Pretend President Romney heads to Louisiana to tour Isaac damage

As of late Thursday night, nearly three-quarters of New Orleans had no power. Given that Louisiana is still in the middle of its recovery effort from Hurricane Isaac and that Mitt Romney has no role to play whatsoever in that effort, this seems like an odd and self-centered distraction:

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will head to Louisiana to tour damage from Hurricane Isaac.

Romney has scheduled a last-minute visit Friday to Lafitte, La., where he will tour damage with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. The storm canceled the first day of Romney's Republican convention, and his campaign has been considering a visit for several days. [...]

In Louisiana, Romney will thank emergency first responders for their work.

As he thanks those first responders, I hope Mr. Romney will reconsider his words from just two months ago, when he mocked President Obama for seeking more funding for first responders.

"He [President Obama] says we need more fireman, more policeman, more teachers," Romney said on June 8 of this year. "Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It's time for us to cut back on government and help the American people."

Maybe with his tour today, Romney will realize just how wrong he was to mock President Obama for wanting to hire more first responders. But of course this really isn't about them, it's about the photo-op, and while Romney will make a big show of thanking them for their service, all the thank yous in the world don't make up for a pink slip. And if Mitt Romney gets his way in November, that's exactly what a lot of the people he sees today will get.