whole bunch of people around these days that need a good kick in the teeth. Let's take liberals for instance. They are in desperate need of a good kick in the teeth. Moving on we come to city officials who insist on writing tickets for things like having a car with a flat tire or having weeds that are 8 1/2" long or having your garbage can in front of your house instead of on the side or in back. Beyond that we have lawyers. That one needs no explanation. Lawyers certainly need a good kick in the teeth. Which brings us to Rosie O'Donnell, James Carville, Michael Moore, and Al Gore. These four certainly fit into our first group but they will all be needing an extra tooth kick.

In order to get this done I have put together a small group of warriors to carry out this mission. They are cunning and cute at the same time. That is a part of their ability to get within striking distance and unleash their furious attack on the unsuspecting. Let me introduce you to them. First of all we have:

Gunther the Gunner

He is the leader of my army and has the respect of his troop. His number two is:

Sylvester the Sniper

When extreme stealth is needed he can get the job done from half a mile away. For in your face brutality we have:

Bruno

What can I say? His name says it all. When all else has gone wrong we release:

The Jedis

The Mystic Minstrel


I would like to give a plug here for a friend of mine. Actually, this is my very best friend. My wife has started a blog and is in need of some friends to visit her. As she is my better half by far I can almost guarantee that you all will enjoy her wonderful spirit and kind disposition. Although I am a bit biased, I can honestly say that she is the best person I know. Please stop by her site and welcome her and say hello. I would appreciate it. You can find her here at the MYSTIC MINSTREL. By the way, her birthday is this Thursday.

9/20/2008

Follow The Money!!!


Who had the most incentive to look the other way?

Top Recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Campaign Contributions, 1989-2008

1. Dodd, Christopher J
D-CT
$133,900

2. Kerry, John
D-MA
$111,000

3. Obama, Barack
D-IL
$105,849

4. Clinton, Hillary
D-NY
$75,550

5. Kanjorski, Paul E
D-PA
$65,500

6. Bennett, Robert F
R-UT
$61,499

7. Johnson, Tim
D-SD
$61,000

8. Conrad, Kent
D-ND
$58,991

9. Davis, Tom
R-VA
$55,499

10. Bond, Christopher S 'Kit'
R-MO
$55,400

11. Bachus, Spencer
R-AL
$55,300

12. Shelby, Richard C
R-AL
$55,000

13. Emanuel, Rahm
D-IL
$51,750

14. Reed, Jack
D-RI
$50,750

15. Carper, Tom
D-DE
$44,389

16. Frank, Barney
D-MA
$40,100

17. Maloney, Carolyn B
D-NY
$38,750

18. Bean, Melissa
D-IL
$37,249

19. Blunt, Roy
R-MO
$36,500

20. Pryce, Deborah
R-OH
$34,750

21. Miller, Gary
R-CA
$33,000

22. Pelosi, Nancy
D-CA
$32,750

23. Reynolds, Tom
R-NY
$32,700

24. Hoyer, Steny H
D-MD
$30,500

25. Hooley, Darlene
D-OR
$28,750

9/19/2008

Mickey Mouse -- Satan's Agent???


Sheikh Muhammad al-Munajid unleashed a verbal attack on the beloved Disney character, and said: “Mickey Mouse has become an awesome character even though according to Islamic law, he should be killed!” He went on to say that ""The mouse is one of Satan's soldiers and is steered by him."

The former diplomat, who worked in the Saudi Arabian embassy in the USA, believes that Mickey is a force of corruption, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute, MEMRI, and the Israeli internet news site Ynet. Muhammad al-Munajid adheres to Sharia, the body of Islamic religious law which also mediates moral conduct.
The sheikh already earned an unpopular international reputation with his disparaging remarks on the Olympics. He labelled the Beijing Games the "Bikini Olympics" and said the event had a “Satanic” character.

Hey there piece of jihadist trash (which is being redundant), Mickey mouse says:
"WE DEAL IN LEAD HERE FRIEND!!!"





And best of all he is AMERICAN through and through!!!

9/17/2008

Croneyism

cro·ny·ism (krn-zm) n.

Favoritism shown to old friends without regard for their qualifications, as in political appointments to office.

