Nagin finds silver lining: High murder rate keeps the “New Orleans brand” out there
posted at 7:14 pm on August 10, 2007 by Allahpundit
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Hey, the Oakland brand is booming!
see-dubya on August 10, 2007 at 7:16 PM
OMG.
The people of New Orleans elected “Chocolate City” Nagin. Remember that.
And they’ll do it again, mark my words.
Christoph on August 10, 2007 at 7:21 PM
Now this is why I could never make it as a marketing major! It’s all so clear now!
NeoConNews on August 10, 2007 at 7:21 PM
Unreal.
Spirit of 1776 on August 10, 2007 at 7:30 PM
So that’s why the democrats do what they do.
Kowboy on August 10, 2007 at 7:33 PM
So is Nagin saying that New Orleans is now a huge game park where one can hunt the most dangerous prey?
If that is true…What is the bag limit on drunk frat boys?
liberrocky on August 10, 2007 at 7:34 PM
A story came out today showing that 19000 voters, mostly from NO area, were registered in two states and would have to unregister in the state they don’t wish to vote in. He may be elected but no one wants to live there anymore. Lots of good jobs, some I was tempted to apply for after leaving the military but survival trumped high salaries!
Bradky on August 10, 2007 at 7:35 PM
One of the ads running for a Democrat candidate for governor has a line that goes something like “Now Louisiana is languishing at the bottom of every list there is – time for a change.. vote for me to change that” HA!
Bradky on August 10, 2007 at 7:37 PM
OMG.The people of New Orleans elected “Chocolate City” Nagin. Remember that.
And they’ll do it again, mark my words.
Christoph on August 10, 2007 at 7:21 PM
And he won’t even have to be busted smokin’ some crack.
OhEssYouCowboys on August 10, 2007 at 7:37 PM
Oh, man, sorry Christoph – delete my deletions. I didn’t mean to do that.
:O(
OhEssYouCowboys on August 10, 2007 at 7:38 PM
Chocolate Brain? There goes Nagin thinkin’ again…
T J Green on August 10, 2007 at 7:38 PM
I love Tay! He was interviewed today. Allah linked it but, alas, it is gone. All his videos are recorded in his living room.
Blake on August 10, 2007 at 7:40 PM
Hey ya’ll pikin on my Mayer?
actually I line on the west bank just outside of N.O.
New Orleans Cell Phone
abinitioadinfinitum on August 10, 2007 at 7:41 PM
Hey maybe that is why Nagen never used those busses. Murder is good for new orleans !
/Was sad comentary on New Orleans leadership and not an accusation
William Amos on August 10, 2007 at 7:41 PM
I feel like a 3-legged dog in a Dali nightmare. This is just too surreal.
The Race Card on August 10, 2007 at 7:45 PM
This is why Nagin was reelected. This is a local DJ Rob Couhig’s radio show. This will give you an idea of just what’s wrong with New Orleans. Make sure you listen all the way to the end.
abinitioadinfinitum on August 10, 2007 at 7:56 PM
New Orleans deserves Nagin.
And I mean that in the most loving way.
TunaTalon on August 10, 2007 at 7:57 PM
Nobody deserves Nagin!
Bradky on August 10, 2007 at 8:04 PM
At least New Orleans doesn’t have to put up with “King” Willie Herenton of Memphis. Willie makes Nagen look like Abraham Lincoln.
Tennessee Dave on August 10, 2007 at 8:12 PM
This is what you get for voting because of “racial solidarity” instead of competence.
madne0 on August 10, 2007 at 8:18 PM
There was a time I defended Nagin. That was a very long time ago. But given the choice – keeping Nagin, who was actually the reform candidate at the time – or letting another Cajun Kennedy (Mitch Landrieu) get his hand in the till, Nagin was the right choice at the time.
Laura on August 10, 2007 at 8:22 PM
He is stuck on Nagin!
TheSitRep on August 10, 2007 at 9:05 PM
I think Nagin should switch to Chocolate Soy Milk to lessen his testosterone level. I understand Silky drinks Vanilla.
Kini on August 10, 2007 at 9:13 PM
Laura – me too. When he was first elected, he seemed like what N.O. needed. Then Katrina, and he just absolutely failed miserably to show any leadership or sense of responsibility. I was very disappointed. NOTHING is getting done and it’s 2 years later! I don’t recommend N.O. to anyone anymore as a vacation destination.
reine.de.tout on August 10, 2007 at 9:14 PM
My wife and I are thinking about relocating. Can anyone suggest a place that is nice and Murdery and chocolaty ?
