In advance of my visit to New Orleans next week, I did some strolling through the blogosphere, starting with my friend Loki's little spot called
HumidCity. What I found is truly scary. It is not just the federal government that has failed Louisiana; the local government is proving to be every bit as corrupt and incompetent.
I started writing this diary with the intent of summing up all the different examples I found of ridiculous goings-on in Louisiana in the past few weeks. But the diary quickly grew to the size of a novella and I decided to scrap most of it and concentrate on two areas: the National Guard's arrival in NOLA to fight crime, and an interesting (and frustrating) article about the Lousiana legislature.
CRIME: Crime now seems to be completely out of control in the city. What else are we to think when Mayor Nagin requests that the National Guard be deployed in New Orleans to bolster an
overwhelmed NOPD? But this does seem a bit odd when one considers the rhetoric that was heard in the run-up to the recent mayoral elections - Nagin claimed that crime was under control and had full confidence in his new chief of police. The challenger, Mitch Landrieu, did say that crime was rising and a new police chief was needed, but he said it very quietly. Really, crime was barely addressed at all in the campaign. And now, only a couple of months later, the National Guard is needed? O RLY? Could it be that perhaps the crime rate has been steadily rising for months, and the politicians swept it under the rug until there was
an incident so heinous that it could no longer be ignored?
Your Right Hand Thief has much more on this. Make sure to read the comments too.
THE LEGISLATURE: Surely everyone here knows about the abortion ban that was signed by Gov. Blanco this week. We saw that Atrios and Kos both said they will no longer visit La. and many commenters agreed with them. Not exactly a boon to the tourism business in New Orleans. (For those who are interested, you can check out the reaction of some New Orleans bloggers here and here and here) But the abortion thing is the just the tip of the iceberg. The legislature in Louisiana is really giving Congress a run for its money in terms of wasting the time and money of the taxpayers. Check out this article from the Baton Rouge Business Report, which lists some of the very important bills that the legislature has been working on recently:
- Adopting a get-tough policy on crime, numerous defenses for failing to pay the $1 toll before crossing the Crescent City Connection were stripped from law.
- If you live in a parish with a population of between 25,000 and 35,000 then a gymnasium may be named after a former principal provided "he" meets certain criteria. I assume females need not apply.
- Those parishes with populations between 22,000 and 32,000 can name a stadium after a former football coach or team doctor under certain circumstances.
- As if the armada of antennas protruding from the trunks and roofs of vehicles wasn't a give-away, ham radio operators can now purchase their own specialty license plate.
- Perhaps you prefer a license plate letting the rest of America know you either support A) our troops or B) the motorcycle awareness campaign.
- In a move clearly designed to create legal work for the ACLU, drivers can now purchase "In God We Trust" license plates.
- Foreigners rejoice! One no longer need be a U.S. citizen to serve on the board or be an officer of a domestic insurance company doing business in Louisiana. Guess that means Cajuns are now eligible.
- Wondering who's really in that casket? All the guesswork is gone now that funeral homes have to identify who's actually residing in the pine box.
Read the article, there are plenty of other head-scratchers in there. Remember a couple of weeks ago when Senator David Vitter said that gay marriage is the most important issue of our time? He was sliced to ribbons here for his stunning lack of priorities, but it seems that he has plenty of company among Louisiana politicians. Business as usual continues unabated.
My message to Louisiana and New Orleans politicians, both Democrats and Republicans: GET IT TOGETHER ALREADY!!! Can't you see that your people need you? You have already seen that you will have to fight like dogs to get the attention and funding that is needed from the federal level, and even then you might not get it. But if you don't have your shit together on the ground, you can never expect to get so much as the time of day from Washington, not to mention from citizens all over the country. New Orleans is on the brink. Help them. Please.