Hurricane Isaac touched down at 6:45 p.m. about 90 miles southeast of New Orleans. New Orleans is under both a hurricane warning and a tornado watch. 100,000 are already without power. There are flash flood watches. Storm surge flooding should begin tonight and continue through Thursday morning. Here's the latest alert.

Time for Zachary Richard and his cajun/Zydeco/blues/rock/music to send good thoughts to those in Isaac's path. "Come On Sheila" from Snake Bite Love, is one my favorites:

I’ve been waiting here since this morning,
I’ll wait as long as it will take.
Down in the old town of the city of New Orleans,
With my heart so heavy it might break.

Last night they put up a hurricane warning,
Last night you came into my room.
Around midnight the rain started falling,
I was holding on to you.

Who's Sheila? [More...]

You watching the Republican Convention? I'm not. Reading legal documents. I think I have the better deal.

Open Thread.

I bet he does:

Chris Christie believes if Mitt Romney could re-do his recent recent birth certificate joke, he'd take it back. [...] “I think if he had to do it over again, he wouldn’t make the joke,’’ Christie told Matt Lauer on TODAY Tuesday.

I know Christie is wrong about this:

If you get a chance to talk to Governor Romney, I think he’d tell you that he wishes he could take that one back.’’

No apologies Mitt? No way.

Tune in to Daily Kos Radio today at 11 Eastern, right after the Kagro in the Morning show. I'm solo again today.

Listen here.

What will I talk about? See this:

Open Thread.

(Before the Deluge.)

Isaac will be a Cateogry 1 Hurricane when it hits Louisiana around 7 pm tonight. New Orleans is directly in its cross-hairs. Here's the latest advisory.

How much has been learned in the seven years since Hurricane Katrina? Even the $10 billion invested in its hurricane risk reduction system hasn't fixed the attitudes of some:

Jefferson Parish officials issued a stern warning to anyone who dares tread outside during Tropical Storm Isaac. "If you create damage, you are going to jail,'' Sheriff Newell Normand said during a news conference that just wrapped up.

[More...]

I was on Daily Kos Radio, on my own today.Podcast here:

Also here or here or here.

Open Thread.

in a good way:

Not to mention the systematic Republican campaign to deny people of color the fundamental right to vote.

Mitt Romney "jokes" about the racist birther attacks on the president. But the short-fingered vulgarian Donald Trump, slated for, in his words, "a big role" at the Republican National Convention, is deadly serious about it. After receiving the "Statesman of the Year" award (I kid you not) from the Sarasota Republican Club, Trump said:

[S]ome people thought [Romney's quip] might not be a joke. It happens to be an issue that a lot of people believe in. [...] Let’s just say this there’s a huge group of people that are not believers in what [Obama] did, what he said and where he came from. We’ll see what happens. Well see what happens over the coming weeks and months."

[...] I had a big role tomorrow night. You know what happened tomorrow night. So it’s now up to them. […] It’s totally up to them, whatever they like," he said. "They gave me a big role and I was looking forward – I was actually going to Tampa right after this, right after this dinner, but now I probably will be going back to New York. I may come back but I’ll probably be going to New York after the dinner. Asked to elaborate on what the "big surprise" was, Trump just said it was a "very big thing." "I think they're still going to probably do it," he added.

A very big thing from the leading birther in the nation for the Republican National Convention. Suuuure Romney was joking.

NOTE: Due to Hurricane Isaac, Trump has been bumped from the schedule.

Busy work day here. How about an open thread? All topics welcome.

Tropical Storm Isaac has hit the Florida Keys and is expected to turn into a category 2 hurricane.

Miami looks safe, but the latest warning says New Orleans may be in danger.

A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR...
* THE FLORIDA KEYS INCLUDING THE DRY TORTUGAS
* THE WEST COAST OF FLORIDA FROM BONITA BEACH SOUTHWARD TO OCEAN REEF
* FLORIDA BAY

A HURRICANE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR...
* EAST OF MORGAN CITY LOUISIANA TO INDIAN PASS FLORIDA...INCLUDING METROPOLITAN NEW ORLEANS AND LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN

Thanks to TL pal Fishcamp who is in the Keys and been updating us in comments. He recommends following the Caribbean Hurricane Network.

Baby Lorenzo arrived just after 3 a.m. Must have been a long night of labor for Snooki. Congrats to Snooki and Jionni LaValle.

The world just got another Guido!!!" a rep for Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi told MTV. Lorenzo Dominic LaValle has entered the world weighing 6lbs, 5oz. Nicole, Jionni & Enzo are doing great!"

MTV shared in Snooki's excitement: "We couldn't be happier for Nicole and Jionni on the healthy delivery of their baby boy! We look forward to Lorenzo's first trip to the Jersey Shore and can't wait to see his first animal print onesie."

Me either, I'm a big Snooki fan.

For Lt. Neil Armstrong.

In other news, Republicans have postponed the start of their convention due to Tropical Storm Isaac.

Tonight on TV: The 2012 London Hyde Park concert is on VH-1 and Palladia ("Hard Rock Calling") with Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, Paul McCartney and more.

Snooki's in labor in New Jersey.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.