In New Orleans, Messiah preaches Sermon on the Mount, invokes very unfortunate analogy Update: Letter from New Orleans
posted at 12:17 pm on August 27, 2007 by Bryan
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OMG!!! A Christianist who might become president!!!
Speaking to Sunday church congregants in New Orleans, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama invoked Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount days before the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
“Getting ready to talk to you today, I recall what Jesus said at the end of the Sermon on the Mount,” Obama said at New Orleans’ First Emmanuel Baptist Church. “He said, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock.”
“The rains descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. But it did not fall, because it was founded on the rock,” he continued.
That’s an interesting parable to invoke. It’s the parable of the two builders, from Matthew 7. One builder builds on a solid foundation and his house survives a storm. The other one built his house on sand, and when the storm comes, the house is destroyed.
Now, brethren, let’s apply that parable to the tragedy of New Orleans. New Orleans was built on shifting delta soil 16 feet below sea level. Its water table is so shallow that the dead are buried above ground. Without the levees, New Orleans can’t survive any storm at all. Lake Pontchartrain will flood most of it, as we saw two years ago. It’s also probably America’s most corrupt city, and in particular the levee board was run more along lines of patronage and favors than competence. The police force had ghost officers, and many of its real ones abandoned their posts after the storm. The mayor failed to execute a key component of the region’s storm strategy, leaving thousands stranded while city-owned buses sat unused, and eventually flooded. Many of them were less than a mile from the Superdome. The governor dithered and dodged and cried and she blocked the Red Cross from delivering supplies to the Dome. Lining New Orleans up with the parable, was it built on a foundation of rock, or a foundation of sand?
So is Obama invoking that parable to blame the victims for having a long history of making poor choices, from where they build to the people they select to govern them? Unlikely. But that is pretty much how the parable reads — build your life on a weak foundation and you’re inviting disaster.
Nobody but nobody is going to go to New Orleans and teach that lesson, though.
*Corrected the name of the lake. Duh on me.
Update: William found this video of Sen. Obama promising more cops, doctors, teachers, insurance and the works to get people to move back to New Orleans and rebuild.
I think it would be foolish to move back there if you’ve left, based on a) how the locals and state officials performed and b) the fact that while the state will get a new governor and with that probably better leadership, the city still has the same lousy mayor.
He finishes with a fun flourish on how our foreign policy differences should end at the water’s edge. That’s one sermon that he ought to preach at his own party first.
Update: Jim from New Orleans writes–
Immediately after Katrina, my entire company moved to Houston. So I spent a year in Houston. I finally found a job back in New Orleans, which enabled me to return. (My house had minimal damage.)
I can now see more clearly than ever that New Orleans is an extremely corrupt and backward city. They have LOST approx 5 BILLION DOLLARS of the “Road Home” money which was supposed to finance people repairing and rebuilding their homes. Much of the city looks like Katrina came yesterday, not two years ago. Mayor Nagin is clueless, as is Governor Blanco. I also put Michael Chertoff in that category, because he is the ultimate head of FEMA, which has been almost a total disaster.
The cities around New Orleans are booming and rebuilding. Even Chalmette, totally destroyed by Katrina, is making a comeback. But New Orleans is stuck in a quagmire. My wife, a local architect, tells me that when she goes to City Hall for a building permit, inspection, etc., it is in total disarray. But when she goes for the same thing to the surrounding areas outside the city limits of New Orleans, things go smoothly and quickly, and everyone is smiling.
Getting back to my Houston experience, I had hoped that enough people who evacuated to Houston and then came back, would have brought back with them some ideas about how a city could be run. But somehow, this hasn’t happened.
The one bright spot in all of this is that Katrina wiped out the totally corrupt New Orleans public school system, and it is being replaced by charter schools, which are developing the reputation of being very good schools. For example, Algiers Charter School Association (http://www.algierscharterschools.org/acsa.htm) are those public schools on the west bank of New Orleans. (That’s where my son attends.)
Actually, there are two bright spots — GO SAINTS!!! We came within a whisker of going to the Super Bowl! We WILL beat Indy on the first game of the season.
Thanks for Hot Air! Please bring back the extremely entertaining videos you used to do, such as the Cindy Sheehan fast.
As a Cowboy fan I can’t share Jim’s enthusiasm for the Saints.
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Oh, the rains came down, and the floods came up…
the rains came down and the floods came up…
the rains came down and the floods came up…
And the foolish man’s house blamed Bush and FEMA and Rove blew up the levees!
see-dubya on August 27, 2007 at 12:21 PM
Obamamamma is SO good at saying the wrong thing at the right time. He keeps me laughing.
Kowboy on August 27, 2007 at 12:22 PM
That is a typical Democrat attitude. A lot of their positions are built on shifting sands. Ask Hillary. There are two Americas, one built on sand, and one built on rock.
Qzsusy on August 27, 2007 at 12:23 PM
You mean Lake Pontchartrain, don’t you? Unless New Orleans has moved into Upstate NY and Vermont.
lawhawk on August 27, 2007 at 12:23 PM
Bryan, thanks a lot for explaining the meaning of that parable. This is just further proof that Obama seems to have no regard for speaking publicly about something he doesn’t really understand.
I hope this gets widely publicized.
JiangxiDad on August 27, 2007 at 12:23 PM
Yeah. Duh on me.
Bryan on August 27, 2007 at 12:28 PM
To be fair, in the Madrassa version the house built on sand is the one that survives.