We are especially concerned about the school system. We would like a place that has one of the lowest SAT statistics and the highest drop out rates. If they had a school bus fleet that was inundated with water that would be a plus. As far as the local police, we would prefer a setting where they would not feel pressured to be above looting. And, hey if things get tough we would want them to abandon their post as fast as possible as we know how natural disasters are such a pain in the ass. That city on the hill may sound to good to be true, but if anyone knows of a nice place please let us know.
TheSitRep on August 10, 2007 at 9:15 PM
Must…resist…urge…to channel…moonbat assassination fantasies…
ticticboom on August 10, 2007 at 9:27 PM
Hold the phones!
Does anyone remember the fact that Ray “Beautiful Mind” Nagin used to be a Republican.
The Race Card on August 10, 2007 at 9:28 PM
His knows little about mayoring, and it seems he’s not too sharp on branding either. Branding is about presenting what you want known about your product. The New Orleans brand includes the French Quarter, food, jazz, Mardi Gras, etc. Now Nagin wants murder as part of that brand? Looks like it’s not only natural subsidence that’s going to sink NO.
eeyore on August 10, 2007 at 9:31 PM
So? He’s still a dumbass.
BacaDog on August 10, 2007 at 9:44 PM
Heh, tell me about it. I grew up in the East Bay and the company I work for our corporate office is a stones throw from the Oakland Coliseum, and lucky me I get to travel there next week.
We always tell site visitors that are not familiar with the Oakland area DO NOT turn right when leaving our facility as they will end up in the heart of the cesspool that is Oakland and will probably never be heard from again! Seriously, Oakland cops will tell you the only reason they’re there is because they have guns, although they’re usually outnumbered in the guns department!
Hmmm….maybe if I’m feeling brave or go completely insane on my trip to Oakland I’ll stop by the “Black Muslim Neighborhood Bakery” and see what they have on special…perhaps I can pick up a loaf of bread and some Jihadi pamphlets?!?!
However, seeing as how I’m an “infidel” I don’t think I’d be welcome as I would “defile” their holy bakery and then they’d have to behead me!!
Liberty or Death on August 10, 2007 at 9:51 PM
Sorry Bradky but you’re wrong again! The people of NO made their chocolate bed by keeping that self serving reverse racist Nagin in office and now they must sleep in the chocolate cesspool they helped create!!!
Liberty or Death on August 10, 2007 at 10:01 PM
So you think Landreiu would have been better?
Laura on August 10, 2007 at 10:03 PM
Fixed that for you. Reverse Racism doesn’t exist. That’s like saying Reverse Homophobia instead of Heterophobia.
BKennedy on August 10, 2007 at 10:16 PM
That ending is…sad? infuriating? Can’t find the proper word for it.
baldilocks on August 10, 2007 at 10:31 PM
According to Wikipedia, Nagin denies ever having been a Republican. Given the LA political scene, I’m inclined to believe that he’s a lifelong Democrat.
LibbyLA on August 10, 2007 at 10:48 PM
So if I am “wrong again” by inference you mean Nagin is good for the city of New Orleans. Oh wait I get it — the racial angle. Okay so you feel better throwing your anger at blacks into it. Roger. Understand perfectly now!
Bradky on August 10, 2007 at 10:49 PM
New Orleans has always been a sh*thole. I am talking for 300 years.
I used to have to go there very often to call on customers. And let me tell ya. I have schloped thru every sh*thole in the world and except for Bogotá, New Orleans is the most dangerous city I have ever been to. I don’t know but I would bet that the only thing that would change all that is a category 10 hurricane.
TheSitRep on August 10, 2007 at 11:11 PM
Me too. I had to drive to the naval base there to deliver my car for shipping when I was being stationed in Germany the second time. The base is located in the dirtiest, nastiest ghetto I’ve ever seen. (Keep in mind that I grew up in South Central LA and live there now.)
It was 6AM on a weekday when I was making my way into the base but, not only were the residents up, they were out milling about on the sidewalks and in the street. Periodically, some would walk directly up to my car, look it over (it was brand new then), look my California plates over and look *me* over. Trust me, my windows were up. But none of them block my way. (I’m thinking that it was because I’m black.)
