Is Nagin Resigning?

Mr. Snitch is talking and he's saying he's hearing rumors that Nagin is going to go.

Check that out along with reports below.

It is a crime that New Orleans got pounded and I'm not interested in piling on. But if we are going to ever get answers about the many factors which might have combined to make things worse, the following links a reader sent me tonight suggest that even Rudi supporters might have to admit he'd have had his hands full in New Orleans, even without this storm.

Some New Orleans Police and Firefighters join in the looting of stores.

New Orleans Police Department has a national reputation as being one of the most corrupt.

Only one in four people arrested in the city for murder is eventually convicted, according to a recent study by the New Orleans Police Foundation, a private nonprofit group. According to the study, 42% of serious crime cases reviewed by prosecutors -- about 22,000 -- were turned away between 2002 and 2004 because the cases weren't deemed suitable for court.

I think back to the images of 9/11 - and having LE in my family - I've no doubt that many good men and women police and firemen in New Orleans did truly heroic things this past week. But there's only so much any one person can do if the overall system is corrupt.

If the stories above are true, than Nagin should have resigned a long time ago and not have waited until now. Don't forget to go see Mr. Snitch

Comments

[!]

It want be soon enough. He can take the governor with him. Get some people in there that have a brain !!
I sure as hell would not want all that blood on my hands.
How sad !!!

[Mr. Snitch!]

It's easy to forget that when Guiliani inherited New York City, it too was barely out of the bankruptcy of the Koch years, a period when crime when rampant and investigations of cops were a routine (and seemingly hopeless) excercise. Guiliani's integrity showed up well before 9/11, but it's typical of NYC that this was met with a shrug. It's only after Rudy passes beyond this vale of tears that he'll wind up with more statues than the sainted LaGuardia. Nagin, by contrast... well, Nagin was Nagin, and tens of thousands are dead.

[Cindi in PA]

well, Nagin was Nagin, and tens of thousands are dead.

Posted by: Mr. Snitch! | Sep 7, 2005 1:41:53 AM

red tape, red tape, red tape..........having a very political family I can tell you........they may start out with the best of intentions... sad to say, the likes of the ACLU have taken over common sense.

[angelaberdine]

Arkansas National Guardsman Mikel Brooks stepped through the food service entrance of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Monday, flipped on the light at the end of his machine gun, and started pointing out bodies.

Wonder why so many of these in the freezers were tourists. Don't answer this question. I know the answer, just something to ponder.

[angelaberdine]

In our area, when we are expecting tornadoes and/or hurricane weather, and we are far less susceptible than NO, our state troopers by order of the governor turns all our highways and interstates into north-bound lanes only. Wonder why the did not do thatin NOLA?

[Legal Eagle]

Scared at Scared Monkeys?

Has anyone noticed the change at Scared Monkeys? I've lurked there for months and notice a big change in the breeze. While reading the "Katrina" posts the last few days it looks like the management is having a hissy fit over posters who dare question Bush and FEMA. Red and Tom came out of the front office and had a visible meltdown when some of their brightest posters dared engage in critical thinking! Now that their 15 minutes of Holloway fame is dwindling, it is sad to see such small minded discussions take over.

I've noticed some of their best posters just aren't showing up much anymore.

It's turning into a big circle jerk.

[anne096]

Ok, I live on the North shore of NOLA (Mandeville), and I have to say, and maybe this is denial, but I am shocked at the "rumor" that Nagin put 400 tourist at the front of the bus line when the rescue finally came. Say it ain't so!!! When he came into office it apeared that he was a "kick butt, take names later" kind of guy. It sure seems/seemed like a breath of fresh air for the otherwise corrupt, business as usual NOLA buaracracy. I wonder if he just bit off far more that he could chew. I really thought he was doing a great job. By the way, they activated Contraflow out of the city and state on Saturday night. The problem, perhaps, was that Nagin did not call for a mandatory evacuation until forced to on Sunday mid-morning. I think last year when we evacuated for Ivan, and then nothing happend, he got a little gun shy. I think he may be doing the best he can with what he has. I say, let's stop pointing the finger and just get all these people the help they need. By the way, due to the Katrina situation and having to evacuate myself, and by the way I am still displaced, but house ok, just no power, sewage an issue, etc..., I am way behind on the Holloway situation. I have followed this from the start, and would like to know if it is true that the boys were all released. Can someone get me up to speed??? Thanks so much.

