Obama should give a high profile speech that redefines the accepted understanding of our various wars. He should draw a distinction between the war in Iraq and the "war on terror." The war in Iraq should be painted as a criminal offense by the republican for the purpose of war profiteering and securing oil reserves.

Continue to point out the fallacies of off-shore drilling. But also follow this up with the simple fact that drilling in the gulf coast is a very risky situation considering the increased number of hurricanes over recent years. If these new drilling platforms are damaged, speculators could use that to drive up oil prices. Could feed off of the Gustav hysteria

...and we might not be as lucky next time. Barack should remind everyone of how little has been done since Katrina, and propose a massive public works project to build a levee and flood-prevention system comparable to that of the Netherlands. It'll be expensive, but probably not more than a few months in Iraq. And, of course, it will generate lots of jobs.

Of course we should all do what we can to help the people of the Gulf Coast get through the crises caused by ever more frequent and powerful hurricanes. I believe, however, that Barack should be looking to the future by declaring that in an Obama administration, the director of FEMA will be a qualified emergency response professional, and not a political boot-licker.