I was never so glad to get on a military base in my life. That day, I had more fear in my own country than I’ve ever had overseas.
baldilocks on August 10, 2007 at 11:26 PM
Maybe Disney could learn a few things about “getting your brand out” from Mr Nagin.
Egfrow on August 10, 2007 at 11:39 PM
These days, there’s a map for everything, including crime in New Orleans.
http://gisweb.cityofno.com/crimemaps/default.aspx
The easiest way to get an overview was to select “Search by boundary” and then choose either “Zip code” or “Police district” from the first picklist. A second picklist will change to reflect your choice; thus, you need not have the New Orleans zip codes memorized in order to use them. Once you’ve made your selections and received the default map, you have more options. The default date interval is one month, but you can change the starting and ending dates. (At this writing, it appears the database has information through 7/26/2007.) You’ll probably have an easier time looking at just one sort of crime at a time; a picklist allows you to choose one or all. Oddly, rape isn’t among the classifications; maybe it’s been grouped with assault in order to help protect the privacy of the alleged victim. As for murders, those seem to cluster, with many neighborhoods largely free of them.
Kralizec on August 10, 2007 at 11:42 PM
New Orleans deserves that incompetant rascist ’cause they voted for him. I’m NEVER going to New Orleans ever.
Mojave Mark on August 10, 2007 at 11:56 PM
I personally don’t judge everybody by that knucklehead. but
I have to agree with both of you that it is dirty and dangerous in certain parts of the city, but New Orleans does have a lot of History and it does have it’s own charm that no one would or could understand unless you live here. Do you know what it means to miss new Orleans? No you can’t unless it is in your blood. The outskirts of the city are as beautiful as anyone could imagine, in fact I truly believe the Delta was one place that President Roosevelt missed when he made The US National Parks, although I’m glad he did because that is my playground. I am quite sure you did not visit that part. After all Louisiana is not called Sportsman’s Paradise for nothing. Baldi sweetheart that base is right next door to my High school. And Rep ease up on the Hurricane crap, because you have no idea what it was like. TV dose not tell the story.
abinitioadinfinitum on August 11, 2007 at 12:10 AM
edit
abinitioadinfinitum on August 11, 2007 at 12:30 AM
Sad really, kids are still dying the education system is down and out, jobs are gone, these are AMERICAN kids who are dying there
Lets all just remember that
EricPWJohnson on August 11, 2007 at 12:39 AM
They got exactly what they voted for…exactly. Nagin was a known quantity and that is who they want to have “mayor” them.
And arguing with that other poster is like debating a stalk of celery.
right2bright on August 11, 2007 at 1:45 AM
No you’re wrong Bradky, Nagin is not good for NO so don’t put words in my mouth. Nagin is a loser racist that only cares about himself and not the people of NO. As for the “racial angle” (as you call it) you may want to pin that racist card of yours where it belongs, on that steaming POS Nagin whom made it a racist issue to begin with by wanting to make NO a “chocolate city!” So stop wagging your PC finger at me just because I call it the way it is, Nagin’s a racist and I won’t bow down to you lefty PC Nazis!
Liberty or Death on August 11, 2007 at 2:45 AM
NO is a place I have always wanted to visit, for its history and many other things and it is my sincere hope that NO will rise up and heal itself to bring it all the way back. But that will not happen with a self serving racist like Nagin. If he truly loved NO, its people, and was a true leader he would be using all his energies in a positive way that unites all people, white or black to help bring NO back, but instead all he does is create division at a critical time all the people of NO need to unite, and his obvious racist attitude is not conducive to getting people to unite.
As the saying goes, “attitude reflects leadership” and Nagin’s racist attitude along with his self serving attitude is very far from the true meaning of what it is to be a LEADER!!
Liberty or Death on August 11, 2007 at 2:58 AM
Speaking of the good kind of Chocolate (Rain), Tay’s hit the big leagues! He’s on the front page of Yahoo! [Direct Link to Article]
Woo hoo!
Christoph on August 11, 2007 at 2:58 AM
True, point taken, I’ll just say racist next time, thak you BK!
Liberty or Death on August 11, 2007 at 3:07 AM
That was supposed to be “thank you” not thak you, typing with my knuckles again!