[usmcmom]

Wonder why the did not do thatin NOLA?

Posted by: angelaberdine | Sep 7, 2005 2:37:44 AM

They did do the contra-flow, but I don't think it was until late Saturday... Though, I gotta say I kept watching news shows all week-end and I actually never saw any of the major roadways out of NO in contra-flow. Besides, we all know this mess is not b/c folks couldn't get out of NO b/c of clogged roadways... This mess is b/c folks that had cars and other means chose to stay.. and those that didn't have cars or were disabled... well, unfortunately for them the Mayor and Governor left them to the wolves.

[TheAlamo]

While many "think" that "top down" government is the answer, as you can see from the facts here..it was (is) the problem.

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20050907%2F0218843615.htm&photoid=20050904LADM120

[usmcmom]

Alamo,
Thanks for the link. I wonder if the news media will further explain that the airlines probably didn't get the request for evacuation until Thursday, b/c that was the day that Governor Blanco actually signed off on the evacuation. I just don't get how people, expected the Feds to run roughshod over State and City elected officials. It is against the law!! I learned something last night on O'Reilly that I was unaware of... As the news keeps mentioning Homeland Security didn't do this or didn't do that... I just assumed it was Chertoff's folks in Washington, but not quite. Louisiana has their own appointed Homeland Security folks, they are the ones on the ground that seemingly in some of this mess dropped the ball. Guess who appointed those folks to the Louisiana Homeland Security dept, my understanding is, Governor Blanco's office. So as Susan Pelosi, et.al., wants to discredit the qualifications of Mike Brown/FEMA... let's see how qualified the Louisian Homeland Security folks are. IMO what is going to come out of this mess, is that unless you have retired military or kick-butt CEO types in command of FEMA, Homeland Security, and all the state branches of Homeland Security... the folks appointed by politicians in these roles are always going to look at political fallout FIRST and crisis/disaster management second...Nagin/Blanco are a perfect example of this mindset.

[TheAlamo]

let's see how qualified the Louisian Homeland Security folks are. IMO what is going to come out of this mess, is that unless you have retired military or kick-butt CEO types in command of FEMA, Homeland Security, and all the state branches of Homeland Security... the folks appointed by politicians in these roles are always going to look at political fallout FIRST and crisis/disaster management second...Nagin/Blanco are a perfect example of this mindset.

Posted by: usmcmom | Sep 7, 2005 10:49:23 AM

"Political fallout first," --you hit the nail square on the head. Closely following political fallout is "almighty dollar" i.e.--how can "I" profit, either directly financially, or perhaps more commonly "get some brownie points--for more money."
I think Americans need to realize government officials are human. They are prone to corruption and incompetence just as is in "normal" society, maybe even worse due to the "security" of their job. When you work with centralized government this is a given--one need only check all the other countries that are similar. This guy obviously had some agenda, or is mentally unbalanced to do the things he did and the things he didn't. Don't think he is mentally ill, so it loks to me like there was an agenda. Either his own, or, on orders from somewhere above, the likes of which we will probably never hear about. This guy will take the fall--either way.

How we got away from the bottom up type of government is another whole story in and of itself. Sadly, the people get hammered by this type of governance---then clamor for more. One day hopefully, they will wake up and realize that THEY are the government, and put things back to how our founders intended. (well, I can wish!)

[bryan]

Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans Hero of The Black Poor Not So Fast"

While berating everyone he could except himself, Ray Nagin has attempted to proffer himself as a champion of
the Afro American poor and other poor.

Mr. Mayor you record says it just ain't so.

Consider lack of experience in government and the job of Mayor. Elected to serve 2003 - that is 1.75 years
experience.

New Orleans Mayor C Ray Nagin:
By Josh Fecht, US Editor

"He(Nagin ) became the first New Orleans Mayor to rise to the post in nearly 60 years
without holding a previous elected office. "

Consider lack of support by the black electorate. Less than half.

Rod Dreher
July 31, 2002 9:00 a.m.
Big Sleazy Sobers Up
C. Ray Nagin takes New Orleans.

"Behind the dramatic headlines lies a fascinating, and indeed hopeful, sign of bedrock
political change: the emergence of the black middle class as a distinct power player in
municipal politics. New Orleans is a majority-black city, with African-Americans making up
64 percent of the electorate. Nagin was elected with 58 percent of the total vote in the April
runoff, which amounted to about 80 percent of the white vote, and 44 percent of the black
vote."

