September 1, 2008

It's Monday, September 1st.

The Republican Party has pledged to make its annual convention the most environmentally-friendly convention ever.

Currently, In fact, John McCain has already picked a running mate even greener than Barack Obama.

This is The Current.


Diving into the Political Fray

The pre-election posturing looks headed for a fever pitch this week. Not that any of the leaders actually want an election, you understand. It's just that somehow, each of them has been backed into an uncomfortably tight corner by the blind intransigence of the others.

Neat trick that.

Most observers now expect the Prime Minister to call an election this Friday. But here at The Current, we're done waiting. If there's going to be an election campaign, lets get on with it shall we? So this morning, we're diving head-first into the political fray along with Green Party Leader Elizabeth May. She'll be trying to push her Green party platform from inside the House of Commons.

New Orleans - Three Years Later

Tropical Storm Gustav is bearing down on the Gulf Coast today. And according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, there are still gaps in New Orleans' flood control system leaving the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina vulnerable once again.

The memories of what happened three years ago must be weighing heavily on the residents of New Orleans today. It was August 29th 2005, when they awoke to the realization that one by one, the city's levees and storm defenses were crumbling. Sixty billion gallons of flood water washed over the city in Katrina's wake, wrecking 135,000 homes and 80 per cent of the city's infrastructure.

Three years later, tourism has come back to New Orleans. In the famous French Quarter, reminders of Hurricane Katrina come in the form of guided tours and souvenirs. And to the revelers on Bourbon Street, the city is rebuilt.

But drive just a few kilometres over the St.Claude bridge and the devastation is still plainly visible. Jessica Grillanda spent five weeks in New Orleans this summer in the city's Lower 9th Ward. On today's show, Jessica Grillanda took us on a tour of that neighbourhood to meet some of the people who have managed to make their way home.

Republican Convention Panel


The Discussion:

On Friday August 29, John McCain filled in the other half of the Republican Presidential ticket, by naming Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential candidate. A lot of Republicans swooned at the thought of a young, energetic woman with solid conservative credentials and blue-collar appeal and began casting her as a kind of anti-Obama kryptonite. But privately, others shook their heads and wondered how on earth they could keep arguing that Barack Obama is too inexperienced to be President when their own Vice Presidential candidate appears to have an even thinner resume.

The Republican party kicks off it's National Convention today in St. Paul, Minnesota. There will be no pomp and little politics today, shelving the usual celebration in deference to the approaching threat of Hurricane Gustav.

On the agenda, though, shore up their core, without alienating swing voters. Play up John McCain's experience without making him seem old. And hit hard at Barack Obama without looking nasty.

The Panel:

Stephen Taylor is a conservative political blogger from Calgary and he'll be at the Republican Convention this week. The Current caught up with him over the weekend while he was busy packing for St. Paul.

For some free advice on what the Republicans need to accomplish in St. Paul this week, we gathered three somewhat sympathetic minds. David Frum is an author, a journalist and a former speech writer for President George Bush. And Kathryn Jean Lopez is the editor of the conservative magazine The National Review Online. They're both in St. Paul. And Beau Phillips is a former Republican strategist. He's now a public affairs consultant at Clopak, Leonard, Schecter and he joined us from Washington.

Last Word:

We'll left you this morning with one more thought about rebuilding New Orleans, courtesy of Allen Toussaint, the godfather of New Orleans soul and funk. He lost a much loved-Steinway piano when Hurricane Katrina flooded his home. But he didn't lose hope, as you can hear in this song a re-worked, post-Katrina version of his classic call to action, "Yes We Can Can".