Wrote here on Tuesday about what I thought was a delirious ruling by the U.S. District Court regarding the legality of the Department of Homeland Security warning employers of prosecution for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. Then I read an AP story this morning about New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin considering a run for Governor of Louisiana.
Yes, that Ray Nagin. The one that said in a speech, shortly after Hurricane Katrina: "we as black people, it's time, it's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild a New Orleans, the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans. And I don't care what people are saying Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day" (Courtesy: Wikipedia.com).
This is not delirium, folks. This is downright psychosis.
The subtitle of the AP story says it all: "NEW ORLEANS — Mayor Ray Nagin could be days away from announcing he will run for governor of Louisiana — a move many in this stricken city regard as preposterous." Emphasis on the word "preposterous." Rest assured, the absurdity of this idea is not restricted to the stricken city of New Orleans. Nagin would presumably run on a platform promoting his successes in New Orleans, which is curious, considering he displayed a level of ineptitude during and proceeding the crisis that is scarcely imaginable. Despite days of warning, the evacuation of the city was slow, inefficient, and disorganized. Pictures of fleets of empty buses submerged under water should be damning enough to sink Nagin's political future. Let us not forgot his excuse for this mistake: "there was no one to drive them."
The cleanup and rebuilding efforts have been similarly lacking. Instead of taking responsibility, Nagin has repeatedly blamed the federal government for lack of sufficient support. While there is no doubt that FEMA and others are not blameless, Nagin's culpability in the whole mess is starkly apparent. As secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff has noted, the responsibility and authority for an evacuation lies with state and local officials. Federal aid is meant to augment this effort, not be relied upon as the sole resource. Nagin is quick to point out that 60 percent of the city's original population have returned, as if this is some sort of accomplishment, proving the "success" of the rebuilding effort. It should be noted that this 60 percent includes a lot of working class blacks who either never left or returned to the city as soon as it was reopened for lack of another place to go. One only needs to look at Nagin's reelection in 2006 as proof of this, as this is the only demographic still supporting Nagin after Katrina (he received 80% support from black voters). New Orleans has been known as a pit of corruption in Nagin's tenure, even before Katrina struck. He has done nothing to rectify or improve this perception. The crime rate in the city, already a problem pre-Katrina, has become so egregious that a protest was held at City Hall in January of this year. Protesters brought criticism of Nagin's leadership as a main reason for the high crime rate and overall lack of progress in the city's reconstruction. According to the AP story, Nagin's disapproval rating stands at 65 percent.
Lastly, we should consider the fate of current Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco. Blanco, like Nagin, was harshly criticized for an ineffective response to Katrina. Blanco has decided not to seek reelection amid these criticisms. Yet Nagin, despite the same, if not, harsher criticism, is going to run for governor? I assure you the capabilities of the human brain are not sufficient to make sense of this.
Just to punctuate my diagnosis of "abject delirium" on Mr. Nagin and his intended Gubernatorial run, I will quote him from the end of the AP article. Nagin says of his legacy: "My legacy will probably be one of honesty and integrity and bringing that to government in a meaningful way. I'm sure my legacy will also be this guy said things pretty straight and wasn't your typical politician."
Sigh.
**Read the AP story here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,295746,00.html
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3 comments:
Happy to read this post. As a black democrat, I can say that Mr. Nagin gives us a bad name. I lol when I read about Nagin's candidacy. We are in substantial agreement here, Mr. Jones, and I will be subscribing to your blog.
P.S. also enjoyed your analogy to cocaine in your previous post.
He can't be serious! This is a joke right? The guy is absolutely delusional.
New Orleans is the poster child for corruption, irregardless of the race of the politician.
They need a carpetbagger politician to come in there and straighten that place out.
As for the state, I hear Bobby Jindal is running for governor. He has a much better chance than "chocolate city" Nagin.
i want some of YOUR chocolate city.
Reggis Bush is white.
-Your Roomie.
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