Liberty or Death on August 11, 2007 at 3:08 AM
Here we go again with the “MURDER” is bad, religious, soap-box, holier than thou WILLy again!!
And…
Right on!
(By the way, don’t feed the trolls.)(Same stuff, new thread)
nationspatriotcom on August 11, 2007 at 3:16 AM
This is a bunch of garbage. Katerina only grazed N.O. and produced a relatively small amount of damage. There are plenty of photos of N.O. taken from the air after Katerina that shows the damage to N.O. was no worse than what a Cat. 1 hurricane would produce. These were taken before the levies broke and flooded the place.
I rode out Andrew in 92. The house I was in had the entire second story ripped off along with the flooring. Five of us was in a first floor bathroom covered with mattresses to keep the falling debris from injuring or killing us. Three of us had to prop ourselves against the door to keep it from being blown in. Thank God this happened on the back side of Andrew. If it would have happened on the front side we wouldn’t have survived the wrath of the backside. When it passed the bathroom was over half filled with debris. I took us what seemed like an hour, but was less time, of work to manuver some of the debris so the homeowner could use his Leatherman Tool to pry out the door hinges so we could get out of the bathroom. Then we had to clear the debris, which did take over an hour, so we could get his wife and my girlfriend out of the bathtub.
The five of us rode out a real Cat. 5 hurricane. You rode out what is known in the Northeast as a “Bad Blow”. In Miami, Fl they call what you had in N.O. a “Thunderstorm”.
Helloyawl on August 11, 2007 at 4:07 AM
Embrace your bias. You and Nagin definitely have something in common.
You old flirt – I’m not that kind of guy, quit chasing me around.
Bradky on August 11, 2007 at 5:14 AM
If nagin is the best that New Orleans has to choose from, I wouldn’t go back there…it would be just flat stupid.
Highrise on August 11, 2007 at 5:50 AM
So I guess that means nothing much has changed since before Katrina. Katrina’s aftermath is just righteous justification to da’ Mayor McCheeze of Chocolate City.
…my grand-dad used to say, “If it quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, it must be a duck.”
I’m thinking more along the lines of, “You can take the rat out of the hood, but you can’t take the hood out of the rat.”
SilverStar830 on August 11, 2007 at 6:02 AM
I’m not a NOLA resident,(little further north), but Nagin if not a Rep. in registration, definitely gave the impression of being the “successful, self-made, businessman” who would run the city as a quasi-Rep.
At least in his first run.
soundingboard on August 11, 2007 at 6:55 AM
C-Ray has morphed into C-Murder.
soundingboard on August 11, 2007 at 7:09 AM
Nagin is a resource “N’Orlins” can do without. As FEMA and others haul remnants of the storm away, they are leaving one huge piece of trash behind.
His former job as a manager of a cable TV outfit in “N’Orlins” was an indicator that his management toolbox is empty. This man’s ego is large, but his ability to manage is very small. His management ability is limited to playing people against each other, by race, which is a horrible skill from the David Duke toolbox.
While losing tires and axles driving through destroyed neighborhoods, one can hear this reject on local radio spewing racist thought wrecking the morale of people fighting for their families, lives and their city.
Now, as he thinks about running a statewide campaign for governor or whatever, he is seen on local TV kissing up to the “white chocolate.” Actually, the threat to run for statewide office is a racket to keep a campaign cash box legal and overflowing.
“N’Orlins” has great potential as it was a proud city of the South 75 years ago. Today, this city is serious trouble led by a seriously troubled man. Lord help New Orleans.
saved on August 11, 2007 at 7:14 AM
It’s been a while since I’ve perused the Louisiana Fish & Wildife regs, but if memory serves, the limit is two per day.
Closed during football season.
(Too many targets to be considered sporting.)
Nor can they be taken at a kegger, as that’s considered hunting a baited field.
soundingboard on August 11, 2007 at 7:18 AM
I wish he would have kept his “brand” in N.O. and not exported it to Houston. Our murder rate skyrocketed after Katrina.
conservnut on August 11, 2007 at 7:53 AM
Failed leadership, murder, and total denial of the facts are trademarks of liberal politics.
Let them blame who they want, and let them live with themselves.
leanright on August 11, 2007 at 8:02 AM
Nagin is the “Homey the Clown of Chocolate Town”.