James on August 27, 2007 at 12:28 PM
Any chance we could give New Orleans back to the French? (Maybe Obama would be willing to run for office there.)
CyberCipher on August 27, 2007 at 12:30 PM
So who is greater at the commentary flubs: Silky Pony or the messianic boomer?
allie on August 27, 2007 at 12:30 PM
I don’t think you understand how our leaders are chosen in Louisiana. For at least the last 100 years, they have been picked on the basis of “what are you going to do for me”. This is usually a combination of promised social welfare programs or direct payments for the vote. The payments for the vote can be made to individuals, but usually they go to the preachers at the various churches. The preachers then tell everyone who to vote for. On rare occasions, we have ward leaders as in the 9th ward (mostly gangesters) or sheriffs that hold this power. Rarely are our leaders elected as a result of ability. The coming election with Jindal may change that, but only because you now have the 9th ward and not us. Please keep them.
davidcaskey on August 27, 2007 at 12:31 PM
I don’t understand what you’re criticizing. You agree with his analogy. He said almost exactly what you said, blaming the government’s preparedness and response (except he included the federal government and you didn’t). Of course, he put it more appropriately: rather than blaming the victims, he said the entire nation, not just New Orleans, was built upon sand.
What is your fundamental disagreement here?
tneloms on August 27, 2007 at 12:31 PM
LMAO!!!
JiangxiDad on August 27, 2007 at 12:34 PM
Well, the allegorical comparison gets a little overwhelmed among all the literal comparisons.
James on August 27, 2007 at 12:34 PM
Then again, I may just not have my nuance cap on.
James on August 27, 2007 at 12:36 PM
Look.
Stephen M on August 27, 2007 at 12:37 PM
Don’t look for meaning – Dems are all about mouthing what sound to them like pretty words, and which to them are nothing more. But it works… their constituency just eats it up. It makes them feel good because it gives them the sensation of what they imagine integrity must feel like.
drunyan8315 on August 27, 2007 at 12:39 PM
Just as Cindy Sheehan is the only mother ever to have lost a child in combat, New Orleans is the only city ever hit by natural disaster.
At least that’s what my grandkids’ history books will say.
saint kansas on August 27, 2007 at 12:40 PM
A: Yes, but they are too ignorant to see that.
‘The prosecution would like to call to the stand, Mayor Ray Neagan.’
ericire12 on August 27, 2007 at 12:41 PM
Why is it that only Republicans get in trouble when they campaign in church?
Brat on August 27, 2007 at 12:43 PM
Obama is better than SNL.. Love politicians that are cuter and funnier than TV comedians. That takes in almost all of LA and of course Barack O’funnier.
Bob67 on August 27, 2007 at 12:45 PM
Especially if you say them in the right accent.
JiangxiDad on August 27, 2007 at 12:45 PM
He was also making a comparison, with this verse, to people believing in what Obama says politically, being wisemen.
captivated_dem on August 27, 2007 at 12:45 PM
Well, the government here in Louisiana and in New Orleans was ELECTED by those same victims, AND THEN REELECTED in the case of Nagin. Blanco won’t be reelected because she isn’t running again. So some of the “blame” would therefore fall on the victims – Read davidcaskey’s comment at 12:31 p.m. He is correct.
It appears to me that Obama might have been trying to send the message that the Government let them down; but instead, mistakenly chose a story that actually puts at least SOME of the blame squarely where it belongs – on the people who elected the ineffective (being nice) Governor and Mayor in the first place.
reine.de.tout on August 27, 2007 at 12:46 PM
fixed.
JiangxiDad on August 27, 2007 at 12:47 PM
New Orleans is built upon sand? I thought it was another subastance.
BohicaTwentyTwo on August 27, 2007 at 12:47 PM
Should add this video. Obama is going to rebuild new Orleans no matter what it takes
He’ll even throw in free insurance for everyone.
William Amos on August 27, 2007 at 12:47 PM
Good point, Bryan, and funny.
Another phrase comes to mind vis a vis New Orleans – as you sow, so shall you reap. Perhaps it should be modernised:
If you’re careless when you build, don’t expect good when the rains come.
linlithgow on August 27, 2007 at 12:48 PM
nope. he meant he’s the strong house.
JiangxiDad on August 27, 2007 at 12:49 PM
Hey, he’s just keeping the brand out there.
JiangxiDad on August 27, 2007 at 12:50 PM
More to the point, the original city of New Orleans (built in the 18th and 19th Centuries) is the section that is at or slightly above water level. The areas that ended up flooded were the 20th Century additions below water level, made possible by the levees built by the Army Corps of Engineers, which were;
1. Built where the local government wanted them (on land that was owned by friends of the officials, which was sold for the purpose at considerably above any rational market value to the tune of major kickbacks to said officials, and which was questionable at best from a geological standpoint)
2. Supposed to be maintained by the local government with money supplied by Federal grants (which instead disappeared into the morass of Louisiana’s political swamp- more graft);
and
3. Should have been extended and strengthened over 20 years ago (but weren’t because the local politicians, in concert with the newest “progressive” interest group, the “wetland”-obsessed environmentalists, said no).
But none of this matters to Senator Obama or his supporters, or indeed anyone else on their side of the aisle. Their party has run high, wide, and handsome in Louisiana for over three-quarters of a century (going back to the “Kingfish” himself, Huey P. Long), and has always gotten away with blaming all their self-created problems on the rest of America, especially those never-to-be-sufficiently d**ned non-progressives, who won’t just rubber-stamp their constant demands for more and more Federal tax money to feed their corrupt and cynical machine.
