Marc who?
I happen to be of the opinion that the City of New Orleans needs Marc Morial to head the “official” rebuilding effort about as much as we need an erupting volcano at the corner of Canal and Rampart.
Sure, it’d help keep the money (and the graft) local–maybe. I certainly don’t want Halliburton building shotgun doubles up and down Orleans Ave. A volcano might raise the city up above sea level once and for all. Just don’t expect to get lava insurance.
Just because we recognize a person’s last name doesn’t mean that they necessarily have the skills to fill any given position.
Would we hire Lindsey Lohan as our dietician? Stephen Hawkins as our speech therapist? Martha Stewart as our stockbroker? Robert Downey Jr. as our pharmacist? Ok, that last one might be fun.
The city is drying out, people are beginning to trickle back, there’s a sense of building momentum that pauses only as long as it takes the Secret Service to close everything down so that President Bush can do his best Inspector Clouseau impersonation. Yes, we want our New Orleans back: the fabulous eccentricities, the eclectic mix of racial, ethnic, and social groups, the food and the music, the parties and the festivals. But do we have to take back every broke-down former politico, too?
Richard already pointed out that opportunity is part of the nature of crisis. We have a real opportunity to fix some major problems with the infrastructure of New Orleans. For example, we now have the opportunity to figure out the exact number of employees in the New Orleans public school system. We now have opportunity to command the attention of the people who cut the funding of the Corps of Engineers and scoffed at attempts to provide Louisiana with a fairer cut of energy revenue. We now have the opportunity to command the attention of those in the federal government who scoffed at providing what appears, in retrospect, to be a paltry $14 billion for coastal restoration efforts.
But, we have to seize the opportunities before us. If we rely on the past’s failed politicians to represent our interests, the only thing seized will be the cash.
Related posts:
Isn’t it obvious that Marc Morial is the man for the job?
I mean, who else during their reign had their own CLEAN TEAM?!
The man had his own CLEAN TEAM for g-d’s sake!!!
Rebuilding New Orleans BELOW sea level again would be STUPID. Right now every terrorist in the world is kicking himself for not thinking up ways to blow the levee before now. BOOM…a little c4, a boat loaded with explosives and for very little work they can drown an entire city and throw the whole country into a panic. A voice is whispering, “ReBUILD it and they will come”…below sea level that is.
The entire country of Holland is protected by levees so wach for them to be kissing Muslim ass for some time to come.
OK, I’m a negative person. I admit it.
But if you are the person that read that post and decided that you want to kill Marc Morial and his entire family, as a now-deleted comment suggested, you need to pick up the phone and call your medical provider and ask them to up your dosage, right the hell now.
I would like to suggest that someone go back about 12 years and look as Marc Morial’s time as Mayor, then ask him why he turned down 3 proposals to reinforce the levee system? Am I the only one that remembers this or are there so many people out there in total denial that Morial has blood of Katrina victims on his hands. He ignored the need and studies done by 2 Universities and instead used that money for friends and family in his administration and not in preparations to protect our beloved city. Shame on him and why in the hell did the Urban League give him a job? Did they not look into his political record or the embarassment he caused the city? How soon we do forget.
I would like to start by saying that I am a New Orleanian who was born and raised in the city of New Orleans. I attended Tulane. Married and was raising a family along with my husband until the uninvited visitor, Katrina, took over my home in New Orlean’s East.
I am outraged and greatly offended by Nagin’s most recent statements before congress. He suggested to congress that it was okay to consider the notion of doing away with St. Bernard, Plaquemines, The Ninth Ward and New Orleans East. How did he suggest this? He suggested this when he argued before them that he did not currently believe in the idea of re-building the parts of New Orleans and the parts of the Greater New Orlean’s area that are East of the industrial Canal. He also said that Uptown, The French Quarters and Lakeview etc. were the “real” parts of New Orleans. This disturbed me to say the least. At least 200,000 of New Orlean’s residents lived in The Ninth Ward and New Orlean’s East alone. We are talking about generations of residents whose parents and grandparents had bought property and built homes. Perhaps, these areas don’t mean enough to Mayor Nagin to preserve. It is even possible that most of the residents in the other parts of New Orleans only see these eastern parts of the city of New Orleans as unwanted body parts that can be easily discarded.
If this is the case, I say shame on him and shame on them. The Ninth Ward, New Orleans East, St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes deserve to be preserved. I expect non-New Orleanians to be cold and lack compassion. I can even understand their misuderstanding something like where New Orleans really is. But our mayor and fellow residents! If someone were to suggest (and someone did) that America do away with Uptown, the French quarters and Lakeview, many of my fellow New Orleanians would become sick with indignation. So, how is it that so many of you are silent upon our mayors offering my neighborhood up on a platter.
“Shame on you, Mr. Mayor!” Shame on you for working to encourage the government to turn its’ back on at least 200,000 of the people you swore to serve as mayor. I’m not a Nagin hater. Actually, I supported his candidacy. Now, I’m wondering if he’s even aware of the fact that he is hurting some of the very people that he swore to serve.
Now, about Morial. I’ve noticed all the talk about Morial on this site.
Okay, let us be honest about some of the reasons why the self proclaimed “Morial Haters” hate Morial. Reason one: Because when he was in office he was not willing to ignore the African-American tax payers. Reason two: Because he was not willing to ignore the African American community. Oh, and reason three: Because he was not willing to ignore the African American’s in New Orleans.
When it comes to politicians, I’ve seen and heard it all. New Orleans has always had a bone to pick with it’s politicians. None of the city’s politicians got a clean slate. Usually the guy that the White folks approved of wasn’t the guy that the Black folks approved of and vice a versa. Most of our elections have been racially charged. Both Blacks and Whites have voted out of fear. It’s the truth! We have some problems loving each other in “The Big Easy”. But it’s not a problem that is soley New Orleanian. It is human. And it hurts all of us.
I’ll be the first one to admit that Morial made mistakes. But if one truly wanted to get to the truth, they would have to admit that most of our mayors, governers and presidents do make mistakes!
As for Morial and his take on the current situation, I’m pretty sure that Morial would never encourage congress to wipe The Ninth Ward, New Orleans’ East, St. Bernard and Plaquemine’s parishes off the face of the map. Why not? Because Morial with all of his flaws, he cared about his neighbors, even the ones that did not live next door to him! He loved the city of New Orleans, both in black and White.