Lack of experience and political ineptitude?

http://bizneworleans.com/70+M538503905ee.html
Lonely at the Top
May 1, 2004 01:31 PM
by Kathy Finn

"On the surface his supporters see the same striking image that helped sweep Nagin into
office — the polished look, confident manner and
slightly aloof air that prompt some to call him “cool.”

In the past year, however, the city has seen its mayor gradually forced into a defensive
posture. After his administration’s early salvos against
corrupt practices in and outside of City Hall, questions arose as to how thorough a cleanup
the mayor intends to carry out.

As local jobs have continued to drain away, even as new ones were added, rumblings have
grown about a lack of specifics in Nagin’s
economic development plans. Personnel changes in the mayor’s “inner
circle” raised questions about his hiring choices and management style.

In the view of some observers, and by Nagin’s own
assessment, public relations has been a weakness of his administration. He says he hasn’t
done a good enough job of communicating with the public either about his
administration’s achievements or about public concerns

Susan Howell, director of the University of New Orleans Survey Research Center, agrees.
“He’s been more of a corporate-style mayor
as opposed to what I would call an activist-style mayor,” she says. “He’s
working on education, working on cleaning up the city, improving technology
— he’s doing a lot of good things, but he may not be getting enough credit
for it because he’s not out effectively communicating
what he’s doing.”

One person familiar with those relationships, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
believes that the mayor relies too heavily on the handful of people with whom he works
most closely, thus isolating himself from valuable information and ideas coming from
others who are not members of the circle.

The comments echo, to a degree, charges leveled by Nagin’s former
chief administrative officer, Kimberly Williamson, who was asked to resign last year.
Williamson recently filed a lawsuit against Nagin, claiming among other things that she was
discriminated against by the mayor and several staff members who operated in a
“cliquish” manner. An
earlier, similar claim filed by Williamson with the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission was dismissed as unfounded.

Some observers believe these types of issues, too, may be a product of
Nagin’s political naiveté.

Property tax fairness has become a focal point of the Nagin administration, but many voters
are hoping for more. They recall the “wish
list” Nagin touted during his campaign — including airport privatization, a
new City Hall complex, funding to upgrade public school buildings and a beefed up police
force, among other major items — and they wonder if
these were just imaginative proposals left in the dust after election day.

No, says the mayor; he chalks this, too, up to his shortage of political skills.

“One of my biggest challenges is that I see things so clearly and so fast
… and I’m not necessarily doing the leg work to help people to see what
I’m seeing so that we can all rush the fence together,” he says. “I just
look around the city, and I see so many opportunities that it just drives me nuts.” "

2002 mayor race - never before
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's 'Honeymoon' May be Over
By Glynn Wilson

NEW ORLEANS, La., Dec. 6

" People are going to start asking questions," he said. "It's about time when people are going
to want results."

The Times-Picayune newspaper, which endorsed Mr. Nagin in his race for mayor on its
front page last spring, recently carried a story giving credence to the accusation that he may
have used his official position for politics in a way that could be unethical.

Marlin Gusman, a New Orleans city councilman and former right-hand man to Nagin's
predecessor Marc Morial, portrayed locally as Mr. Nagin's chief adversary, said he has
doubts about Mr. Nagin's ability to lead now.

Sometimes I think Mayor Nagin does things just to be different," he said, campaigning
along with U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu for Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, a 60-year-old Cajun
grandmother, barnstorming the state on election day in a Winnebago

I certainly don't think when you count all the votes that a majority of the people in this
community are going to be following behind him," Mr. Gusman said. "A leader has to lead
his people

He proved the claim he was making all through his political life that he's not a real
politician," Dr. Hirsch said of Mr. Nagin, only partly in jest.

He didn't do terribly well with that," he said. "It was done in an inexpert way, which
confirms his outsider status."