But now even their own constituents are starting to realize just how badly they have been served by this lot. All they really need to do is look next door at Mississippi (the state, not the river), to see what can be done after an even worse disaster than that experienced by New Orleans, with a reasonably competent and honest government in residence.
Not that Senator Obama and Co. will ever even bother to look.
cheers
eon
eon on August 27, 2007 at 12:53 PM
So our tax dollars are the rock?
DANEgerus on August 27, 2007 at 12:56 PM
I sure hope he wins the demo nomination, cause he’s the
second coming of Jesse Jackson.
gary on August 27, 2007 at 12:57 PM
So now Obama believes he is the Messiah. His comparison of Jesus to himself is laughable because all the wise men are voting for conservatives.
csdeven on August 27, 2007 at 12:59 PM
Barack’s response:
Obummer.
profitsbeard on August 27, 2007 at 1:03 PM
It is nuts to think that the US government and American people failed the people of New Orleans before Katrina. It was the corrupt New Orleans officials and the brain deadning effects on the 9th ward people from years of Democrat vote farming tactics there that is to blame. Many of those people were paid by the government to sit around and literally eat and drink themselves sick.
At some point, these people must look at their own behavior, standards, and motivation to find the real problem there.
saiga on August 27, 2007 at 1:04 PM
Dont forget he is also going to rebuild the wet lands and the marshes around New Orleans.
No word yet if he also plans to walk on water while doing it
William Amos on August 27, 2007 at 1:07 PM
Obamanation speaks the truth, shoots himself self in the foot at the same time, good show.
Is Barak in this to get the HillBill elected or what?
Can a former President run as V.P?
Speakup on August 27, 2007 at 1:09 PM
The foolish man built his house upon Barack,
The foolish man built his house upon Barack,
The foolish man built his house upon Barack,
And the gaffes came tumbling down.
Ohhhh….
The gaffes came down as the rhetoric fired up,
The gaffes came down as the rhetoric fired up,
Schmooze Iran and invade Pakistan,
And the Senator’s campaign went splat.
see-dubya on August 27, 2007 at 1:12 PM
I hope allah or bryan put up John Edwards new strategy. Im still shaking my head over that one
William Amos on August 27, 2007 at 1:12 PM
This guy is nothing but a sound-byte gift wrapped in a suit.
Montana on August 27, 2007 at 1:15 PM
I’m sorry.. and may sound heartless, but just when do we make people take responsibility for their own actions and stop bailing them out?
Any portion of New Orleans under sea level should not have been rebuilt with my Tax dollars… its inevitable that it will get swamped agian somtime in the future… why be stupid and rebuild there?
Its like the guy who has a house on the coast, and has had his house destroyed 3 times by hurricanse, and yet rebuilds it exactly the same… same spot… with Government help.
Yes we should help people in need… but we need to be smart in how we do it and not enable stupid decisions.
Romeo13 on August 27, 2007 at 1:16 PM
Haven’t you ever built anything man?
First,Edwards has to foreclose on some properties near the marshes. Then Obama can fix the marshes with John’s money. These two are proving that they think alike and can work together. Looks like Obama/Edwards ‘08
JiangxiDad on August 27, 2007 at 1:24 PM
Beh. It reminds me of Bill Clinton saying, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall inherit the earth” during the whole Yassar Arafat/Yitzhak Rabin disaster. FYI, it’s “Blessed are the meek, for they shall in inherit the earth.” Peacemaker will be called the sons and daughters of God.
Jesus is fun to invoke if you actually have your analogies and Bible verses right. Otherwise you sound like a patronizing jerk. Perhaps, the people in NO need to just get out because I’ve never understood building homes below sea level when you’re so close to the sea. But I’m practical like that.
mjk on August 27, 2007 at 1:25 PM
Why is it when the lib candidates go to a church (usually black), it’s hunky-dory (outreach, inclusiveness), but let a conservative try it, it’s time to rip the church’s 501(c)(3) status (pandering, divisiveness).
eeyore on August 27, 2007 at 1:27 PM
NOLA was broken way before Katrina hit. All the storm did was expose the rot of the past.
The corruption in NOLA is something to witness and it covers the Mayor, DA, Police Chief, Sheriff to the lowliest of public employees. I saw my Grandfather bribe two garbage workers $10 each to pick up limbs we had stacked in the front of his house. Where I live all you had to do is call Dept of Public Works and they’d be pick them up for free.
I know that sounds minor but that’s how NOLA works.
Sadly Nagin was dealt a bad hand. He was a reformer who inherited a nearly bankrupt city. When he took office the city about a week worth of cash on hand. He had gone after the corruption but was working alone.
Katrina overwhelmed him and I really think he’s had some sort of breakdown. Not sure why he ran for a 2nd term.
I surely think NOLA will recover but it’s up to the people in Louisiana and NOLA in particular. A new Governor, Mayor, DA, AG, Congressman and Sheriff will help. Out with the old.
roux on August 27, 2007 at 1:30 PM
Thank you Senator Obama for your lesson on how to convert the Holy Scriptures into liberal claptrap.
