As residents of New Orleans were fleeing Hurricane Gustav, top Republican party officials donned pink boas and swigged vodka shots at a wild whirl of corporate and lobbyist-paid parties this weekend in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
[...]
Yet, last night lobbyists for the National Rifle Association, Lockheed Martin and the American Trucking Association put on a raucus six-hour party at a downtown bar featuring music by the band "Hookers and Blow." There was no evidence of any actual prostitutes or cocaine.
Well, thank goodness there were no "actual prostitutes or cocaine" present. I mean, this IS the "family values" party and all that. (snark)
Oh, gotta love this too:
Many delegates at a party Saturday night for GOP convention CEO Maria Cino said they saw no reason to stop the good time because of events in New Orleans.
"Everyone goes through hard times," said Wisconsin delegate Jeff Larson.
More than a hundred people jammed a Minneapolis restaurant where waiters wore pink wigs and guests danced through the night as they wrapped themselves and their partners with pink boas.
[...]
Asked about the appropriateness of the gathering, Republican National Committeeman Tony Parker walked away from ABC News cameras, saying, "I don't want to talk with you."
Another Republican guest hid his face from cameras, wrapping a pink boa around his eyes and nose.
Yes, hide your eyes...from the hypocrisy of the Republican Party, that is.
Comments
What would you have them do instead? (code - 9/1/2008 12:53:21 PM)
All these people in St. Paul, and they're not even getting a Convention. What would you have them do instead? Neal penitently at church all day and pray for Gustav victims? Drive immediately down to LA and sandbag something? At some point, the "respect" PC line gets old. Should we also insist that everyone cancel their Labor Day BBQ's today everywhere that's not NOLA?
Sorry - I think this is a little nit-picky.
What they could do (Teddy - 9/1/2008 2:25:19 PM)
is use the parties for charitable donations and blood drives, do you suppose? Jeff Larson from Wisconsin is right, "everyone goes through hard times." Mostly when Republicans are running things.
Not nitpicky at all, in fact it's crucial (Lowell - 9/1/2008 5:36:09 PM)
The point is, the Republicans realized that their convention was probably not going to be great BEFORE the hurricane, but that it was going to be a complete disaster DURING the hurricane. That's why they've been trying to shift gears, but apparently a lot of them either haven't gotten the message or don't give a rat's hindquarters. Just like when they didn't give a rodent's behind during Katrina, or even disparaged the victims of the hurricane, while Bush and McCain shared a cake in Arizona and Bush told Brownie he was doing a "heckuva job." This partying in Minnesota is completely off message for the Republicans, but completely in character at the same time. Very revealing, especially comments like "Everyone goes through hard times" - remember when Barbara Bush said that the Katrina refugees would all be better off now that they were forced out of their homes? I believe this is known as "compassionate conservatism." Heh.
Brian Ross (ABC News) disagrees with you (Lowell - 9/1/2008 7:39:20 PM)
GOP Parties (aznew - 9/1/2008 8:30:56 PM)
I don't know about you Lowell, but I would classify parties with top shelf liquor and free food as "absolutely necessary," so I think McCain is okay on this one. :)
Yeah, except I'd rather not be partying (Lowell - 9/1/2008 8:33:13 PM)
with the NRA, ExxonMobil et al.
Lobbyist (ub40fan - 9/1/2008 9:20:20 PM)
While I would have liked to have seen the Brian Ross report on the Democratic Covention side (to be fair and balanced) ... I can only say that what they reported on is "normal" ... and that is exactly what has to CHANGE.
Does Obama & Biden really expect to change such? I want to think so ... I'd like to believe this ticket is CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN! We will see.