Whether that will damage the relationship between the governor's mansion and city hall in
New Orleans and negatively affect the business climate is probably minimized, he said, by
the city's clout in the legislature

He got a big public relations boost from the local media, and then things seemed to calm
down and he almost disappeared from public view," Dr. Hirsch said. "I kept waiting for the
second shoe to fall, and it seemingly never did." "

www.bestofneworleans.com/ dispatch/2004-12-28

"Nagin's Trials and Triumph -- If there's such a thing as a Midas Touch in Reverse, Mayor
Ray Nagin has it. Once again, he showed that he has no coattails in a citywide election
when Deputy Police Chief Warren Riley lost to Marlin Gusman in the race for criminal
sheriff. That came right after a huge flap over the future of the New Orleans Recreation
Department, which drove a wedge between the mayor and City Council. The mayor
recovered in time to strike a compromise bond issue with the council, and he ended the
political season on a high note when voters approved the largest bond issue in city history.
That may have said more about Nagin's chances of re-election than Riley's defeat, because
it showed that voters like and trust this mayor enough to tax themselves and let him spend
the money. "

Not quite the heroic supporter of Afro American and the poor he wishes to
portray on CNN etc.

Rod Dreher
July 31, 2002 9:00 a.m.
Big Sleazy Sobers Up
C. Ray Nagin takes New Orleans.

" Not everybody in New Orleans is pleased. Nearly all of those arrested in last week's sweep
are black. Some are grumbling that Nagin, who is himself African American, is picking on
poor black folks to score points with his white supporters, particularly in the business
community. Even Nagin backers are saying that to be truly credible, the mayor has to go
after bigger fish than a bunch of taxicab drivers. "

June 6, 2005
Save Louisiana Wetlands Inc.(SOWL)
Post Office Box 73447
Metairie, LA 70033

" Mayor Ray Nagin, who is a corporate mouthpiece for Wal-Mart and other corporate
privatieers, presented an environmental award to Shell Oil Company. Shell Oil Company
donated monies to a small insignificant “green washing” Green Project located off St.
Claude Ave. down by the railroad tracks. Mayor Ray Nagin is notorious for tearing down
public housing to make way for Lester Kabencoff’s corporate
development expansion plans

Mayor Ray Nagin presently has plans to displace the poor Afro-Americans living in the
Iberville public housing project to make way for another Lester Kabencoff private corporate
development scheme, similar to the displacement of the poor Afro-Americans that were
once living in the public housing St. Thomas projects now Wal-Mart. The old Krauss
building adjacent to the Iberville public housing project on North Rampart St. is presently
being yuppiefied into swank condominiums.

In the meantime, New Orleans under Mayor Ray Nagin acquires no new public parks.
Whatever municipal public parks exist in New Orleans under Mayor Ray Nagin they are
permitted to deteriorate. The rich are able to use the facilities of their private institutions.
The poor swelter in their poverty cesspools while being arrested shot and harassed by
Mayor Ray Nagins New Orleans police department. Mayor Ray NaginÆs solution to the
New Orleans poverty problem is to displace the poor out of New Orleans centralized public
housing, and move them to New Orleans East.

Mayor Ray Nagin has single handedly destroyed the unique and distinct character of the
historic Vieux Carre (French Quarter) of New Orleans by placing hundreds of trash cans,
bearing corporate logos on the streets of New Orleans. Mayor Nagin has also recently in
violation of public bid laws and without approval of the Vieux Carre Commission placed
hundreds of illegal parking meter structures in the historic French Quarter of New Orleans

Mayor Ray Nagin is standing quietly to the side while attempts are being made to privatize
New Orleans Charity hospital. Mayor Ray Nagin is fighting hard for the rich and elitist.
Under Mayor Ray NaginÆs administration the public school system is being dismantled.
The New Orleans public school system is divided between rich-elitist-private versus
poor-black public. It will only be a question of time before New Orleans public schools will
be funded by such corporations as Coca Cola-McDonaldÆs-Shell Oil Comp

Mayor Ray Nagin does not represent the hundreds of thousands of poor Afro-Americans
residing in New Orleans. Mayor Ray Nagin stands idle while antiquated drug laws and
poverty are causing hundreds and hundreds of shooting deaths of young Afro-Americans.
Under Mayor Ray Nagin the rich get richer. The poor get poorer. And Shell Oil Company
is given an environmental award at Mayor Ray Nagin’s environmental breakfast
on May 30th 2005 "

Staff writer Frank Donze contributed to this story.
Gordon Russell can be reached at grussell@timespicayune.com or
Saturday, August 27, 2005

" I would think that would be the way that people would advise a candidate to try to make
(crime) the issue," he said. "He can't run on job creation, economics, neighborhood
revitalization, wages going up. They can't run on any of that stuff.