Racial tolerance? Homey don’t play that!
Protect your citizens? Homey don’t play that!
Put community before self?….
HOMEY DON’T PLAY THAT!!!!!!
csdeven on August 11, 2007 at 8:11 AM
heh
conservnut on August 11, 2007 at 8:15 AM
Same song, second verse. Gimme, gimme, gimme.
“Cheap suit” comes to mind. “Evacuation expert” does too.
His arrogance and stupidity know no boundaries.
doingwhatican on August 11, 2007 at 8:18 AM
Apparently, N’awlins is being rebuilt, not below sea level, but below the average IQ.
doingwhatican on August 11, 2007 at 8:52 AM
Baldilocks, my grandmother lives on Shirley Drive not a block from that base, and I grew up on that street. (This is the street with the median that leads directly to the front gates of the base.) Although it has declined in the last 30 years, it is not a bad neighborhood. To the right of the base is a high school and a community college, and behind the base is the MS river. You must be talking about coming in from the from the left, which would put you in the old Fischer housing project (which has since been torn down). So the short version is, you were partially right about ten years ago, but nearly completely wrong now.
This is exactly the kind of problem I have with all y’all jumping on New Orleans for re-electing Nagin. It’s cheap and easy to get your shots in about Nagin, but you have NO IDEA that he was the reform candidate when he was first elected, that he fought corruption in his first term to the point that he let his cousin be arrested for it, and that when it came to his REelection, the alternative was the scion of an old New Orleans political family. Are we sick to death of Nagin? You bet! Am I glad Mitch Landreiu doesn’t have his hand in the till, and is cementing himself in place so that he can keep his sister in the Senate indefinitely? YES. At the time we knew that billions of dollars of federal relief would be flowing into the New Orleans area, and we knew that the Landreiu family could not be trusted to manage it.
I had to vote for Edwin Edwards once – a known crook, who is actually in jail right now. But I’d do it again if I had to because the alternative was David Duke. Sometimes you have to make hard choices in elections. So by all means take your cheap shots and feel superior, as though there is no corruption in your own cities. But you might spare just a moment to consider that there were good reasons for reelecting Nagin, flawed as he is. He was the better choice at the time.
Laura on August 11, 2007 at 9:01 AM
Well said. I agree about Landrieu. I knew nothing about Nagin until after Katrina. But I definitely knew I didn’t want the Landrieu family having its hands anywhere my wallet.
Bradky on August 11, 2007 at 9:07 AM
This is a bunch of garbage.
KaterinaKatrina only grazed N.O. and produced a relatively small amount of damage. There are plenty of photos of N.O. taken from the air afterKaterinaKatrina that shows the damage to N.O. was no worse than what a Cat. 1 hurricane would produce. These were taken before the levies broke and flooded the place.You shoudla stopped right there.
But you hadda go here.
I rode out Andrew in 92. The house I was in had the entire second story ripped off along with the flooring. Five of us was in a first floor bathroom covered with mattresses to keep the falling debris from injuring or killing us. Three of us had to prop ourselves against the door to keep it from being blown in. Thank God this happened on the back side of Andrew. If it would have happened on the front side we wouldn’t have survived the wrath of the backside. When it passed the bathroom was over half filled with debris. I took us what seemed like an hour, but was less time, of work to manuver some of the debris so the homeowner could use his Leatherman Tool to pry out the door hinges so we could get out of the bathroom. Then we had to clear the debris, which did take over an hour, so we could get his wife and my girlfriend out of the bathtub.
The five of us rode out a real Cat. 5 hurricane. You rode out what is known in the Northeast as a “Bad Blow”. In Miami, Fl they call what you had in N.O. a “Thunderstorm”.
I don’t wanna get into a “my storm can beat up your storm” thing.
I’m going to, but I don’t wanna. ;->
Andrew affected a few hundred, maybe a few thousand, square miles. Katrina affected ninety thousand square miles. And I know people across that whole expanse.
Some lost little or nothing. Others lost
everything.
I came out relatively unscathed. Whether by Providence, dumb luck, or a bit of good Karma come back ’round its wheel.
Everybody’s got a storm story.
Some funny, some thankful, but way too many harrowing and tragic.
I understand I may sound a bit preachy, that’s not my intent.
And I grew tired of flame wars in the late ’90s USENET.
