This blog post was first written on October 29, at the start of one of this country's worst natural disasters -- Hurricane Sandy and its horrific destruction and aftermath. It has been subsequently updated.
The president is off the campaign trail and back where we expect him to be, leading the nation and millions of its citizens in the hopes that they will not suffer loss of life or limb, yet alone the expected billions in property damage and destruction that will inevitably occur. The election is days away and given what is currently taking place, it seems irrelevant and far off into the distance. The challenger, Willard Mitt Romney, canceled campaign events (he did hold one in Ohio the other day with a film of him running on screens behind the stage but called it all a "relief effort event") and must, by necessity, had to keep his words less antagonistic toward Obama and more supportive of those millions along the eastern seaboard.
A fortiori, the president is in the news and doing what he has to do; Romney was placed in the background and could only think about what he said during a CNN debate during the GOP primary -- [on whether FEMA should be shut down so that states can individually take over responsibility for disaster response]:
"Absolutely. Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that's the right direction. And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that's even better. Instead of thinking in the federal budget, what we should cut -- we should ask ourselves the opposite question, 'What should we keep?'"
Romney, however, was asked upwards of 11-14 times at his "non-campaign" event in Ohio about his FEMA remarks, but refused to explain what he said or meant whatsoever. Further, is this also why, for example, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and heavyweight (excuse the pun) Romney supporter, has been so effusive of Obama's efforts in marshaling so quickly federal resources to help out New Jersey and its citizens? Since then, Romney backtracked on his remarks concerning FEMA -- not surprising since his entire campaign is based on backtracking and telling us what subsequent facts show to be false and untrue. Consider the lie about his saying manufacturing Jeeps were going overseas -- wrong; consider Romney's claim of having worked across the isle when he was governor -- untrue; consider his proposed health plan covering everyone's pre-existing condition -- another tall tale.
Obviously, we all hope for the best despite now seeing some of the worst destruction nature has served up to our country... ever. And, if Americans have a moral compass, we should be joining the chorus with Christie in backing Obama and the courage, resolve, leadership and strength he has shown in leading the charge to assist any state and its citizens in harm's way... unless, of course, you consider the likes of a Rush Limbaugh, John Sununu, Ann Coulter, and even "the Donald" in wanting to throw slop against the wall when it comes to Obama. We have already heard Limbaugh and his ilk bad mouth Christie, suggesting that he only invited the president to the Garden State and complimented him in return for big federal bucks. How disgusting, since what we saw of the Christie-Obama linkage is how government works in times of national need!
But, it is not outside of the realm of possibility to consider one or more of those mentioned above, and their followers, declaring that God (or any higher being in which one believes) has now taken sides in the election when He created Sandy and had it march onto our shores precisely a week before the election just to show Obama's character to lead a nation in handling a crisis of epic proportion, and -- despite what Romney was quoted as saying above -- how the federal government and its federal emergency management agency are needed to handle what our nation expects of them. Obama was given a challenge he did not seek, but, in return, we saw his character come through to meet it.
I do not have a crystal ball, so I cannot predict the outcome of next Tuesday's election. But in the hope that Obama secures at least 270 Electoral College votes and triumphs over Romney, let the following be said here first. Any Republican who says that a higher being created the hurricane and its aftermath at this time -- to show voters what Obama is made of as a leader, and, as a consequence, convinced them to push him over the Electoral College threshold -- deserves to be sent to the waters where Sandy arose... never to be heard of again.