Maxx on August 27, 2007 at 1:34 PM
Said it before, saying it again! The Obamas have raised open mouth, insert foot into an art form.
jeanie on August 27, 2007 at 1:36 PM
After Katrina, since my business was essentially out of business, I took the time to document what actually went on at the levee board. I found it quite shocking. But I will also say, in our defense, we got rid of the local levee boards the first chance we got – and against the kicking and screaming of “the establishment.” Voters stood firm and we got it done – the old system was dismantled.
I’ve taken some heat for defending certain aspects of N’awlins politics – like how Nagin got re-elected and the fact that I believe Landreiu would actually have been worse. But I don’t defend the status quo. I actually built a campaign website for another candidate running against Nagin but she didn’t make the runoff.
Likewise with Aaron Broussard of “Meet the Press” fame. I worked my butt off, along with many other people, to get him recalled. The way the system is set up it’s practically impossible, but now that he’s running for re-election we have another chance, and a lot of people are trying to get rid of him. Only one guy has the nerve to run against him; the main point in his favor is he’s not Broussard. I spent the whole weekend building this “Anybody But Broussard” site and other people are going to advertise and promote it.
So yes, we have a lot of problems in this area. I’m not sure whether or not we’re “America’s most corrupt city” but you could at least give some credit where it’s due – a lot of people are working hard to improve things – and as with the dismantling of the old levee board system, we are making progress.
[Trying again, without one of the links to see if it posts this time.]
Laura on August 27, 2007 at 1:37 PM
AMEN Romeo13!!; (08/27/07 at 1:16 ) Don’t be sorry….I totally agree with you.
Isn’t that also the definition of insanity? Doing the same (dumb) thing over and over but expecting different results each time?
dbdiva on August 27, 2007 at 1:40 PM
http://dojo.fi/~rancid/loituma__.swf
Asher on August 27, 2007 at 1:41 PM
Speaking as one living at ground zero (literally and figuratively). William “cold cash” Jefferson is my Congressman. Ray “Wonka” Nagin is my mayor. For the record, both elected without my support and complete disgust when they won.
I clearly state the following:
1. The feds shouldn’t spend one more dime in this hell hole. There is no effort to renew and reform schools or the NOPD or any other area that has long needed a clean slate. All the city officials want to do is get things back to the third-world standards that they were two years ago.
2. The city is unbelievably corrupt still. Besides Jefferson, one School Board member admitted taking kickbacks and implicating Jefferson’s brother Moses. A city councilman just had to resign for taking kickbacks. These are just two examples of many.
3. The city remains unsafe. Over 130 murders this year including two members of a family of 7 who were rounded up and attacked gangland style on Friday. A tourist from Maryland was recently kidnapped and attacked a few miles away in a public housing project. The incompetent and racist DA has yet to successfully prosecute a single homocide since the storm. Let me repeat that- Not one killer has even been prosecuted since August of 2005.
4. Too many of my neighbors have taken on the typical “what will you do for me” attitude when it comes to rebuilding their lives. As if they have no control over starting over again.
5. The National Guard still patrols significant portions of the city. What other American city needs help from the military simply to keep the killing rate down?
In short, New Orleans is showing way too many signs that there just isn’t any reason for further assistance. This place is doomed and I predict anybody that can has left or will be leaving in the next couple of years. This city is doomed by its own ignorance, corruption, and failed leadership. Y’all come on down for the conventions but keep in mind that life outside the tourist areas is far from idyllic.
National Geographic likened NOLA to a cross between Colonial Williamsburg and Soddom & Gamorrah. I think that description is apt but there simply isn’t enough worth saving here to justify the kinds of social welfare being proposed by the “rat” wannabes this week as they parade through the same 9th Ward real estate and blame everything on GWB despite years of mismanagement by state and local “rat” officials who allowed the levees and pumps to deteriorate.
It is time to pull the plug on this vile and valueless city.
highhopes on August 27, 2007 at 1:43 PM
Wow. The liberal brain must be miswired in some way.
infidel4life on August 27, 2007 at 1:43 PM
How much is Hillary paying his speechwriters?
Whatever it is, it’s worth it.
MamaAJ on August 27, 2007 at 1:44 PM
BTW the answer to my Edwards info is the following
John Edwards campaign has had a brain storm. Since blacks seem to be supporting Obama and women are for Hillary that must mean white men are for Edwards !
So he is going to start running as a “Good ole boy from the South” and appeal to white rural voters.
I cant stop shaking my head on that one.
William Amos on August 27, 2007 at 1:48 PM
It seems Obama has the same morphing of his speech patterns as Hillary. He gets a real good ‘ole southern black sound which is almost as bad as Clinton a few months ago.
Why do Dems become the political Buckwild when they speak to blacks?
Kendrick on August 27, 2007 at 1:48 PM
Obama proves that it IS possible to stick one’s foot in one’s mouth while one’s head is up one’s azz.
PatrickS on August 27, 2007 at 1:49 PM
This is my biggest pet peave and we will see more of it in the months to come. Pulpits being pimped out to policitians.
The pulpit is for the teaching of the word of God. Period!
debi118 on August 27, 2007 at 1:51 PM
Since that’s simply not going to happen because of our value as a port, the oil industry, and other things, why not instead work to make it better?
Laura on August 27, 2007 at 1:53 PM
I’m sorry. I lost my home too, but not physically.
JiangxiDad on August 27, 2007 at 1:56 PM
I agree just we dont have to rebuild it the way it was. If your going to fix new orleans then learn from the mistakes of the past and dont repeat them.