So please understand I’m not tryin’ to start one.
But Katrina was much more than a mere, big blow, or thunderstorm.
Well technically she might considered a “thunderstorm”, just one that was hundreds of miles across with hurricane force winds blowing for hours.
As one hurricane survivor to another, might I persuade you to lower the rhetoric?
Now if you wanna go off on C-Ray, I got ya back.
Same goes for our “Oh my, I’m drawing a Blanco” gov.
BTW, just outta curiousity, what was the FEMA response to Andrew.
The joke making the rounds in these parts was: FEMA? Yeah,
Fix Everything My Ass!
soundingboard on August 11, 2007 at 9:23 AM
Ahh, the good old days. When Republicans were passing out bumper stickers with the message; “Vote for the crook. It’s important.”
I agree with your assessment of the situation regarding Mitch,”Half Moon”,Landrieu.
Speaking of Edwards, have you heard about Dave Treen’s lobbying for a commutation of “Fast Eddie’s” sentence?
soundingboard on August 11, 2007 at 9:36 AM
Yeah, How many of your loved ones did you bury?
abinitioadinfinitum on August 11, 2007 at 10:06 AM
All of you who say that N.O., meaning the people in and around N.O. deserve what they get. What about the people who didn’t vote for that FOOL Nagin? Will America, rather the World get what it deserves if and when Hillary gets into the office of President, just because we have a large amount of people on the left who refuse to see the EVIL in this World and crave power for themselves over the well being of the country or world.
Will WE all deserve what WE get then?
abinitioadinfinitum on August 11, 2007 at 10:19 AM
soundingboard on August 11, 2007 at 9:36 AM
Yes, but rumor has it Bush was going to commute or pardon him anyway… I’d just as soon they keep him locked up – “pour encourager les autres.” :-)
Laura on August 11, 2007 at 10:29 AM
I realized this very thing last night after I commented and yes it would be a scary thing for an outsider like my friend Baldilocks, to have to go through Fisher. Hell I don’t even like going past Fisher myself. You are right it has gotten better. Me, OPW Grad born on Tita St. behind Frostop.
abinitioadinfinitum on August 11, 2007 at 10:43 AM
LOL, tearing Fischer down was a good start. But the rest of the area isn’t that bad – my grandmother’s lived there for going on 50 years. Man, your comment brought back memories – going to that Frostop was the biggest treat when I was a kid.
Laura on August 11, 2007 at 10:46 AM
The reason Nagin got reelected is because he did such a good job getting rid of over 50% of the welfare rolls. The city went from 65% AfroAmerican to 60% White. So the White voters put him in for doing such a crummy/great job, depending on your perpesctive, during Katrina. It was a toilet that got flushed by God. Looks like it’s filling up again for another flush. I was trucking in the Oakland region back in the’70S and always had my piece on the seat for quick use. Several times it required flashing at potential robbers. Worked every time!
countywolf on August 11, 2007 at 11:22 AM
Like Chris Rock says: “If you ever find yourself on Martin Luther King Blvd, Get the F**k off”
TheSitRep on August 11, 2007 at 11:28 AM
Yes, it was around 1990.
The rest of your post gives the advent of Nagin some context and is quite informational but you also seems a wee bit defensive. So are you saying that because none of the cities in which we critics of Nagin live are “Heaven on Earth” that we should just shut up? For God’s Sake, Nagin sat on his hands (the bus indcident) while NO flooded and is now laughing off as branding the murdering of his citizens! Now I realize that you may have voted for him and that you can’t tell the future. But Nagin isn’t just the run-of the mill corrupt politician; his inaction has and continues to get people killed.
You got fooled by him. Don’t take it out we who point this out. Trust me, as someone who voted twice for W. Clinton, I know how you feel.
baldilocks on August 11, 2007 at 12:52 PM
:::sigh:::
corrections:
“you also seem a wee bit defensive”
Don’t take it out on those of us who point this out
baldilocks on August 11, 2007 at 12:59 PM
I understand you have an affinity for NO, but from my point of view, and many other Americans also, NO should not be rebuilt. The delta should be allowed to reclaim the area and the city can be re-established somewhere that it actually makes sense to build it.
csdeven on August 11, 2007 at 1:32 PM
baldilocks on August 11, 2007 at 12:52 PM
No, by all means criticize Nagin; I’m certainly not a fan of his either. But everybody piles on to this topic like Nagin is the biggest idiot in the world, and so are the voters who put him in office. The truth is quite a bit more… nuanced.
