Everyone is Happy, Except Michael Moore

Isn’t it wonderful to wake up to good news?

A few days ago, we were worried about Hurricane Gustav hitting New Orleans with high winds, in a cruel mimicry of Katrina. This morning, however, the storm came ashore a good distance away from New Orleans, and it immediately dropped to Category 2, and there is considerable doubt as to whether New Orleans will get hurricane-force winds. On top of that, Gustav missed the bulk of our oil rigs, and the drilling and refining industries are expected to rebound quickly.

Gustav is also a much smaller storm than Katrina, at the core level. While the tropical-storm-force area is as wide as Katrina’s, the width of the area in which winds are at or above hurricane strength is half as big. Tropical storms are unpleasant, but I can tell you from experience that life below 74 miles per hour is much better than life above it.

There is nothing like seeing prayers answered. This storm could have been a nightmare. But God gave us all a break. Our oil supply is fine, the levees are expected to hold, and we’re not going to see bodies floating in the streets. If things keep going the way they are now, this story could be second-page material by tomorrow morning. People’s lives could be back on track by the end of the week.

More good news for Republicans (and by extension, America): the GOP convention will go on more or less as planned. George Bush probably won’t be there, but he has been demonized to such an extent that his presence might have been a negative. The liberal press and the DNC have managed to characterize John McCain–a waterboarding critic and persistent thorn in the side of the GOP–as a Bush puppet. They’re convincing America that John McCain is Bush’s Medvedev, which is absolutely ridiculous. “Would that he were,” is all I can say. I wouldn’t say the storm prevented George Bush from going to the convention. I’d say it gave him a much-needed excuse for staying away.

I wish Bobby Jindal could be there, so the nation could see the difference between him and Kathleen Blanco, who refused to allow the National Guard into Louisiana after Katrina. But I suppose they’ve already seen the difference, as Jindal prepared for Gustav. Any governor who followed Blanco would have improved on her performance, out of self-interest, if nothing else. But it looks like Jindal has done a particularly impressive job. He oversaw the biggest evacuation in US history.

Maybe he’ll be able to sneak off for a quick speech. We need to promote this guy; if McCain loses, he’ll be running in four years. He’s what Obama would be, if Obama had a resume.

I hope the good news continues. Times don’t need to be any tougher than they already are.