Those of you of Gen X age or older will remember that in 1985, Philadelphia Mayor W. Wilson Goode bombed a poor neighborhood in order to flush out a radical African-American group called “MOVE.” I predict that as the true details of the story of the Katrina failures are disclosed, Mayor Ray Nagin will be seen as the “Wilson Goode” of New Orleans.
It is quite telling that as soon as the Feds were physically able (the key phrase!) to move into the city today, they did so with efficiency and impressive outcomes. Thirty-thousand people were evacuated from New Orleans just today. None were evacuated until the Federal government got involved. But instead, the Mayor whined and screeched for two days. Rudy Giuliani may have been frustrated in the post-9/11 days, but he also must have aired those views directly to those involved, not in front of the TV cameras as a publicity stunt.
I have watched the televised interviews of a range of Federal officials closely over the past 36 hours. You can tell in their eyes that they want to throw Mayor Nagin under the proverbial bus…. but that’s not the way to get things done. Mayor Nagin obviously disagrees.
At Observations of a Gay Conservative, QC notes that New Orleans is a prime example of what happens when an entire class of people become dependent on government for everything – even making life or death decisions. The more ‘entitlements’ people are given the more they want. The more people don’t have to provide for themselves, the less capable they become of doing so.
Mayor Ray Nagin, and the historically corrupt government of New Orleans, were the chief enablers of this mentality — yet let the citizens down when the most needed it. How ironic.
Rich Lowry at The Corner received this email from a reader following his critique of the Federal response yesterday.
It is not [a national disgrace]. It is – or ought to be – a disgrace and an embarrassment to Louisiana and New Orleans. I see the way Florida prepares for and responds to hurricanes; I see the way Mississippi and Alabama are dealing with this one; I’ve seen the Carolinas and Virginia deal with hurricanes, too. I’ve been in Miami and Norfolk when hurricanes hit, though not as severe as this one, and seen folks come together to support each other in the crisis. I see the outpouring of support from surrounding states and from the federal government heading to Louisiana as fast as it can. And then I see citizens of New Orleans shooting, raping, burning, and plundering while their government officials stand by helplessly….
The JunkYardBlog rightly points out that the man responsible for New Orleans’ emergency operations also has misplaced and projected anger at the Feds. Warning– this posting will make you very angry.
How can the Democrat machine use buses to get people in New Orleans to the polls on Election Day, but they can’t use the same buses to move them out of the city when the corrupt Mayor orders a “mandatory evacuation.”
And now, we find out that Mayor Nagin, in his city’s greatest time of need, put politics above all else and paid off his political cronies with one last disgusting move. Shepard Smith on The FOX Report just a few minutes ago reported the following:
A stunning development today to many across the region, who learned that the mayor of this city, Ray Nagin ordered people from the Hyatt (foreign tourists and his staff) were put at the front of the line of those taken from the Superdome. He is being widely criticized for putting outsiders ahead of his own people who were suffering in that building. There will be political fallout.
It is quite clear that Mayor Nagin’s television theatrics against President Bush were designed as a distraction. So no one would realize that he fiddled while his city drowned.
CRITICAL UPDATE: Powerline has discovered that it was President Bush, not Nagin and not Gov. Blanco, that first pleaded that New Orleans be evacuated. Proof is right here.
-Bruce (GayPatriot) – gaypatriot2004@aol.com