Dateline: August 2004, New York City

People are outraged that the Republicans are coming to NYC to hold their annual convention. Protestors from around the country, none of whom have any real jobs, come from near and far to smash windows, tip cars, and intimidate convention goers all in the name of preserving the right to protest and dissent. Anarchists from around the world are infiltrated and broken up by the NYPD and people are utterly outraged that any Republican candidate would dare come to this city to have a convention seeing as it would be like capitalizing on tragedy.

Democrats, despite bargaining with Mayor Bloomberg to exclusively have their convention here, they unleash a salvo of attacks against the city for hosting such a hate-filled propaganda fest. Democrats around the country are outraged at the vicious evil fascist Rethuglicans for even bringing up 9/11 at the convention. Apparently, they would’ve been happier had the largest news event in many of our lifetimes just gone unmentioned so as to keep things “fair.”

Now fast forward.

Dateline: September 2007, New Orleans Louisiana

After a shocking display of ineptitude in New Orleans, the same schmucks running the local government are still in place. President Bush, Condi Rice, and Michael Brown are blamed left and right while Governor Blanco and Mayor Ray “Chocolate City” Nagin got to play victim and perpetuate the same tired old myth that nothing was being done to rebuild New Orleans because the population was mostly black, or in the words of Wolf Blitzer, “So poor, and so black.”

In a shocking amount of acceptance for using the site of a few thousand deaths as a political podium a mere three years after such things were frowned upon in NYC, John Edwards has been pounding pavement in New Orleans and pandering to people left and right in the hopes of turning the devastated city into a few cheap votes.

In today’s e-mail from the Edwards campaign, I learned the following:

Dear Vincent,

John is going to help rebuild New Orleans—and he wants you to join him.

Soon, John will be taking a break from the campaign trail to work in an area of New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina. He’ll need some help—so we’re going to send five supporters like you with him.

We are going to select five supporters to join John in New Orleans. And if you make a contribution by the end of the third quarter on Sunday, September 30, one of them could be you!

This campaign is about real change—about rolling up our sleeves and working together to build One America. And there is no better way to work towards that goal than by dedicating some time and energy to rebuilding areas of New Orleans still struggling to recover from Katrina.

Help John rebuild New Orleans with a contribution today. By giving between now and the end of the quarter on Sunday, September 30, you—and four other supporters—could have the opportunity to work alongside John.

Working hard to create real change—those are our values, not Washington values. The system in Washington is rigged to serve special interests and big corporations—and ignore hard-working people struggling to get by.

Nowhere is that more apparent than in the Bush administration’s disastrous handling of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath—and in the fact that two years later, they continue to ignore the needs of the hard-working people there still struggling to rebuild.

Rebuilding New Orleans is one of the most critical challenges we face today—and it’s a challenge John cares deeply about. John led over 700 college students on an alternative spring break to help rebuild a New Orleans neighborhood in 2006. He announced his candidacy there in January. He’s returned numerous times since then to meet with people who are struggling to rebuild their lives, and to raise awareness of the sad state of recovery efforts and the continued incompetence of the Bush administration.

This campaign is about creating big, bold change on the issues that matter—so we’re not offering you gimmicks. We’re not offering you a fancy dinner. And we’re not offering you the chance to hobnob with celebrities and former presidents.

We are offering you the chance to roll up your sleeves and make a difference—to help move us a little closer to creating One America for all of us.

We’ll pay to get you there. All you need is your two hands and a desire to make the world around you a better place. If you make a contribution by Sunday, September 30, you could be joining John in making that happen.

And together, we can create the change we need to see in this country.

John Edwards is literally building a campaign atop a crumbled city. Go back and re-read the highlighted paragraph. John has been there numerous times, shaking hands and kissing babies. He announced his candidacy there, has given speeches there, and makes sure to keep showing face there.

Where’s the outrage?

If George W. Bush did this, he’d be capitalizing on tragedy. He was accused of as much by everyone left of center simply for having his campaign in the same city as a tragedy. John Edwards is actually giving speeches, repeatedly visiting, and announcing his candidacy from the heart of where the tragedy actually happened, and yet the outrage-o-meter is eerily not registering anything right now.

I should clarify that I don’t necessarily think that either campaign or party acted outside the realm of decency. NYC needed an infusion of cash and the RNC brought with it a hell of a lot of tourism (both from the people attending and the morons intent on intimidation) and New Orleans could use someone other than the dumb fumble-tongued racist idiot that runs the city or the inept Governor who had more buses underwater than on the road speaking for them. But, with that being said, why is speaking from the location of one tragedy wrong and offensive, but speaking from another just everyday business?

That’s a question we need to answer.

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