Rebuild New Orleans but in a different spot.
William Amos on August 27, 2007 at 1:59 PM
See, the cool thing about ports is that they’re at sea level, not below it.
James on August 27, 2007 at 2:08 PM
False God
Kini on August 27, 2007 at 2:14 PM
I’ve been part of that bandwagon for two long years. No more! Two years is enough time to live in a state of denial.
I’ve seen Nagin and Blanco do unbelievably stupid things for which the Corps of Engineers, Bush, or FEMA is always at fault- never themselves.
I’ve seen both Nagin and Jefferson get reelected to office by large margins. There is no real public outcry to all the killings (I drive by the site of three seperate killings just to get out of my neighborhood).
I see a judicial system that has collapsed, an inept police force who must rely on the LA National Guard and still we are the highest city for murder in the nation. Even if caught, murderers don’t get prosecuted. Doctors who stayed at Memorial Hospital, yes, but killers walk free.
I see trailers all over the place- two years after the storm. Abandoned neighborhoods. Even the Quarter and CBD still has office towers with boarded up windows and hotel signs that have been blown out. Roads are not being maintained. The Oakwood Mall remains closed because of the job the looters/arsonists did on it. Most importantly, the firestation on Gen DeGaulle at Shirley still has a blue tarp on it two years after the storm.
Why should I have any faith in a corrupt city that can’t even fix its own public buildings in two freakin’ years? Why should the rest of America do anything more to help when so much of that help has been squandered and politician after politician is indicted for taking kickbacks?
So many of our neighbors are ungrateful for the help they’ve gotten and are still demanding more and more without putting forth one iota of effort to help themselves! How much more time are you willing to give this hell hole? As long as it takes? For what end status? Things just like they were before the storm? A city filled with ignorance and poverty, once again?
I’m sorry, I have lots of good memories here and have always defended NOLA in the past from those that dismissed the good and focused in on the bad but these past two years have severed any desire to defend the city further. The reelection of Nagin and Jefferson, the lack of decent healthcare, the reemergence of really bad schools…… there simply isn’t any reason why America should help New Orleans further than the billions already spent. Our city is a bad investment.
highhopes on August 27, 2007 at 2:16 PM
Didn’t Pat Robertson get into trouble for basically preaching the other half of that parable?
pedestrian on August 27, 2007 at 2:17 PM
Chocolate Town has a hard time digging and building when their hands are always out. Meanwhile the rest of the huge area hit by nature’s storm do what Americans do best and build a better place.
The Dems will milk this (regular and chocolate) for every inch they can. This is their arena. Getting votes by lying about how they will make things better to idiots that know they are lying, but vote for them anyway since they think the Dems are the lesser of two evils.
The Big Sleazy should become a land fill.
Hening on August 27, 2007 at 2:27 PM
I know a story here is going to make me laugh when I start looking for “The Onion” label.
No Onion here-just Obama relating the parable Jesus told of the two men who built homes, one wisely on the Rock, one foolishly in the sand…to the bottom land sand dwellers of New Orleans. Conan Obrien should hire Obama’s writers!
I know, I know-he gets a pass because he’s a Democrat speaking to Democrats, in a town where all of their troubles were blamed on George bush…but there had to be at least a few in the crowd saying, “Did he just insult me for building on sand?”
Yes, he did, NOLA citizens. How do you like you Moses NOW?!
(said in a Edward G. Robinson growl)
Doug on August 27, 2007 at 2:32 PM
Oh man. that is getting too close for comfort.
JiangxiDad on August 27, 2007 at 2:40 PM
Only will a Black politicians go to a prodominently Black city, call the people a bunch of idiots for building a city on unstable ground, and then be praised by those same people as their saviour.
Zaire67 on August 27, 2007 at 2:45 PM
So, WHERE IS THE IRS warning this “church” about sticking their foot into politics???
NRA4Freedom on August 27, 2007 at 2:45 PM
So, WHERE IS THE IRS warning this “church” about sticking their foot into politics???
NRA4Freedom on August 27, 2007 at 2:46 PM
So, WHERE IS THE IRS warning this “church” about sticking their foot into politics???
The REAL God fearing people of the United States want to know…
NRA4Freedom on August 27, 2007 at 2:47 PM
And to think his people were on the seen rendering assistance before the Feds. An act he was never ackowledged.
Zaire67 on August 27, 2007 at 2:47 PM
Well, yeah, that could be what he meant.
I’ve been reading the comments of “highhopes” with a great deal of interest. My mother grew up in New Orleans in the 30’s and 40’s. She loved New Orleans, and was almost physically ill when she saw the devastation from Katrina. However, in one conversation, we talked about how Katrina COULD BE a blessing in disguise – a golden opportunity for all the blight to get fixed and for N.O. to be rebuilt as a better place than it was just before the storm. Sadly, it’s not to be. I haven’t been to N.O. since the May before Katrina – and I have no plans to visit ever again.
reine.de.tout on August 27, 2007 at 2:48 PM
There is plenty of white trash in the US willing to clap like seals at any inane thing said, provided they also get tossed a fish.
PatrickS on August 27, 2007 at 2:51 PM
highhopes on August 27, 2007 at 2:16 PM
If that’s how you feel, why are you here? Seriously, get out. You’ll be happier, and life is just to short to be as miserable as you sound.
