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August 19, 2006
Mayor Nagin?
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on Friday blamed racism and government bureaucracy for hamstringing his city's ability to weather Hurricane Katrina and recover from the disaster that struck the Gulf Coast nearly a year ago.In remarks to the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists, Nagin said the hurricane "exposed the soft underbelly of America as it relates to dealing with race and class."
"And I, to this day, believe that if that would have happened in Orange County, California, if that would have happened in South Beach, Miami, it would have been a different response," the mayor said.
FUCK you.
You're a miserable excuse of a elected "leader".
And I would hope to God things would be handled differently anywhere BUT New Orleans, because NO ONE deserves the magnitude of the negligence, ignorance and ineptitude evidenced on your watch. In all honesty ~ in spite of all your pandering ~ there are simply parts of New Orleans that should NEVER be rebuilt and it ain't black and it ain't white and it ain't green, orange or purple. It's called 'underwater'. And what a fine 'thank you' to the tens of thousands of folks who poured into the Gulfcoast in the aftermath of Katrina. Or, if they couldn't be there personally, gave so generously? Or how about communities LIKE MINE, you arrogant ass? We already looked like this when Katrina went by (thanks to Cat 4 Ivan in Sep '04 AND then a CAT 3 named Dennis made landfall right on top of an already devastated Pensacola Beach in Jul '05), but we opened our arms to anyone from your city who could make it here. Our FEMA blue roofs could always shelter more folks. But you've probably never heard of us, big city guy that you are and all. And, big city guy that you are and all, you most likely have no concept what your pitiful, disgusting, ignorant, race baiting mouth is doing to the attitudes of the MILLIONS of Americans who gave in a heartfelt effort to do everything to SAVE YOUR CITY. They see the BILLIONS of dollars, federal and charitable, being poured into the gaping black hole that has ALWAYS been New Orleans' nightmarish fiscal legacy. Of course the Federal Government's a mess to deal with, but New Orleans and Louisiana have had an unimaginable carte blanche. Americans have seen Congress and the administration handing out hundreds of millions of dollars like candy, with no accounting for anything. They see the resources committed solely to YOUR city (Like Missippi, Alabama and Texas have no needs equaling yours?), YOUR evacuees still in Houston, Atlanta, PENSACOLA, et al, stretching and straining local resources and yet you're calling the rest of us racist? And no where in all your rhetoric has there ever been an admission of your own culpability, your own INCOMPETENCE ~ all the while that damning finger of yours is waggling in every face but your own. You are going to curdle and squander every last bit of good will left. Race plays no part in that, I assure you.
As for Miami getting it better, let me leave your sorry ass with something written about Miami's response to Andrew, from Hugo survivors.
In McClellanville, it never occurred to anyone that the federal government would come rebuild their town. Instead, the citizens got to work a few hours after the hurricane. They dug their own homes out of the mud and the slime that Hugo left behind; then they went next door and dug their neighbors out. They went on that way for months. There was help from outside, of course, especially from private charities, and nobody in McClellanville felt shy about taking it. But no one counted on it, either.Three years later, most of the scars left by Hugo have disappeared. Folks hardly even talk about it anymore–or didn't, until Andrew. Since then they've been watching the news stories out of Miami with interest. Once in a while, a reporter calls to ask if the people of McClellanville have any advice for the people of Miami. They always choose their words painstakingly.
"I don't want to insult your community," Thames says carefully. "But I think that, in certain respects, you're going about things wrong down there. This thing is an act of God–there isn't anyone responsible for it. It's done, and you just have to put it behind you and get on with it. There's always a lot of political hype after a disaster. But when it comes down to clearing away the rubble and debris and getting started on the rebuilding, you'd better do it yourself."
We are
STFU already and act like a leader...for once.
Brendon Loy in and on Spike Lee's "When the Levees Broke". I haven't watched any of it.
Posted by tree hugging sister at August 19, 2006 05:59 AM
Comments
Wow, and you gave ME a hard time for speaking the truth about that city!
Posted by: Mike Rentner at August 19, 2006 09:56 AM
Thames for Mayor!
BTW - wouldn't it be something if one of those black journalists Nagin spoke to wrote something like you did, Ms. Sister? Sort of a "Please stop condescending to me, you bald pantload" thing. The thought warms my heart, it does.
Posted by: Nightfly at August 19, 2006 09:59 AM
That was Rob, Mike. {8^P He's our resident New Orleans denizen ~ lives near and works in. I've ALWAYS said it was a den of thieves, but I loved it dearly. And have hammered Nagin/Blanco since this started (witness our neverending posts Aug-Nov.) Rob and I have had our back and forths on it too, so don't feel like the Lone Texass Ranger.
Oh, to dream, Diptera.
Posted by: tree hugging sister at August 19, 2006 10:06 AM
Dennis Farina (a.k.a. Cousin Avi) said it best in the movie "Snatch"…
Shut up and sit down, you big, bald fuck!
Posted by: Gunslinger at August 19, 2006 10:48 AM
Yeah, I read about Nagin's bitching, and the first thought I had was, "STFU!"
