Pot, kettle. Kettle, pot.

Apparently New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin forgot about that little storm he had 18 months ago (you know, that big swirly one with all the rain & wind) when he made the statement that NO is cleaner than Philadelphia. Mr. Nagin, please allow me to show you the Lower 9th Ward.

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20070422_ap_neworleansmayorcallshiscitycleanerthanphilly.html

 

Wow. I wonder how he said that with a straight face.

 

The man's an incompetent imbecile, that's how. I was there last month, and while there's been some progress, there's still so much to be done. Chalmette still looks as bad as it did three months after the storm. The last thing the city needs is this dimwit making more witty "off the cuff" comments.

 

A buddy of mine was through there not too long ago and said there were still boats, which were washed ashored in the storm, still sitting in parking lots miles inland.

 

He reminds of Nifong. Both got elected on bullshit circumstances, IMO. And I'm no Nagin hater

 

And, of course, he bears complete responsibility for everything that's gone wrong in this city.
Not that we should have had any kind of serious federal response to this thing.

 

Of course Nagin doesn't bear full responsibility, and no one in this thread says he does. Every level of government failed here, and the fact people like Chertoff retained their jobs is nauseating to me as well.

Nagin has done a dreadful job since the storm, and his habit of casually tossing off comments like this is one of his more easily correctable flaws that he's done nothing to improve. He needs to be doing everything he can to build coalitions to help N.O. Off the cuff remarks which rub people the wrong way can only detract from that work.

 

When Ray Nagin arranges so that his corrupt police commissione can knock boots with a harpy paramour in an apartment overlooking Ground Zero that was supposed to be used for respite care for people pulling body parts out of the ground, and then tries to get that same corrupt dickhead appointed Director of Homeland Security, when he releases a dead man's sealed juvenile record in an attempt at spin control for a bunch of trigger-happy cops, when he humiliates his wife and kids at a press conference, when he helps cover up dangerous environmental concerns for the purposes of political advantage, then you can come talk to me about St. Rudy.

 

John McCain thinks Baghdad is cleaner than New Orleans and Philadelphia.

 

Nagin also criticized the post-9/11 cleanup at Ground Zero, calling it "a hole in the ground."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/24/60minutes/main1933092.shtml

If you want a definitive look at Nagin--especially in the throes of Katrina--read the Brinkley book "The Great Deluge."

 

Jed Horne's book is better. And the federal government -- currently under the management of the firm of Crooked, Stupid, and Crony -- needs to be flogged, repeatedly, for losing a city and not giving a damn. (You think the response would have been any better/different if it were a suitcase nuke?)
And Joe -- John McCain thinks Baghdad is safer, too.