THE CONVENTION

It would appear that the Gulf Coast has dodged a major bullet. The Republican National Convention may not be so lucky.

With the administration making an obscene public display of its emergency preparations – though I notice that three years later they haven't quite fixed the levees yet – hurricane Gustav made landfall with considerably less punch than expected. There was enough weather to give Ann Curry and Al Roker a couple of photo-ops, but not enough to show up the deeply ingrained incompetence of government at all levels. The added benefit is that Bush has been given an opportunity to make a show of personally overseeing FEMA’s efforts, thereby preventing him from attending the convention. This is a real face-saver for the Republicans, considering that his popularity is hovering a point or two below Charlie Manson.

More alarming are reports that St. Paul police are rounding up not only protesters but journalists as well. According to Democracy Now (you can find them at democracynow.org), the police have made huge, pre-emptive sweeps, jailing anyone they suspect of wanting to either spoil the RNC party or cover it. As usual, incompetence has led them to arrest a number of people in error, but that didn’t stop them from holding these innocent people for 48 business hours without charges. That means they could pick them up late Friday and hold them through the entire Labor Day weekend, not releasing them until late Wednesday – all without charges. I’m not too fond of making comparisons to NAZI tactics, but if the jack-boot fits . . .

The other big story of the RNC, of course, is Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, who announced that her 17 year old (unmarried) daughter is five months pregnant . . . or so she says. This may be the least of her problems. The rumors go from A to Z and I have no idea how much truth is in any of them:

Rumor 1. The down-syndrome baby (Trig) that Mrs. Palin had in April is actually her daughter’s. A birth certificate would probably put an end to that rumor, but they don’t seem to be able (or willing) to produce one.
Rumor 2. Trig is actually the child of one of Mrs. Palin’s sons and an unnamed woman.
Rumor 3. Mrs. Palin delivered her first child only eight months after she was married. This may or may not be true and may or may not mean anything if it is true, other than Alaska is a boring state with little to do but explore personal relationships.
Rumor 4. Mayor Palin once fired a local librarian because she wouldn’t remove certain books from the library, books that did not conform with Palin’s religious beliefs.
Rumor 5. Gov. Palin had her sister’s ex-husband fired from the state troopers.
Rumor 6. Before Gov. Palin was opposed to "the bridge to nowhere" she was one of its bigges supporters, and was a regular outlet for the money pipeline that led from Wasihington, D.C., through Sen. Ted Stevens to her local organization.

You can believe or disbelieve whichever of these rumors you like, but the smart money says that Palin will hand back her Veep nomination within 48 hours. We’ll see.