I’m from New Orleans but I’ve lived all up and down the east coast. I’ve never lived in a city that was free from corruption, and I’ve lived in some that I found equally as bad as New Orleans. They just made more of an effort to hide it. All the problems you list exist elsewhere. I’ve seen them personally. As for me, I’m choosing to stay and work to improve things. That’s my choice. You can make yours – that’s the beauty of living in a free country.
Laura on August 27, 2007 at 3:11 PM
As long as NO is a CHOCOLATE CITY with the moron mayor…I will never visit…not even a free tic to the Superbowl will get me there…PERIOD…It’s a racist city with a racist mayor…
areseaoh on August 27, 2007 at 3:38 PM
As a matter of fact, I just returned from a 4-day haitus in and near New Orleans after meeting up with my married daughter and sister who live in Louisiana and Texas, respectively. I stayed in the French Quarter and had a great time. The food and fun was simply fantastic.
What struck me though, was how the French Quarter and the SuperDome were immaculate, and the surrounding burbs were still a mess. What kind of priorities has Mayor Ray Nagin set for his Chocolate City? I can understand wanting to get the tourist hub up and running to bring in the tourist dollars, but it looked like they spent billions on the French Quarter and the SuperDome, and the surrounding area’s where people actually HABITATE got about a buck fifty.
The Obamassiah plays the blame game just as well as anyone, but he reserves the pompous ardor for those who live in squalor still, and they want to blame the Bush cabal for every damn thing, when it’s really the inept local government who did nothing and still does nothing.
He played that audience for chumps, and they drank that kool-aid with a straw.
SilverStar830 on August 27, 2007 at 3:44 PM
As a Colts fan, I can’t share Jim’s enthusiasm for the Saints either.
We are the ones who have the Ring.
:-)
ColtsFan on August 27, 2007 at 3:46 PM
I’m sick of New Orleans,
I’m sick of the b****ing from the refugees,
I still wonder how come the streets were littered with cars that were in the background of every newscast, but no one used them to leave,
I’m sick of the people here in Houston complaining they no one has rebuilt their houses while people in Mississippi and Alabama have been and are rebuiling theirs,
I’m sick of those who believe the N.O. was filled with only blacks when the storm hit,
I’m sick of the media that reports on the affect on the black community while 33% of the population was not black,
I’m sick of politicians using a hurricane from two years agos as a reason to blame America for the laziness of a few, and I’m not talking about the politicians
I’m sick of a city and state that blame the feds for the disaster when neither did anything to help their own residents – ALL OF THEM,
I’m sick of the continuing stream of reports of how bad it was there before the storm while no one questions the city or state government as to how it got so bad in the first place,
I’m sick of the bleeding hearts who say New Orleans needs our help when the national guard had been called in to curb crime and whild that city is the murder capitol of the nation.
Can you feel the rage I have for those idiots and panderers?
madmonkphotog on August 27, 2007 at 4:00 PM
Not true Laura. Yes, NOLA isn’t the only place with crappy schools, crime, corruption, and idiot mayors. I lived and worked in DC during the Marion Berry years (post jail term) so I know what I’m talking about. The difference is the sheer magnitude of the problems and each and every one is systemic to decades of bad leadership and not due to a single catastrophic event. Katrina offered a chance to do something about the worst of these problems and too many public officials in New Orleans are intent on restoring the status quo instead of making things better. Just look at the way Nagin’s crowd is focused on getting the “chocolate” demographic to wield the same political clout it had before despite the fact that it has been two years since that demographic has even lived in the city!
The difference between DC then and NOLA now is the ability/commitment to change things for the better. Too many here are not looking to change what was bad before.
There is a glimmer of hope with the charter schools but even that is being tamped down by the status quo administration that loses power. The key to real recovery is development of an educated workforce and relatively all the billions that have been spent on NOLA have gone to anything but to re-establish the centers of ignorance that were and are the NO Public School System. It hasn’t helped their credibility to find out that board members were taking kickbacks either.
The NOPD is incapable of doing its job and there is no sense that this condition will change. What other American city has troops patrolling over half the jurisdiction. Let’s have the National Guard pull out and see just how capable the NOPD is to maintain law and order! I can understand this need in the immediate aftermath of the storm but not now. I hope you saw the story in today’s Times-Picayune where a 911 call about an attempted rape went unanswered even though the caller followed the criminal for blocks while getting somebody from the NOPD to respond.
Don’t get me started about “justice” under Eddie Jordan’s watch. Regardless of his legal problems arising from being a racist, he simply hasn’t done his job and killers are walking as a result.
I’m glad that there are still delusional people like you out there who think that things can be improved. I know several couples who had your attitude until the crime and all the rationalizations they were using finally crumbled in the light of the reality of the situation. The city needs people like you if it is to have any chance of being more than a tourist destination but I fear that your pioneering will just end up delaying some inevitable bitter truths. A city that can overwhelmingly reeelect Nagin and Jefferson is not a city serious about making kinds of improvements that are necessary to create a better New Orleans. At least the better New Orleans I envision.
As for your “love it or leave it” comment, life sometimes isn’t that simple. I will be leaving as soon as I can but personal responsibilities with the wife’s family make that more complicated than simply loading up a moving van to greener pastures. My choice is to support my spouse as she does what she needs to do for her parents- particularly post storm. Please don’t think that we all need to have your pollyanna attitude about New Orleans or face being painted as “miserable.”
highhopes on August 27, 2007 at 4:08 PM
I also read your defense of NO as being not necessarily more corrupt than some of the east coast cities you lived in, Laura, and I’ll take your word on that. I don’t live there.