The only thing they can run on is the murder rate. A series of ads creating
this whole hype about murder."

But Ed Renwick of Loyola University's Institute of Politics was less receptive, saying a tax
proposal could invite a strong challenge and that a loss at the polls for such a proposal
could weaken Nagin's standing even if he's re-elected.

Taxes are always controversial and this could draw support away from you," Renwick said.
"Taxes are always a hard sell, and with gas prices through the roof and property taxes going
up in the New Orleans area, it would make it more difficult than it ordinarily would be" to
pass a new tax

But the mayor made clear that he is strongly considering it, saying he has become
increasingly frustrated with the city's rising murder rate. Nearly 200 murders have been
recorded in 2005, putting the city on pace for about 300 murders for the year, an
unfortunate threshold the city hasn't reached since 1996

Nagin said he doesn't know how much money would be required, but he said ballpark
estimates ranging from $20 million to $50 million are not out of line. The mayor also said
he has not set his sights on a particular type of tax, but he seems to be leaning toward a
property tax rather than alternatives such as a sales tax. "

http://bizneworleans.com/70+M538503905ee.html
Lonely at the Top
May 1, 2004 01:31 PM
by Kathy Finn

" And most recently, a coalition of African-American ministers, claiming to represent as
many as 150,000 local citizens, hurled biting personal criticisms at Nagin based on
changes he’s made in the way the city
awards contracts and disburses certain funds

Complaining that they’ve been wronged, economically, the
politically powerful ministers also attempted to hold Nagin responsible for actions taken in
February by federal agents against Jacques Morial, the brother of the former mayor. After
FBI agents broke down Morial’s front door with
a battering ram in a morning raid to seize documents from his home, the ministers pointed
fingers at Nagin and charged that he had enlisted the feds in a political assault on the
Morial family.

Nagin’s protestations that he had nothing to do with the raid and that
the Justice Department’s investigation of the previous administration
began well before he took office largely fell on deaf ears. The ministers accused Nagin of
turning on the African-American community. Bishop Paul S. Morton Sr., of Greater St.
Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church, publicly referred to Nagin as “a white man in
black skin.”

It could just be possible that some of the lack of communication still stays
with Nagin during an emergency.

It is very possible that some communication breakdown could be the result
of political differences Nagin has with Govenor.

Jindal's heritage touches nerve
The Associated Press
Posted on November 10, 2003

"Continuing his bid to siphon Democratic support from Kathleen Blanco in the
gubernatorial race, Republican Bobby Jindal unveiled a new TV commercial Thursday that
features New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin asking viewers to ignore Jindal's party affiliation.

This year, it can't matter whether we're Democrats or Republicans," said Nagin, a Democrat
who crossed party lines to endorse Jindal last week. "We've got to do what's right for
Louisiana."

Without mentioning Blanco by name, the 30-second spot suggests the lieutenant governor
is a product of the old political machine. "Old politics says what's in it for me," Nagin said.
"New leadership says what's best for all of us."

By Ela Dutt
September 05, 2005

"Republican Bobby Jindal, the 32-year-old former Bush appointee, chucked his career in
Washington to enter the quagmire of Louisiana politics and analysts there said this was the
first time in the history of that state that the candidates vying for the runoff, Jindal and
Democrat Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco, were not smeared by dirty dealings, and especially
Jindal was largely free of the baggage of past politics

Even though exact numbers are coming in the week after the election, Jindal’s 48 percent
and Blanco’s 52 percent are being sliced up in different configurations by political analysts.

He fought on a platform of getting out the old and bringing in the new brand of politics,
focusing on economic development of a state that was losing jobs and business to
surrounding states, losing its youth and showing poor education results. Even after his
defeat, New Orleans’ Democratic Mayor Ray Nagin, who had switched parties to endorse
Jindal, said he was still not convinced about whether Blanco would be as good for his
city’s economy as Jindal would have been."

It does seem unreasonable that a neophyte with minimal experience, a noted inability to communicate, and a
lack of interest in the poor could jump into the fray with a clear direction and decisive leadership. Well
point of fact is Nagin did none of this. Nagin will be famous for a childishly profane tirade during a
national crisis that required calm collected leadership - not Nagin's forte. Well, if Nagin is reelected it will
probably have to be by proxy of the poor blacks that say they are not going back to New Orleans.

