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A Swamp of Corruption
The Opinion Journal ^ | Sept. 26, 2005 | John Fund

Posted on 09/26/2005 6:08:10 AM PDT by libstripper

In Katrina's wake, Louisiana's political culture needs a cleanup too.

Monday, September 26, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT

Perhaps no footage from Hurricane Katrina was replayed more often than the "Meet the Press" clip of Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, La., telling Tim Russert that bureaucrats had "committed murder" in the storm's aftermath. He sobbed as he told about a colleague's mother drowning in her nursing home after begging her son on the phone for four days to save her from the rising waters. Talk show host Don Imus said he had never seen such gripping testimony on TV in his life.

(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: corruption; johnfund; katrina; neworleans; rebuilding
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Here's more on how much of a cleanup NO needs before any effective rebuilding can be done. IMHO the Venice option is looking better and better.
1 posted on 09/26/2005 6:08:10 AM PDT by libstripper
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To: libstripper

Don Imus cannot see anything that does not have a liberal bent to it.


2 posted on 09/26/2005 6:14:43 AM PDT by Piquaboy (22 year veteran of the Army, Air Force and Navy, Pray for all our military .)
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To: libstripper
This Sunday at Mass the priest told us about the Catholic Charities and Catholic dioceses in New Orleans and how they are helping the evacuees.
The cathedral in New Orleans was turned into a shelter, for one. Food, clothing, toiletries, etc., help for the elderly....all manner of things from the Church.

Strange how THIS coverage never seems to make the mainstream news.

3 posted on 09/26/2005 6:20:15 AM PDT by starfish923 (It's never right to do wrong. Socrates)
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To: libstripper
Last week, police officers found a treasure trove of food, drinks, chainsaws and roof tarps in the home of Cedric Floyd, chief administrative officer for the Jefferson Parish suburb of Kenner.

Broussard's Parriah, get the fire going AAron.

4 posted on 09/26/2005 6:20:33 AM PDT by ncountylee (Dead terrorists smell like victory)
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To: libstripper

Don Imus is a liberal weenie. His only saving grace is that he mocks liberal hypocrisy too.


5 posted on 09/26/2005 6:46:29 AM PDT by playball0
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To: playball0

Lousiana has a population of 4.5 million people. A 250 billion relief (barf) bill for the state equates to 55,555 dollars per person. I have heard the term 40 acres and a mule, but if this money gets sent to that state, I am moving there post haste to get my hands on some it. The streets of New Orleans will be paved will gold, I tell ya,


6 posted on 09/26/2005 6:56:37 AM PDT by milwguy
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To: libstripper
IMHO the Venice option is looking better and better.

Ah, imagine it. The gondolier poleing you down Bourbon Canal, and then Canal Canal.

7 posted on 09/26/2005 7:17:31 AM PDT by Ole Okie
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To: libstripper
This Sunday's Meet the Depressed was so predictable. One just had to know that Russert would have to have that liar Broussard on again, Russert might even ask the right question but then of course he would let Broussard rant on and on and obfuscate (of course none of which would come anywhere close to addressing the question let alone answering it), Russert would allow the guy to play a phony sympathy card, none of this would be challenged in any meaningful way ........ and then after all that he would 'thank Broussard for coming on and setting the record straight'. These things have become so predictable I think I could apply for a job as a script writer. The show is worse than a joke. Timmy is more than complicit in fed bashing - he's either giving cover to others or leading the charge.
8 posted on 09/26/2005 7:34:47 AM PDT by Asfarastheeastisfromthewest...
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To: libstripper
I may be a sma' fish in Washington, but in Loosiana ahm da Kingfish !

That sums up the attitude of the dims in Louisiana.

Nam Vet

9 posted on 09/26/2005 9:11:58 AM PDT by Nam Vet (Don't imagine you can change a dedicated liberal-unless he's in diapers.)
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To: milwguy

"We recognize that it's a very high number," Sen. Mary Landrieu admitted.


10 posted on 09/26/2005 10:09:49 AM PDT by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: libstripper

I surprised that the environmentalists aren't claiming New Orleans as a wetlands area. /sarcasm


11 posted on 09/26/2005 10:13:21 AM PDT by OrioleFan (Republicans believe every day is July 4th, DemocRATs believe every day is April 15th. - Reagan)
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To: libstripper

BTTT


12 posted on 09/26/2005 10:14:29 AM PDT by kellynla (U.S.M.C. 1st Battalion,5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Div. Viet Nam 69&70 Semper Fi)
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To: milwguy

Seriously, wouldn't it be less expensive just to give each person a check--say $20,000--and be done with it? Why bother with contracts and planning? Let the poor people take the money and run. Let those who can afford it stay in New Orleans and rebuild.