Good rant. Too bad it isn't required reading in New Orleans.
Posted by: The_Real_JeffS at August 19, 2006 10:49 AM
New Orleans is a great and diverse city. In my opinion, it should be saved. Criticism is fine and just when the mayor, public official, or citizen makes ridiculous remarks. No objection from here when that happens. My objections are voiced (Only in safe places like this, though. Thanks, Coalition) when people latch on to those negative things and run with them like they're the only things that come out of New Orleans or that they're representative of that great city. It is just not true. New Orleans is not a cesspool, Mike. I'll put my New Orleans experiences up against yours any day. Ask me again if I've ever been there. That some areas should not be rebuilt is not an issue. Regardless of the rhetoric you may hear, they won't be, ths. Most of those people are going to take the buyout and move on. It will be the city that everyone inside and outside of New Orleans wants it to be. Economics will rule the reconstruction, not politics. The reconstruction is underway at full pace now and it is the New Orleans community and its surrounding communities that are doing it, just like McClellanville did.
I'm really not here to provide balance or counterpoint and I know I swim against the tide in most places. Put New Orleans in the search box here and see how many entries could be regarded as positive, negative, or neutral to the city and you'll see what I'm talking about.
One last point: It amazes me that people believe almost nothing negative from the MSM regarding anything else but they believe everything negative about New Orleans. People not affected by Katrina have a very limited grasp of it. You can't grasp it from the media, from the blogs, or from short visits. You have to live it to understand it. It has been a soul-crushing experience and if a little inanity comes from those areas, find it in your humanity to forgive it.
Posted by: Rob at August 19, 2006 11:44 AM
There is no part of the cess pool that should be built. "Rebuilding" would assume that there was something worth keeping that was once there.
It's not simply the trashy buildings, the trash strewn streets, and the poorly built roads and bridges that make it a cess pool. Those problems are facts and severe enough, but the real problem is the people there and their acceptance of corruption and crime.
Topless women and drinking and carousing are good things. The crooked cops and byzantine city management are not. Nagin proves the rule that the people of that city deserve every bit of ruin they have.
Posted by: Mike Rentner at August 19, 2006 02:58 PM
I know greatness when I see it, Mike. I stand in awe.
Posted by: Rob at August 19, 2006 04:01 PM
Rob you are sarcastic, but if you live in that place and haven't fought tooth and nail to change it for the better, then you've gotten better than you deserve in the form of our tax money. I would suggest you leave that place if you have self-respect.
The reason there aren't a lot of positive things said about that place is because there isn't a lot positive to say about it.
Posted by: Mike Rentner at August 19, 2006 05:24 PM
I happen to like New Orleans warts and all. Cess Pool? Yes, in parts. Corrupt officials? On par with Mogadishu and Olongapo in other words world class crooks. I have never had finer food met more fun and nice people or had a better time than in New Orleans and I'll take her third world charm anytime. Nagin is an idiot and the people that voted for him deserve him but they all didn't and don't. There was a time that NY City deserved to be razed not to mention what was across the river. Things can change.
Posted by: major dad at August 19, 2006 05:30 PM
Well, let's hope that fine people like Rob will make it better. I suspect that subsidizing their corruption is unlikely to help them much.
I am so glad to be out of that place. I have renewed my vow from 1986 to never set foot there again. I kept it for 20 years and went this time only because the USMC wanted me there, but that was the longest six months of my life.
Posted by: Mike Rentner at August 19, 2006 06:10 PM
Mike, Mike as Bill Murray would say "lighten up Francis". Not to defend Rob but to tell him to leave and talk about self-respect, come on! I believe he grew up there or at least calls it home and home is home. Those that have no self- respect live in those projects on the government dole not those who make a living working in and around the city. You're making this a black and white issue vice shades of gray. Personally if you said something like that to me, well that might be fighting words. Play nice or THS will put you in time out.
Posted by: major dad at August 19, 2006 06:24 PM
I apologize if it appeared I was saying that Rob had no self-respect. I was only suggesting that if he had self-respect he should consider moving out. I didn't say that if he didn't leave then he has no self-respect. There are, I suppose, legitimate reasons to stay, too.
It's the people who are living and working in that city that are the ones responsible for its problems. The people that aren't working, by the nature of the fact that they have no money and little power aren't the ones responsible. They are the symptom, not the cause. They aren't the ones who let the police beat people, rob them, break necks (like my friend's neck back in 1986), desert when there's a hurricane, and steal cars on their way out. The poor people aren't the ones that committed misfeasance by letting the levees fall into disrepair.
Having lived there for most of this year, I can say that there are a few nice people living there. But even they admit that the government is corrupt and unworkable.
Just as we should hold Iraqis responsible for the government they allow to rule them, we should hold the people of New Orleans responsible for the government they elect. The principle is the same, and there is less excuse for an American city than there is for Iraq to have such corrupt and brutal police.
Posted by: Mike Rentner at August 19, 2006 07:31 PM