Certainly there is enough blame to go around. But we don't see the decisive leader Nagin
stepping up to his part of it. But he did step up to the race card real quickly although many
of his black constituency wonder what race he is trying to win? Is it mayor, governor, higher?

[anne096]

We in my district LOVE Bobby Jindal. HE is a fair, decent man. I dare say had he won the governor's race against Blanco, there would not be thousands dead on the streets of NOLA tonight.

[lin]

Most of the evacuees went west to Texas and some across to Fla. and Ga. but Noeth bound I65 never got crowded. ALabama only does contra-flow when a mandatory evacuation from the Gulf is in force. And they were ready days before Katrina hit. Although contra-flow was not needed because traffic did not get heavy. People were lulled to sleep because so many hurricans turned and went another direction or down graded before landfall. I have family in Mobile that stayed but when we got to them with water and generators they decided staying wasn't a very good idea. After all we are ALL only human. No one ever expects the worst even when told it's coming at them.

[Sky aka NP]

I thought this was an interesting article. Don't have a link.

New Orleans Didn't Just Go Nuts It's Been Nuts...

[by Mac Johnson] 9/7/05

Where to even begin in being one more idiot talking about Hurricane Katrina? I hate the subject. It should be a news item and a humanitarian cause --a huge recovery and reconstruction effort joined in by all. It should not a political issue fit for "commentary."
But the Hurricane tore at more than just the weaknesses in New Orleans' inadequate levees. The shortcomings of the levee system were known to all who ever lived on the Gulf Coast, and in the end, all the levees really did was encourage expanded development in a huge geologic bowl sitting between a large lake, North America's mightiest river, and the immense green waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The whole booby-trap was simply yet another triumph of government subsidized and directed development. And its failure was long anticipated.
What was not anticipated was the way the Hurricane tore at our human divisions.
First out of the gate were the Holy Men of the Cult of Global Warming, who couldn't wait for the first dead to wash up before they declared the Hurricane irrefutable proof of Global Warming and a direct responsibility of George W. Bush.
Next up were the racial ambulance chasers, always looking for another grievous injury to add to their political caseload. Looking at the Sea of Black faces abandoned without transportation, food, water or protection, they somehow managed to look past the City's Black Mayor, Black Police Chief, Black City Council members and all the other Black office holders that run the 67% Black city, and found that the whole thing was: white folks' fault. Yet another example of racism at its worst.
This opened up a torrent of Bush-bashing, since he was the closest Republican that had any responsibility for the City. The Democratic Governor of Louisiana -- though white -- was merely a victim of the whole thing it seems, just like the Mayor of New Orleans. Nobody has any power in this world other than George Bush. Nobody has any responsibility. George Bush is now the navel of the world for his enemies. If a butterfly flaps its wings in Central Park, it's George Bush's fault. And the butterfly is racist. And it was blown there by Global Warming.
And at some point during the disaster, the most disturbing of all the infighting began. The thugs of New Orleans turned on their neighbors like a Mongol horde. Looting erupted, as did arson and robberies, shootings and beatings. Rape became an organized crime as gangs preyed on the defenseless stranded girls of New Orleans. Pharmacies were looted and hospitals were surrounded and invaded in a manic hunt for drugs. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin couldn't stop such junkie armies from destroying much of what was left of the City's medical infrastructure, but he could excuse them, explaining that it was all just people "looking for something to take the edge off their jones, if you will." Actually, no, I won't. (The mayor added a few minutes later in the same interview: "You know, I'm not one of those drug addicts. I am thinking very clearly." And nobody said different, Mayor.)
Barbarians with an edgy jones shot a cop in the head, shot a national guardsman, halted life-saving evacuations by firing on helicopters and humvees. Police had to mow down a gang of six shooting at contractors who came to repair the levee breaches. A group of white civilians that came into the city in private boats to save as many refugees as they could -- giving lie to the racism howls of the media -- gave up and turned back because people began shooting at them, trying to take their boats.
Soldiers who should be concentrating on rescue operations are carrying full battle gear through the streets of an American City, opening doors with rifles at the ready. Overnight, it seems, The Big Easy had become Thunderdome, and Mad Max was nowhere to be found. In the middle of the worst American natural disaster in over a century, gang warfare, anti-authority psychosis and individual malevolence finished off the hope of tens of thousands that had survived the flood. It did more to demoralize the nation than the storm had done.
What happened?