I heard Sarah Palin using this term in her interview with Sean Hannity. I just wanted to mention that I like this term and the image it places in my mind. What image does it place in your mind? I'll start with this:

9/15/2008

Even a 5-year-old Gets It!!!


I am staying home today with one of my daughters as she was running a fever yesterday. Today she seems to be doing just fine but schools don't want a child there until they have been fever-free for 24 hours. I was all too happy to get to spend the day with her and have a little daddy/daughter time. Having twins, one-on-one time doesn't happen all that often. Anyway, so far we have had breakfast, watched a little Handy Manny, cleaned all the guns I used last weekend, played a leap frog letter game, and just now we were watching Joe Biden give a speech up in Michigan. Of course he was ranting on about how John McCain is really just George Bush and called him Bush #44. Voted with Bush 90% blah-blah-blah. You know - the same drivel that Obama/Biden have been peddling to kill time while they watch their poll numbers plummet. After this Biden rant my daughter looked up at me and said:

"He's just lying about John McCain because he just wants to be President. What he's saying it just doesn't make any sense what he says. I think John McCain could make more sense than that."

I am so proud!!!

9/14/2008

Down Under Gets One Over On Jihadists


Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks.

"I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia : one the Australian law and another Islamic law that is false. If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps, then, that's a better option", Treasurer Peter Costello said.

Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Quote: "IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians."

"However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the 'politically correct' crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia " "However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand." "This idea of Australia being a multi-cultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. And as Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle."


"This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom"

"We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society . Learn the language!"

"Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture."


"We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us."

"This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom,


'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'."


"If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted."

9/13/2008

WHO Can't Use the Computer?


Here's the latest commercial from camp Obama:

"1982, John McCain goes to Washington," an announcer says over chirpy elevator music. "Things have changed in the last 26 years, but McCain hasn't.

"He admits he still doesn't know how to use a computer, can't send an e-mail, still doesn't understand the economy, and favors two hundred billion in new tax cuts for corporations, but almost nothing for the middle class," it says. It shows video of McCain getting out of a golf cart with former President George H.W. Bush and closes with a photo of him standing with the current President Bush at the White House. "After one president who was out of touch, we just can't afford more of the same."

Obama spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said the campaign was not making an issue of the 72-year-old McCain's age, but the time he's spent in Washington.

"Our economy wouldn't survive without the Internet, and cyber-security continues to represent one our most serious national security threats," Pfeiffer said. "It's extraordinary that someone who wants to be our president and our commander in chief doesn't know how to send an e-mail."


Had the Obama media monsters actually used their computers it would have been a cinch for them to find out that the reason he does not use email is because of the sacrifice of his own body in defending our nation. They could have found out that he can't tie his shoes, type on a typewriter, or comb his hair either. They could have found out that he can't throw a baseball although he loves the game. And they could have found out that their hero Billy Bob Clinton sent a grand total of TWO emails during his 8 years in office. So who can't use a computer???

9/12/2008

Any Fantasy Football Players?


Here's my team this year:

Carson Palmer
(Cin - QB)

Marvin Harrison
(Ind - WR)

Santana Moss
(Was - WR)

Patrick Crayton
(Dal - WR)

Joseph Addai
(Ind - RB)

Maurice Jones-Drew
(Jac - RB)

Heath Miller
(Pit - TE)

Rob Bironas
(Ten - K)

Jacksonville
(Jac - DEF)

Jared Allen
(Min - DL)

9/10/2008

The World's Dumbest Couple


South Carolina Democratic Chairwoman, Carol Fowler told politico that Sarah Palin’s “primary qualification is that she hasn’t had an abortion.” She also said in an interview that the selection of an opponent of abortion rights would not boost McCain among many women. “Among Democratic women and even among independent women, I don’t think it helped him,” she said. Told of McCain's boost in the new ABC/Washington Post among white women following the Palin pick, Fowler said: "Just anecdotally, I believe that those white women are Republican women anyway."