13 posted on 09/26/2005 10:16:03 AM PDT by Evacuee
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To: libstripper

Don Imus must have gotten his bullet points from his good friends Frank Rich, Jeff Greenfield, Jonathan Alter, Howard Feinman, Esther Newburgh, Chris Matthews, Bob Schieffer, Jim Lehrer, Mike Barnicle, Mike Lupica or a thousand other lefty buds.


14 posted on 09/26/2005 10:23:43 AM PDT by Inwoodian
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To: libstripper

More from the article:

"No state turns out better demagogues than Louisiana--the state that Huey Long ruled with an near-fascistic fist and that inspired the new Sean Penn version of "All the King's Men" that hits movie theaters this November. While the Bush administration and Congress aren't in danger of being fried as witches, they better figure out that they and the taxpayers are about to be fleeced like sheep as they ship south $62 billion in emergency aid with few controls or safeguards.

"More will be coming. Last week, Louisiana's two senators didn't even blink when they asked the feds for an ultimate total of $250 billion in assistance just for their state. "We recognize that it's a very high number," Sen. Mary Landrieu admitted. "But this is an unprecedented national tragedy and needs an unprecedented national response."

"Even if the total ends up far short of that figure, the opportunity for fraud and waste will be unprecedented. "We're getting a lot of calls" on emergency aid abuses, reports Gen. Richard Skinner, the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general. Last week, police officers found a treasure trove of food, drinks, chainsaws and roof tarps in the home of Cedric Floyd, chief administrative officer for the Jefferson Parish suburb of Kenner. Mr. Floyd is one of several city workers who will likely be charged with pilfering.

"Despite assurances from President Bush, "the government is fighting this war [on waste] with Civil War weapons, and we're just overwhelmed," Joshua Schwartz, co-director of the George Washington University Law School's procurement law program, told Knight Ridder. Democrats are already scoring political points. Rep. David Obey, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, is lamenting the lack of accountability in the aid package. He is calling for "the beginning of some new thinking" on how to handle disaster relief.

CAUTOR: The two LA senators (including the so-called Republican) want US taxpayers to fork over one-quarter of a trillion dollars (yes, that's trillion with a "T") which money will promptly disappear in the swamp called LA, including NO especially. I find this totally absurd that the taxpayers have to fork over their hard-earned money only to see much of it end up in the pockets of crooked politicians of the leftist persuasion. One can only hope the White House and congressional RINOs won't do this.


15 posted on 09/26/2005 11:26:50 AM PDT by Cautor
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To: ncountylee

If we're lucky, most of the former inhabitants of NO will find opportunity elsewhere--far from the crime-ridden neighborhoods many of them have been consigned to by institutional welfare programs.


16 posted on 09/26/2005 11:28:29 AM PDT by Cautor
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To: Cautor

"We recognize that it's a very high number," Sen. Mary Landrieu admitted."

But see there's that little thing called "lining our pockets" for all the grief we've had to put up with. Besides, we might not have our jobs for very much longer.


17 posted on 09/26/2005 11:46:01 AM PDT by wolfcreek
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To: Ole Okie

No, imagine the smell and the cost of those small boats....


18 posted on 09/26/2005 11:49:58 AM PDT by colonialhk (sooprize sooprize sooprize)
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To: wolfcreek

"But see there's that little thing called "lining our pockets" for all the grief we've had to put up with."

This is of course the cry of the looter in the street who shouts that "the MAN owes us." Indeed, the LA pols, little Mary included, are planning to engage in nothing short of legalized looting of the U.S. treasury while the rest of us stand by watching helplessly.


19 posted on 09/26/2005 11:50:12 AM PDT by Cautor
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To: starfish923

WellI live in Baton Rouge,and practicly every church, gymn, and community center in the Baton Rouge area has been turned into either a shelter, or a FEMA distribution center with choppers and all.That's why there isn't so much reporting about those particular one. Plus, the media mostly covers the damage and negative issues.


20 posted on 09/26/2005 11:55:50 AM PDT by bomb baghdad
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