The storm may have triggered the violence, but it did not cause it. What we saw in New Orleans was what happens in America's most murderous city when the criminals realize that all the cops have left.
It wasn't desperation, or insanity, or protest. It was New Orleans, without police.
Many people believe that Washington, D.C., is the "murder capital of America." And indeed it often is, but that is only because such rankings are limited to "major cities" -those with a population of 500,000 or more, and New Orleans has (or had) a population of 485,000. Were it not for this actuarial accident, Washington, D.C.. wouldn't even have a shot at the murder title. The per capita murder rate in New Orleans is 16% higher than in "Murder Capital" Washington, D.C.; and nearly 10 times the national average. To have a murder rate equal to that of New York City, New Orleans would need to reduce its murders by 86%. No, that's not a typo.
At a time when crime is plummeting in most of America, it has been steadily increasing in New Orleans. And one cause is simple: The New Orleans City Government has run its law enforcement apparatus into the ground. On a per capita basis, New Orleans has less than half as many cops as Washington, D.C.: just 3.1 police officers per 1,000 citizens. Turnover has become a huge issue, as young cops leave at the first opportunity. A report conducted for the city two years ago said that New Orleans was "bleeding police officers."
The strain shows. Fewer than one in four murder cases in New Orleans results in a conviction. 42% of violent offenders have their charges dropped by prosecutors because the cases are "not suitable for court." Many in New Orleans will not now testify against the thugs that they know -- more likely than not -- are going to be released Scot-free. People don't even bother calling the police in New Orleans anymore. In 2004, academic Researchers conducted an experiment in which they had police fire 700 blank rounds into the air, in a single afternoon, in one neighborhood. No one -- not one person -- called to report the gunfire. It was background noise.
The report on police levels mentioned above stated that New Orleans needs 2,000 cops just to maintain order in normal times. When Katrina struck, the city had only 1,700. No more than 1,500 are on duty now, after dislocation, desertions, resignations, and two suicides.
There is no wonder the place went chaotic. There should be no mystery. It is barely under control on a good day.
Why are the cops leaving? They are utterly demoralized. They face low pay to fight a losing war against crime in a city that will not commit resources to the battle. "We have to use our own shotguns," one patrolman was quoted in the New York Times. "This isn't theirs; this is my personal gun."
They are demoralized because they have to bear the reputation of working in what is widely acknowledged as the most corrupt police department in the country. More than fifty NOPD officers were sent to prison in the 1990's, two of them to death row.
They are demoralized because they have to live in New Orleans, due to a strict residency requirement for police. And unless you are wealthy enough to live in the perpetual party of the Vieux Carre, New Orleans is not a nice place to live -- especially for those with children. 84% of officers with children reported sending them to private or parochial schools, at their own expense. That's quite an endorsement of Mayor Nagin's schools.
So they leave, and are not replaced. It is not just "white flight" either, for those that want to see the world through racial lenses. Most of those leaving are black officers.
All this is not to say that New Orleans has had no plan to reduce its high crime statistics. For a while, one police district tried lying about the statistics. It meant letting some violent thugs go (and with an edge on their joneses, I'm told), but it was cheaper than fighting real crime; and it kept the tourists coming.
Asked if such lying meant that perhaps the NOPD should have its stats audited by an outside agency, Police Chief Eddie Compass stated, "I don't need an outside agency coming in. I think we have proven that we are capable of taking care of our own house."
This is the same Chief that now screams on camera for outside agencies to just take over. As soon as order is restored, you can bet the New Orleans City Government will rediscover its need for independence -- and privacy.
The overnight crisis we saw in New Orleans this week has been a long time coming. It was just the bursting of a purulent boil that has been festering for years.
Undoubtedly, that is Bush's fault as well. Perhaps his Global Warming has been putting an edge on criminal's joneses, unbeknownst to the City Government.

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Awards at each different stage have a special meaning and significance. They mean differently to everyone. When you get an award at the start of your career, it definitely is a stepping stone, and in the middle stages, awards become a source of inspiration, a source of happiness. It is a memento of something that is probably well deserved for the amount of effort put in. Filmfare Awards are something to be proud of. When one gets a Filmfare Award, people know an actor has arrived.

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Three phrases should be among the most common in our daily usage. They are: Thank you, I am grateful and I appreciate.