---

So I’m listening to David Welna’s NPR report on the race in Ohio, when this spokesweasel for the Republican Congressional Campaign, Ed Pardue [phonetic spelling], tells us that Paul Hackett tried and failed to convince the voters that he was close to President Bush.

Excuse me, but Hackett called Bush an SOB and said he didn’t like him. How does that spin into trying to associate with Bush? Not only does Hackett not deny disliking Bush, he calls him an SOB again in this audio report. Hackett’s a Marine, and Marines use that kind of language.

Hackett goes on to say that the reason that Rove and company don’t like the language is because they never served in the military.

The local political science professor [a requirement in NPR political stories] said that Hackett needs to tone down his language, but Hackett kicked butt, winning four of the six counties in the Ohio 2nd district. Schmidt won the two largest counties, but she barely squeaked by for a Republican candidate.

For the sports betters: she lost on the spread: a dead Republican candidate should have been able to win by 5%.

My only question is: why did my cats arch their backs and hiss when Schmidt talked?

---

---

So John Ellis was talking to reporters in Tallahassee today about the gasoline shortage in the Panhandle related to hurricane Dennis and he passed along his thoughts:

Some gas stations ought to have generators. Most gas stations have had generators since Ivan, but they didn’t have any gasoline to either power the generators or sell to the public.

People should only keep a three-day supply of gasoline for their generator, instead of a 30-day supply. The standard 5500 watt generator uses 10 gallons of fuel a day, no one was storing 300 gallons of gasoline, and when my generator arrives I won’t be storing more than 15 gallons.

People should stop evacuating and make their homes sturdier or go to local shelters. Does he know what “Mandatory Evacuation” means? The shelters don’t have anything but a roof. You bring your own food, water, bedding, etc. and they don’t accept pets. The “special needs” shelters for people with medical problems don’t have generators or medical personnel. The local hospice program tries to get their patients into the hospitals or nursing homes where there is back-up power and medical assistance.

He also thought the oil companies ought to consider having more gasoline on the Panhandle. There is no more private land available in my area, and certainly none near any transportation which is why they ship gasoline in by barge. The barges have to be pulled off the water when a hurricane hits.

The governor shouldn’t be complaining about evacuees clogging the roads, he should be improving the infrastructure so that the roads aren’t clogged and cap development until that happens. He really needs to take a few days the next time we are set to get hit and come down to take the part of the idiot standing out in the wind and surf for the Weather Channel. You don’t experience the thrill of a hurricane from waiting until it’s over and flying over in a helicopter, you need to sit in one of FEMA’s trailers for the full effect.

At least Attorney General Charley Crist is being useful regarding Hurricane price gouging. It’s only a recovery of $200K from one of the raging horde of contractors who flocked down here after the storm, but it’s a start.

You need people to come in to help with rebuilding, but you don’t need to be ripped off. FEMA money comes from the taxpayers and the insurance companies have every intention of getting their money back.

---