But I have long claimed that NO (by reputation) was the only thing keeping Chicago from being laughed at around the world for our pathetic Democrat corruption.
The church I belong to here is sending something like $230,000 to a church in the lower 9th ward to rebuild. They currently have something like 25 members of their pre-Katrina congregation living within an hour, and the rest strewn about the country. I am pretty comfortable in my opinion that the $230,000 is being flushed down the toilet, and God probably has a rule against that. Oh, well.
PS Jim in NO/Houston, I am a Chicago Bears fan (hush, Colts fan), and we slapped your boys pretty hard up here in January, if I recall. Better luck next time.
Jaibones on August 27, 2007 at 4:13 PM
Hussein is genuinely stoopid…
JWS on August 27, 2007 at 4:32 PM
No offense, Laura, really…but you’re free to stay and try to improve, and highhopes is equally free to stay and complain.
It’s that free country thing you mentioned, yeah?
tickleddragon on August 27, 2007 at 5:05 PM
I’m sorry, Obama is a Democrat… so it doesn’t count. But let Bush or some other Republican try that and you would have the IRS flying in with a SWAT team.
Maxx on August 27, 2007 at 6:12 PM
Oh, good grief, tickledragon and highhopes…! I never said he wasn’t free to complain – I just suggested that if he’s that unhappy, then it’s probably time to bail out. And he said he intends to as soon as it’s convenient. Hooray for everyone involved; we’ll all get what we want eventually.
However, I am NOT delusional, and things ARE getting better. No more levee boards is a step in the right direction, as are charter schools. The recent uprising against Jordan was also a good sign. There are a lot of signs that things are getting better, from the fact that Landreiu was rejected to the guy I saw on Common St. who picked up some litter that wasn’t his and threw it in the trash. (And no, he wasn’t an SDT employee.) Things may yet turn around – there is a lot of hope.
Face it – you people are the same way about New Orleans that Democrats are about Iraq. No matter what I say or show you, New Orleans will always be the suckiest city EVAR.
Laura on August 27, 2007 at 6:57 PM
Excellent post Bryan. Gnarlans was built on shifting sands and should be given back to the gators and the ghosts.
Christine on August 27, 2007 at 7:58 PM
In the interest of fairness, let’s discuss the other side of your signs of hope.
Levee Boards: Too early to tell if the political compromise of two instead of multiple boards will do any good. Already there is a huge fight over the assets of the Orleans Levee Board.
Charter Schools: Again, too early to tell anything about results. I’d agree that there is some real promise here but I have little optimism that the initial enthusiasm will be maintained- especially in light of the school board scandal.
Landrieu was “rejected” in favor of Ray Nagin. You really think that was a promising sign? I have more hope that his idiot sister will go down in flames in 2008 because she has done a terrible job post-storm in doing anything but whine about the lack of resources (plus she’s part of the immediate defeat crowd when it comes to Iraq).
For every guy on Common Street you can dig up I can point you to a trashed house and/or some other site that shows most people don’t care about these things. SDT has done an excellent job with the Quarter but we still don’t know how much the city is paying the Thomas family for the service. Just something to consider in light of the Morial corruption and the Oliver Thomas kickbacks.
Finally, I don’t think anybody but you has used the term suckiest city ever. New Orleans still has lots to offer in the same way that manure produces the prettiest flowers. If you overlook the cars STILL parked in the airport garage, the trip in from MSY to downtown looks pretty much like it always has, there are signs of construction and improvement. It is only when you dig deeper do you see what is happening in areas away from the media/tourist glare. I challenge you to leave your Warehouse District view and drive around the real neighborhoods.
highhopes on August 27, 2007 at 8:04 PM
SDT is owned by Sidney Torres IV. No relation at all to Oliver Thomas. The amounts of the contracts have been publicly available since January. There is no corruption or even a hint of it in this situation.
Yes, I do think it’s an excellent sign that one of the Cajun Kennedys was rejected. I’m rooting for his sister to get the boot too.
The schools had nowhere to go but up. The levee boards had nowhere to go but up, and the spotlight is now on the patronage system – the last time someone was appointed, people raised h3ll until a qualified person got the appointment. There’s a lot less looking the other way than there used to be. I’m sorry that you have so little optimism in the face of these improvements.
And no, no one but me has used the term “suckiest city evar.” I was being sarcastic. It has been only two years since 80% of the city was catastrophically flooded. In that time some major political upheaval has taken place, and is continuing.
And I haven’t been in the Warehouse District since well before Katrina. We lost our church and many friends and family members lost their homes. A good deal of the city isn’t ever going to come back and that’s fine – big chunks of Gentilly should not have been developed in the first place, for example. North of the lake is booming, as it should be. I know what the challenges in rebuilding are and yes, it can be slow and depressing to deal with. But at this point I’d rather dig and and work to improve things because griping about it accomplishes nothing.
Laura on August 27, 2007 at 8:25 PM
My bad. I was thinking Torres while Thomas was still running around on the brain. As to the “no hint of corruption” thing. They would have said that about Oliver Thomas three weeks ago too and they generally (even in New Orleans) put the kickback rates in public documents. Those parking contracts and math software looked aboveboard too. It could all be honest and good governance but, if so, C. Ray Nagin will be the first mayor in some time not to have been caught stealing…… just stating the facts for the record.