Take the school buses for example – YES, that was screwed up. But by the time we really knew the hurricane was coming here it was Saturday afternoon. We had lunch reservations on Saturday and that morning we were trying to figure out whether to cancel them! So by the time we knew “this was IT” it was all very rushed. Nagin was on TV saying “GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT.” and “We want you to leave, not come to the Dome unless you have literally no other place to go, and make sure you bring your own bedding, food and water.” The drivers for most of those school buses were long gone by then, and most gas stations were out of gas. It took my family over 18 hours to get to Baton Rouge, which is normally a 75 minute trip. (We left Saturday night.) Unless they had loaded those school buses on Friday, when no one knew where the hurricane would end up, they were basically useless, in spite of what the plan said. They’d have been parked on the side of I-10, out of gas, with people stranded outside in category 1 conditions.
So sure, it’s easy to criticize afterwards. There were plans that were not put into effect in a timely fashion. Partly because of decades of “riding it out”, poor management on the part of Nagin, and partly because it’s difficult to know, with a hurricane, if you really need to bug out. So am I defensive? Sure. I’m tired of all the cheap shots and pile-ons by people who really don’t know much about it. There’s plenty of room for criticism, but let it be informed and reasonable.
Laura on August 11, 2007 at 2:09 PM
And here’s a little reality check for you all – examine the storm’s track according to the National Hurricane Center. At noon on Friday, 8/26 the storm was still looking to hit Florida. They made a huge adjustment to the track at midnight, so people got up Saturday morning thinking we were okay, and over the course of the day, had to follow their evac plans with very little warning. AGAIN, I don’t want to defend Nagin overmuch. Not only did the plan which was devised long before he was in office completely suck, he implemented it poorly. But try to have some context!
Laura on August 11, 2007 at 2:54 PM
Ab initio,
Based on the first principle that we get exactly the government we deserve, the answer to your question is “YES”
Hurts huh?
TunaTalon on August 11, 2007 at 9:49 PM
Do not. I repeat. Do not send money to New Orleans parish-city government. New Orleans Councilman Oliver Thomas is expected to plead guilty in federal court tomorrow on a parking lot payment racket that filled his pockets. Until the city rids itself of the Nagins and Thomases that continues to drive the city into deep hopelessness, do not…I repeat…do not send money that will end up in parish-city government.
There are hurting people in New Orleans and plenty of charitable organizations there helping people who need it. Tell your U.S. senators and representative to cease all money to Louisiana until corruption is investigated and punished.
This crud that Laura spewed about Nagin was the lesser of evils is misleading. A streetwalker on Bourbon Street is better than Nagin (my apologies to whores).
saved on August 12, 2007 at 7:46 AM
abinitioadinfinitum on August 11, 2007 at 10:19 AM
If we have become as a whole, so corrupt that she could be elected, then yes, as a nation we will deserve what we get.
leanright on August 12, 2007 at 8:10 AM
saved on August 12, 2007 at 7:46 AM
It’s not crud, and I didn’t “spew” it. What do you know about Mitch Landrieu, saved? I wanted Peggy Wilson to win, personally – to the point that I built her campaign website for free. But she didn’t make the runoff, (nor did any streetwalkers) and when the choice came down to Landrieu or Nagin, Nagin was better. Why don’t you debate me on the real issue? As for saying, “don’t send money” – well, I first said that on 1/6/05. That post is about Gov. Blanco’s decision to redecorate after Katrina, and guess what? Her Lt. Gov, Mitch Landrieu, the only alternative to Nagin, ALSO redecorated to the tune of about a million bucks. That’s who you evidently would like to see with his hand in the New Orleans till. I don’t like Nagin and it’s not my desire to defend him, but you people are being ridiculous. I’d expect to see this kind of unrealistic nonsense over at DU, not here. The reality was that the choices were Nagin or Landrieu. Nagin was better.
Laura on August 12, 2007 at 9:54 AM
Hey, the ‘pub’s are cowards and morons (for the most part); but at least they’re not traitors, or stark-raving-mad (for the most part).
urbancenturion on August 13, 2007 at 3:16 AM
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