Posted on 09/30/2005 7:14:40 PM PDT by NavySEAL F-16
Ever since Hurricane Katrina, Americans have been exposed to another side of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. Prior to the hurricane, New Orleans residents recognized Nagin as a “big idea” guy who rarely delivered on his promises. For example, Nagin proposed to sell the New Orleans airport to pay for infrastructure improvements, to build a new city hall and for the City of New Orleans to take over and operate 20 of the worst performing public schools and turn them into centers of excellence. All of these ideas were good, but none became reality because Nagin excels in grand thinking, not implementation.
Since the storm, people throughout the country have seen another side of Nagin that is not too flattering, one that tends to exaggerate about the horrible impact of the hurricane. The hurricane was bad enough so it is perplexing why Nagin has to embellish anything. In many media interviews, Nagin initially claimed that there would be 10,000 dead bodies as a result of the storm. The latest report is that 923 people in New Orleans died due to Katrina and the aftermath, a big difference. Then, Nagin joined the equally fact challenged former Police Chief Eddie Compass on the Oprah show to describe the awful conditions in the Louisiana Superdome. Their litany of horrors was exaggerated and was a disservice to the evacuees in that facility who had to experience really dreadful conditions. He pro! posed an aggressive re-entry plan for New Orleans and had to backtrack when met with opposition from Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen and the reality of Hurricane Rita.
Now people are wondering whether they can believe what Nagin says. Or, how about what he tells Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. Yes, believe it or not, in the tumultuous aftermath of the hurricane, Nagin found time to meet with the most controversial religious leader in the country. Initially, it was reported that Nagin went to Dallas, TX to set up his family in a new house and enroll his children in school. We also know he conducted a controversial meeting with business and civic leaders about the future of New Orleans. Now, we discover Nagin met with Farrakhan and some of his lieutenants.
To make matters worse, Farrakhan, the king of conspiracy theories, now has a new theory to peddle, that the New Orleans levees were blown up so that black areas of town would be decimated. Of course a major problem with this “theory” is that Lakeview and Old Metairie were also destroyed, two almost all-white areas, but facts never get in the way of a Farrakhan story. Here is what he told an audience at a recent rally in Memphis, “We did a whirlwind tour where we hired a chartered jet, we flew to Dallas, Texas - members of the Millions More Movement - where we met! with Mayor Nagin. Mayor Nagin told us there was a 25-foot crater under the levee; (he) didn´t say there was a bomb. He just said there was a crater. I say they blew it [up]." He later added that “We’ve suggested that it [the levee] may have been blown up so that the water would destroy the black part of town.”
To make matters worse, another Nation of Islam leader, Minister Nashim Nzinga, was interviewed on the Hannity and Colmes show and claimed that “Mayor Ray Nagin told Louis Farrakhan in Dallas earlier this month that the levee break that precipitated the flooding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina was the result of some government conspiracy against blacks."
It is quite disturbing that such fiction is being peddled. It doesn’t help New Orleans recover, it doesn’t help race relations and it certainly doesn’t help the tattered credibility of Mayor Ray Nagin. These conspiracies will undoubtedly persist because many people still believe the fiction that the levees were dynamited during Hurricane Betsy in 1965. It just did not happen, then or now.
As New Orleans struggles to recover and attract its former citizens back home, this meeting with Nation of Islam officials raises some important questions:
a) First of all, why would Nagin meet with someone as notorious as Farrakhan? The Nation of Islam has been a controversial organization to say the least. Farrakhan is legendary for his anti-women, anti-gay, anti-Catholic and anti-Jewish comments. For Nagin to meet with someone as insensitive and racist as Farrakhan is a slap in the face to his many constituents who have been on the receiving end of Farrakhan’s hate-filled rhetoric.
b) Why are the City of New Orleans and its leaders obsessed with the Nation of Islam? Earlier in the year, Police Chief Eddie Compass hired a Nation of Islam official to conduct sensitivity training for his police officers. Of course having the Nation of Islam conduct sensitivity training is akin to hiring David Duke to teach classes on race relations. It was a ludicrous idea that was strenuously opposed by religious leaders in the community, forcing Compass to eventually withdraw the contract. After that experience, why would Nagin fraternize with the Nation of Islam again, especially when the City of New Orleans needs as much goodwill as possible to recover from this storm?
Mayor Nagin’s recent actions raise real doubts about his ability to lead the City of New Orleans through the most challenging time in its history. However, as more people question Nagin’s judgment, logic and leadership skills and want a new Mayor for New Orleans, there are some real dilemmas to ponder. Will there be challengers running well financed campaigns against Nagin? Will there even be elections next February and if so will there be any voters in New Orleans to cast ballots? The answers to these questions will come in time, a commodity that New Orleans does not have enough of these unsettling days.
Jeff Crou! ere is a native of New Orleans, LA and he is the host of a Louisiana based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 8:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:30 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and Noon till 2 p.m. weekdays on several Louisiana radio stations. For more information, visit his web site at www.ringsidepolitics.com. E-mail him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com.
Methinks Nagin has a wicked BayouBuzz. The mayor of the mudpuddle still does not get it.
Sakes, I can't believe were still hearing from Nagin. This guy couldn't lead a group of tourists to the toilet much less run a hurricane evacuation.
There's been a few people on FR threads that have theorized that Nagin has a substance abuse problem. I haven't found a reason to dispute them yet.
http://www.ringsidepolitics.com
How would you rate the performance of Gov. Kathleen Blanco during Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath?
24% A--Outstanding
0% B--Pretty Good
1% C--Average
3% D--Poor
72% F--Awful
There's nobody there to vote the mayor out.
Nagin's an idiot for even meeting with somebody like Farrakhan.
On a semi-serious note, does anyone have any idea whether a recall petition could be initiated against any city government when there are no citizens in the city? This whole issue brings up a very important question regarding elections. One of the questions might be regarding redistricting. I am supposing that it would relate to a census. Yet I know very little about Louisiana electoral laws.
The RATs should elevate Blanco and Nagin to national party status. In the RAT party, if you screw up, you go up.
Nagin's mentally ill.
Remeber when all the celebrities were talking publicly about how stupid Bush is and posts would appear about their own education and it was compared to Bush, Cheney, Rice etc.? Well, we out to find out Farrakhan, Nagin and all these other idiots educational background - it would be interesting to see how much education these "leaders" have.
Add to Nagin's woes, the report by FOX news that the FBI is investigating the NOLA police department for potential 'phantom cops' on the payroll? Add to that the NOLA police superintendant's sudden resignation? Seems to me as if the NOLA corruption scheme is collapsing and Mr Mayor is going to be caught in the middle?
Jasper, TX Mayor: Focus on East Texas, not David Duke.
I think it's possible Nagin has enough hot air to make a crater that size...
Actually there's nobody there to keep him in. That's why he's hell-bent to get people back in New Orleans. He knows those who can come back on their own, will come back on their own and those people are not likely Nagin supporters. He's up for reelection early next year so you see his problem.
Geeeeezzzzz, and this coming from a guy who Idolized fonycon while in a helicopter above the broken levee and agreed it was a Bush plot to blow up the levee and kill blacks. Nagin must have gotten a transmission from the "Mother Wheel" to can the criticism and just go for the money.
If the population were to return, do you think they would re-elect him or throw him out?
I don't know but if I was running against him my ads would be non-stop pictures of the flooded school buses with a voice-over asking, "Where was Ray? Ray ran."
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