That being said, I don’t see this “major poltical upheaval.” Ray Nagin got reelected despite the fact he let those busses go under water as people were trying to get out of the Superdome and Convention Center. William Jefferson got reelected despite 90K of FBI marked bills in Boca Burger boxes in his freezer and some really questionable misuse of the National Guard in the aftermath of the flooding. Blanco would probably be running for reelection too if “her” Road Home Program weren’t such a complete disaster. Even the candidates that are running for governor are the same old faces saying the same old things (I include Jindal in this condemnation).
highhopes on August 27, 2007 at 9:08 PM
Too many people ran for mayor (I supported Peggy Wilson, FWIW) and split the vote so much that only Nagin and Landrieu made the runoff. Of the two, boneheaded Nagin was in my opinion the better choice, rather than let another Landrieu into the Mayor’s office. Maybe you weren’t here in the 70s when his daddy was mayor. I was. We don’t need to relive it. His sister got her Senatorial seat thanks to the bio-challenged vote; we didn’t need Mitch in office all set to deliver NOLA to her again. There’s a much better chance of getting rid of her now.
Jefferson got re-elected in large part to Harry Lee. Jefferson got far fewer votes in Orleans, but the whites in Jeff. Parish more than made up to it – because Lee was still ticked off about what Carter said on Spike Lee’s propaganda piece. So yes, in both cases some die-hard “vote my skin color” folks got their way, but in both cases it was not the determining factor. Study the election results by polling location and demographics; you’ll be surprised.
To write off the results of these elections as “politics as usual” is really not accurate. What’s wrong with Jindal?
Laura on August 27, 2007 at 9:22 PM
What?
There are still Cowboys fans?
Wingo on August 27, 2007 at 9:55 PM
Problem in New Orleans is not flooding—but thieves in political power. The moment the current crop of crooks are eliminated, New Orleans will be on its way to recovery. Until then…
saved on August 28, 2007 at 7:20 AM
Bryan, you took a dip on my respect meter when you admitted being a Band-Wagoneer, but I’ll try to get over it.
Obama was trying to encourage the “Eternal Victims of Katrina(TM)” by suggesting that since they (some of them) are still standing, they must be the house built on a solid foundation. He isn’t making a comparison that the government is built on sand, while the “people” are built on a rock. He is just grabbing at a well-known parable and attempting to make it fit the circumstance in a way that will make him look both presidential and compassionate. Of course he fails both logically and spiritually, as Bryan so clearly conveys.
No “house” was ever built on a less sure foundation than the city of New Orleans. That statement applies both physically and metaphorically. The politics of influence and greed are the only constants which drive any government activity at all in southern LA, while the victim mentality has been solidly sold and re-sold to the citizens.
When the Missouri or Ohio rivers flood, whole Midwest towns are ravaged. They are often completely restored within a year, because the people there know that if they want it done, they had best do it themselves. N’awlins is still far from repaired two years later, because nobody wants to spend their own money fixing things that hopefully somebody else can be shamed or guilted into spending. That holds true at both the personal and governmental levels, and is as disgraceful in each case. But when patronage is the order of the day, expecting better is mostly wishful thinking.
Freelancer on August 28, 2007 at 7:22 AM
I like Bobby Jindal. He seems like a really smart guy with a good looking family and is something new and different. Where I have problems with Jindal is the fact that he never has really come out and said where he stands on the issues (beyond the normal vague platitudes and promises). Granted, he would be insane to do otherwise so long as he polls so much better than the other clowns in the race but caveat emptor.
BTW, the LA “rats” really blew it by going out after Jindal’s faith. The genius that launched that attack should be fired.
highhopes on August 28, 2007 at 8:32 AM
Sorry, but no, flooding will still be a problem as it has been for well over two centuries. Good government will not make the sinking New Orleans rise one bit. It will however result in better risk management, contingency planning, and good public policy.
When it comes to recovery, the challenge isn’t rebuilding stuff it is having the vision and courage to make the hard decisions. The courage to tell some people that they can’t rebuild where their homes were before. The courage to stand up to the entrenched status quo and tell them that the old norm is unacceptable. The vision to figure out how to capitalize on New Orleans strengths to make a better community. Sadly, Ray Nagin and the current crop of losers are just working to get the city back to where it was before the storm- complete with a welfare culture, failing schools, rampant crime, and all the other ills that there was a narrow shot at fixing.
highhopes on August 28, 2007 at 8:40 AM
I think Jindal’s done a good job in the House. My husband knows and likes John Georges, and says he seems like a stand-up guy. His issues statements are good, so I support Jindal but I won’t be disappointed if Georges gets it.
Freelancer, you’re comparing apples and oranges. Every single building in St. Bernard parish flooded, many to the rooftops. 80% of New Orleans flooded, and we’re not just talking about a couple of feet where you can cut out the sheet rock and put up wainscoting and go on. Somewhere between $3 – $5 BILLION in Jefferson Parish alone, thanks to this bozo, but knowing who to blame doesn’t lessen the damage. This is not comparable to towns where a few thousand people got five feet or less of water.
And people ARE spending their own money to get their homes fixed, because insurance companies don’t just cut you a check for the full amount. You repair, get reimbursed, repair more, get reimbursed again. A lot of people I know have used their entire savings and taken loans in order to get their homes back in shape, and insurance companies are paying about .60 cents on the dollar by using various chicanery to weasel out of their obligations.
Laura on August 28, 2007 at 2:28 PM
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