Posted on 09/30/2005 8:35:12 PM PDT by John Semmens
Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, lashed back at critics after the FBI discovered that up to 700 so-called members of the city police force simply did not exist. Funding for many of these officers was provided by the federal government.
"During the storm and aftermath we'd heard reports that hundreds of New Orleans police officers had deserted their post," said an FBI spokesman. "Further investigation indicates that these posts had never been manned and the funds supposedly paid in wages has disappeared."
"Sure we overstated the number of officers on the force," said Nagin. "We did this to deter crime."
As Nagin explained it, the phantom officers were used as a decoy to frighten would-be offenders. "Just as George Washington lit fake campfires to lull the British troops before his surprise attack at Princeton, we in New Orleans have employed a similar strategy."
The effectiveness of Nagin's alleged strategy is in doubt, though. New Orleans has one of the highest crime rates per capita in the nation.
As for what happened to the funds that were supposed to have paid police salaries, Nagin asserted that they were used to hire consultants and purchase computer software needed to sustain New Orleans' "virtual police force."
"The software had to be custom made," said Nagin. "It's not something you can buy at CompUSA. Software designers don't come cheap. Neither do the public relations experts who developed our media campaign."
The media campaign featured TV spots of various street people implying that they could be undercover cops. In one ad, an apparently toothless derelict looks into the camera and says "I be watchin' you. So, don't you go misbehavin'."
Unimpressed by Nagin's explanation, the FBI asserted it will continue its investigation.
(Excerpt) Read more at azconservative.org ...
This guy's going down.
This is a made up story that was discussed on Fox?
Wrong Guess again it's a real hit piece.
Guess again
Not that Nagin isn't dirty, and stupid, but this story is made up. Close, but no cigar.
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Regardless, my comments still stand. The thugs of the useless left, and especially the professional racists that have decended, like the opportunistic vultures they are, upon the Gulf disaster, to only line thier coffers and keep racism stirred up, are the REAL CRIMINALS here too, just like Nagin and that dysfunctional so-called governor.
I agree. My "Close, but no cigar" comment was in regard to the satire, not your comments.
That really doesn't help to have to literally SCOUR a site to find the ONE writer who is satire. This posting while clever in its disguise, doesn't help trusting what is put on Freeper. My complaint stands.
Read the other articles on from the link, they are obvious jokes
It should have been posted as satire. It's way too close to the truth, and to something Nagin would actually say.
That's why I tried to notify a bunch of posters to this thread that it's satire. I got tired of copy and paste in the To: box, and didn't include everyone who appeared to have been taken in by it, but I included a lot of 'em.
Satire...thanks. Yes it did sound like something he would say.
Tell me this is really an article from The Onion . . . .
I've only scrolled the first dozen or so replies...looks like a lot of FReepers will be making fools of themselves by forwarding this to their addressbooks, along with the obligatory comments of outrage...
Nothing to forgive, but because you asked, I forgive you.
The thread was looking like a runaway, so I pinged a lot of posters to make it clear.
That sounds like a confession of guilt.
:)
Can you prove it is satire? Seriously, folks need to think twice about writing stuff like this and putting it out there as "semi-news". As can be seen here, most don't see it as satire, but reality.
Living in LA and having visited NO quite a few times, the only phantom police officers I have seen were parked police cruisers on the side of the highways, empty. It was like they were trying to make you think there was a police officer watching traffic. Everyone knew they were empty cars and no one slowed down. Just how much could it cost to park an empty car on the side of the road for months on end, without at least moving them to make it look like they were in use?
OMG. This man is stupid.
Could you please tell me WHY you didn't post this as a satire? That would be interesting to know. An apology would be even more appropriate.
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