I don’t believe it for a moment, but you do have to ask the question…
Four years ago, James Dobson and Focus On the Family actually ran an ad calling for people to pray to God to rain out Barack Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. I don’t know how many people prayed, but it didn’t work. In fact, the weather was fantastic, with nary a cloud in the sky.
Ironically, four days later, the Republican National Convention was nearly cancelled due to Hurricane Gustav.
But Republicans continue to equate bad weather and other disasters with divine retribution. Glenn Beck said the Japanese earthquake and tsunami were a “message being sent” by God. Last year, Michele Bachmann said that an earthquake in Virginia and hurricane Irene were attempts by God “to get the attention of the politicians“. Pat Robertson blamed the earthquake in Haiti on that country’s “pact with the devil”, and said that Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for abortion. Jerry Falwell even said that God allowed the 9/11 attacks as retribution for feminists and the ACLU.
So what are Republicans going to say about the fact that next week’s Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida is also being threatened by a hurricane? Currently a tropical storm, Isaac — whose name was taken from the Bible and literally means “he will laugh“ — is expected to gain strength and become a hurricane on Thursday. The projected path takes it right to Tampa on Monday, just as the convention starts.
The mayor of Tampa has said that he is prepared to call the convention off if necessary. Of course, hurricane predictions are often wrong, especially five days out. But I still find it hilarious that ever since Dobson prayed for rain on the Democrats, the Republicans have received nothing but.
Ironically, RNC Host Committee CEO Ken Jones said that he’s not worried, and that if a storm arrives during the RNC, the responsibility to get everyone out safely will fall to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Does someone need to remind him that government is not the solution?
UPDATE:
© Jerry Holbert
12 Comments
So glad you pointed this out. I have been wondering if anyone would notice this hysterically funny irony!
What Patricia said….
Thanks IK!
Not to forget the great Red State Drought, aimed straight at the people who like to consider themselves “the real Americans” living in “God’s country”, and lasting for years in some spots.
I for one am perfectly willing to believe that God hates, not the Republicans themselves, but definitely Republicans’ hateful policies, hate speech, and hateful actions.
And I’m using “hateful” properly — I don’t mean “I hate it”, I mean their policies, speech, and actions are oozing hate, bulging with hate, replete with the stuff. Last I looked, that was not exactly mainstream in the New Testament these folks purport to believe is the literal word of God. So why wouldn’t God be pissed?
It is even more ironic that the name Isaac literally translates to “He laughs”
You guys nailed it. I really do hope no one gets hurt in this storm.
That being said, as a former listener to Focus on the Family and a person who attended the 08′ Denver convention, I have to say “vengence is mine said the lord”. The rest of us should stay out of it because he moves in mysterious ways.
As easily as he rains on Tampa, the same could happen on N. Carolina.
I live in Sarasota and we’re concerned about storm surge and damaged power lines, but it’s unlikely the storm will be a direct hit.
The Tampa convention center is only 4 ft above sea level and there’s a chance the storm surge will occur during high tide…that would be a double whammy. Maybe someone will start building an ark for the GOP members.
Isaac would be the father of Judaism (which begat Christianity) and Islam, yet the R’s don’t believe in evolution. There’s more to evolution than physiology.
You guys totally crack me up.
But we shouldn’t get too cocky, lest we piss the lord off ourselves. 🙂
[Patricia, I’d been watching this for a few days, waiting for the predicted weather track to show it heading for Tampa]
Maybe Michael D. Brown (of “good job Brownie” during Katrina) is available to help out? 😉
Actually, any thing that distracts or even cancels the convention would be a blessing to Republicans. If God truly supports their cause, he’ll want seniors thinking about hurricanes rather than the winds of radical change to Social Security and Medicare demanded by speakers at the convention. He’ll want Hispanic Americans thinking about escape from Isaac rather than exclusion from opportunity offered them at the convention. He’ll want woman focused on helping victims rather than the convention focused on their vaginas. The middle class must focus on rising waters rather than the receding opportunities offered by the convention. The poor must think of safety now rather than losing our Safety Net later. If God supports Republicans, he will hide the convention with rains and thicken the fog of ignorance rather than allow cleansing sunshine to highlight the decay of a once mediocre Party.
You just can’t make this stuff up… To show how much they love private businesses and continue their attack on the “You didn’t build that” line, they’ve gone so far as to give Tuesday’s session the theme, “We Built This!” But they are hosting this paean to private enterprise…in a place built primarily with public funds.
If we think back to Bush Jr’s time – Florida was a key state involved in his coming into office; and his most contentious actions were to start a second Gulf War. So when God smited Florida – in the Gulf Coast of America, I assumed He was probably making a point.
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