Today's show comes right at the nexus between conventions, between Tampa and Charlotte -- with a detour to a New Orleans recovering from the now-former Hurricane Isaac. Yesterday with Thomas Roberts, New Orleans resident Melissa previewed the brief visit to her city made by now-official Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, giving him props for bringing the cameras there (a stated goal of his), but also reminding folks that communities struck with that kind of flood and wind damage need policy more than photo-ops -- and in that light, questioned his choice of running mate:
He has on his ticket a vice-presidential candidate who stood in the way of FEMA funding. He has in his policy platforms things that would reduce the ability of the Gulf coast to be safe from storms. He made fun of, last night, the idea of global warming and rising waters, and did that while people are suffering on the Gulf coast. So the photo-op is nice, I'm happy for it -- but it's got to bring policy with it.
A Politico op-ed seconded the point Melissa has been making all week, and well before: for all the Republican praise lavished on small businesses, you know what they can't build? Levees:
Having healthy disagreements is vital for our democracy. But this Category 1 hurricane is an urgent reminder that government plays an important role in protecting citizens and property, particularly where the private sector is unable or unwilling to do so. There are also few instances where government is more crucial than in the construction and maintenance of vital public infrastructure.
We've just heard the Republicans for the last several days presenting whatever argument they have for why they should be in charge, why government isn't the answer, "you DID build that," and so on and so forth. Today, now that they're done, Melissa will offer a retort of sorts. (The headline and the video above are teasers for exactly how we're framing that. Tune in to find out.)
Tune in at the top of the show for that, and other topics which include: the vain appeal Romney is making to women voters; the welfare lie they keep repeating, and naturally, Hurricane Isaac, including some of the heroes that emerged from the crisis.
Our guests will include:
- Irin Carmon, staff writer at Salon.com.
- Karen Carter Peterson, Democratic State Senator from Louisiana, and Chairwoman of the Louisiana Democratic Party.
- David Coates, political science professor at Wake Forest University.
- Bob Franken, syndicated columnist.
- Nancy Giles, comedian, writer, and contributor to CBS News' "Sunday Morning."
- Monica Mehta, business and finance expert and author of "The Entrepreneurial Instinct."
- Ronald Scott, author of "Mitt Romney: An Inside Look at the Man and His Politics."
- Rebecca Traister, senior writer at Salon.com and author of "Big Girls Don't Cry."
You can watch Melissa's commentary on Romney going to New Orleans below. (The President will be there on Monday.)
As always, folks -- be sure to interact with us during the show here in the comments of this post, on Facebook, and on Twitter, using the hashtag #nerdland. We look forward to having you join us at 10am ET on msnbc!