If you recall a couple weeks ago her husband said this concerning hurricane Gustav coming at the start of the Republican convention:

"The hurricane’s going to hit New Orleans about the time they start. [Chuckle] The timing is — at least it appears now that it’ll be there Monday. That just demonstrates that God’s on our side. [Laughter]…Everything’s cool." - Don Fowler (Former DNC Chairman)

9/09/2008

Airdrop of Airheads



The Obama campaign has airdropped 30 lawyers on the poor unsuspecting state of Alaska to dig up dirt on Sarah Palin. Not to mention how many people are there right now from the media. Bad day to be an Alaskan. Sorry Alaska!

9/08/2008

What's That I Smell?



ABC News/Wash Post 09/05 - 09/07 LV 49 47 McCain +2

CBS News 09/05 - 09/07 655 RV 46 44 McCain +2

USA Today/Gallup 09/05 - 09/07 823 LV 54 44 McCain +10

CNN 09/05 - 09/07 942 RV 48 48 Tie

Rasmussen Tracking 09/05 - 09/07 3000 LV 48 47 McCain +1

Hotline/FD Tracking 09/05 - 09/07 924 RV 44 44 Tie

Gallup Tracking 09/05 - 09/07 2733 RV 49 44 McCain +5






THIS ONE-TRICK PONY IS UNRAVELING FAST!!!

9/07/2008

Good People


"I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world." -- Thomas Edison

Wake Up People!!!




The great bear is no longer sleeping and never really has been. They are openly flexing their muscles to their neighbors and to us. Now they are cozying up to Hugo, Ahmadinejad, and Kim Jong-Il. WAKE UP - WAKE UP - WAKE UP!!!

AAARGH!!!


We've been experiencing some computer problems here in the Papa Frank household. The problem was not our computer but rather our internet service. Before it was all said and done we have a new cable modem and a visit from a technician to fix the wires coming to the house. Whatever the case -- I'm back online and need to catch up with everyone as we've been offline since last Thursday.

9/03/2008

Love Me Some Rudy!!!


"CHANGE IS NOT A DESTINATION JUST AS HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY"

"HOW DARE THEY QUESTION WHETHER SARAH PALIN HAS ENOUGH TIME TO SPEND WITH HER CHILDREN AND BE VICE PRESIDENT. HOW DARE THEY DO THAT. WHEN DO THEY EVER ASK A MAN THAT QUESTION?"

Chili Rerun

It is one of those cooler and rainy afternoons here in Missouri. Quite rare for this time of year here. But alas, Gustav has finally reached us and has given us the perfect night to make a nice big pot of chili and watch a little television. I had a post a year or so ago on my chili recipe and decided to reprise it here for you. Our family's favorite way to enjoy this is to take a soup bowl and fill it half way with fritoes corn chips - fill the rest of the way with the chili - add shredded cheese and sour cream on top. Enjoy!!!


Give this here a try. I guarantee you won't be disappointed. I just won a chili cook-off with this combination. This makes a really meaty chili with just a few beans. The spices hit you up front and are well balanced. If you add a little cayenne then the spice will hit you up front and stay on your palette as well.

1 lb. ground beef
1.5 lb. ground venison
1 lb. pork sausage
.5 lb. thick cut bacon diced
1 medium white onion
2 jalapeno peppers
2 small peppers w/seeds
1 tsp. cumin seeds
Kosher salt
Ground pepper
1 package Williams chili seasoning for 2 lbs. meat
1 box Emeril beef stock
1 can tomato sauce
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes with garlic, oregano, basil
1 can Bush's chili beans

9/01/2008

Everything Going as Planned



Our current government has bright spots from time to time that usually go unsung. One such bright spot is happening even as we speak. The preparation and planning that was in place for hurricane Gustav seems to be paying off. Part of the strength of an administration is the ability to go through a horrible situation and learn from it and make the next similar situation much easier. Katrina came with such fierce criticism of President Bush with idiots claiming that Bush himself blew up the levees and that Bush "hates black people." I hope these same idiots will look at the very good handling of hurricane Gustav and the fortitude of the Republican leadership in putting their convention on the back burner and the goodness of Democrats in helping out however they can. American leadership focusing on the American people if only for a short time. But most likely these cowards and idiots will only turn their heads and pretend to not see or hear. Yes that means you Kanye West!