Riehl World View

Now They Tell Us: Post-Katrina, Nagin To Blame

Everything was Bush's fault when he was in the WH. Now, when it comes to FEMA, it's just the bureaucracy, stupid. But with the New Orlean's recovery still failing, someone has to get the blame. And it won't be the Obama administration. Besides, he's leaving office. So, Ray Nagin has out-lived his useful uselessness.

Data show New Orleans recovery stalled under Nagin

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- As Mayor Ray Nagin leaves office, hundreds of damaged city buildings including police stations and fire houses sit unrepaired more than four years after Hurricane Katrina, stark reminders of how the recovery has floundered.

Only seven percent of 283 city-owned structures slated to be rebuilt have been completed or are under construction, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. Those figures back up an impression many residents have had for more than a year - the Nagin administration has failed to renew much of New Orleans.

"New Orleans has struggled with a vision from the very beginning of the disaster," said Drew Sachs, vice president of James Lee Witt Associates, a consulting firm that has worked extensively on Louisiana's hurricane recovery.

Besides missteps by the Nagin administration, rebuilding has been complicated because of the extent of damage, FEMA's paralyzing bureaucracy as well as loss of population, which has hurt revenues and made it hard for city officials to determine where to put its limited resources.

The city lags both urban and rural neighbors hit hard by the catastrophic 2005 storm, according to rebuilding figures provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. For instance, 87 percent of St. Bernard Parish's government buildings are under construction or have been reopened and 55 percent of Plaquemines Parish's government buildings are rebuilt or are at least close to being finished.

Obama Scrubs WH Site, Gets Religion In Church

What nerve. Via Mark Knoller on Twitter:

Obama says there are times when progress seems too slow. when words spoken about him hurt and barbs sting & efforts seem for naught.

Really? What about the official White House website before you cleaned it up. See Politico for confirmation.

President Obama will keep the broken promises made by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He and Vice President Biden will take steps to ensure that the federal government will never again allow such catastrophic failures in emergency planning and response to occur. President Obama swiftly responded to Hurricane Katrina. Citing the Bush Administration's "unconscionable ineptitude" in responding to Hurricane Katrina,

Prominent Dem Bush Katrina Basher Resigns Amid Probe

The nation saw his tears over Katrina. Now it looks like time to see his pain. Don't look for the latest news on Bush bashing Democrat Aaron Broussard to make it to national TV. More below.

JEFFERSON, La. (AP) — A prominent Louisiana politician who tearfully appealed for faster federal help on national TV after Hurricane Katrina has quit as president of the state's most populous district.

Democrat Aaron Broussard resigned Friday as president of Jefferson Parish near New Orleans, saying through an attorney that he wanted to "clear the air" amid a federal probe of alleged government corruption.

Broussard's attorney, Mike Ellis, said he knew of no pending criminal charges.

Broussard gave a searing account of Katrina's destruction on NBC's "Meet The Press" soon after the 2005 storm, blasting the federal government's early sluggish response.

He also was heavily criticized for sending parish pump workers away before Katrina hit and flooded thousands of homes.

This below from one item at this New Orleans site:

New Orleans has had its share of scandals which has rocked the city in the past couple of years. Now Aaron Broussard and neighboring parish Jefferson Parish is embroiled in a major scandal that could result in indictments or at the very minimum ethics scrutiny. With these scandals taking center stage as the New Orleans elections continue, one would obviously wonder if there will be any fallout in the New Orleans elections from activities across the parish line. While crime is certainly the number one issue in the New Orleans campaign, public corruption could creep up as the electorate want to make sure they do not vote in the creeps.

New Orleans: Obama Cares, Just Not So Much

Given that Barack Obama is said to already be having issues with traditional black democrats due to his, actually more recent, African roots, two little items stitched together in a story out of New Orleans might not do much to help his cause:

Obama also said he wants to know if the health needs of the city are being met, and whether waste and fraud reported in government contracts has been eliminated.

Obama's first visit to New Orleans after Katrina was in July 2006. His latest stop here comes here about a month after Edwards formally launched his presidential campaign by helping rebuild one of the tens of thousands of homes damaged by the Aug. 29, 2005, storm.

My first entry in the Hurricane Katrina category was on August 26 as the town was preparing for the storm. My last entry was just a month ago when some police officers were charged with murder.

If you do a word search through the category, Obama's name is nowhere to be found. The only mention of Edwards is when he recently announced. But search for Bush and it comes up maybe a hundred times - including all the bashing of course.

Maybe Kanye West should write a new song ... Obama and Edwards don't care about black people ... until the primary comes around.

N.O. Cops Charged With Murder

There were conflicting reports when this story broke during Hurricane Katrina coverage.

UPDATE: There are contradicting versions about this story, AP is reporting that the men shot dead were not looters but contractors.

One witness came forward and alleged that at least one mentally disabled individual was shot in the back. An autopsy confirmed that and now a Grand Jury foreman is tossing around the word cover-up and the District Attorney is talking about people being shot down like rabid dogs.

The grand jury issued the charges after hearing weeks of testimony. The foreman of the panel, Lee Madare, declined to comment in detail as he left the courthouse but asked a reporter, "Do you understand the word cover-up?"

"We cannot allow our police officers to shoot and kill our citizens without justification like rabid dogs," District Attorney Eddie Jordan said.

Most have probably seen the video of New Orleans cops looting. Over 13% of the New Orleans police force have been disciplined post-Katrina. The Mayor in the Democrat stronghold was re-elected. John Edwards announced for President in New Orleans today and appears to have made no comment on the matter.

The incoming congressional Dems want to investigate the Bush administration's handling of Katrina. What are the odds they'll find time to ask Ray Nagin why a good portion of his police force seems to have failed so miserably, up to and possibly including committing murder?

The indictments were the latest blow to the reputation of the beleaguered police department. More than 200 officers on the 1,500-member force were disciplined for various offenses after the storm, including failure to show up for work.

Ray Nagin - I'm Shocked

Shocked, I tell you, just shocked.

Mr. Chocolate strikes again. What an idiot. Honestly, is there anyone within earshot of a radio or TV that didn't hear that the levees could fail in the run up to Latrina??

Northern Alabama Blogger

If you are, or are aware of a northern Alabama blogger who has done postings on the Katrina recovery effort, please shoot me an email. I have a MSM media contact with whom I'd like to put you in touch. Thanks.

Katrina Cash Flow Issue

Is the Congressional Black Caucus sitting on Katrina funds? And if so, why?

Calling Kanye West

What was that you were saying?

(CNSNews.com) - Statistics released by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals suggest that fewer than half of the victims of Hurricane Katrina were black, and that whites died at the highest rate of all races in New Orleans.

Liberals in the aftermath of the storm were quick to allege that the Bush administration delayed its response to the catastrophe because most of the victims were black.

Damu Smith, founder of the National Black Environmental Justice Network, in September said that the federal government "ignored us, they forgot about us ... because we look like we look."

New Orleans Levee Board Leader Out

You'd think he might have realized people were watching.

NEW ORLEANS - The head of the Orleans Levee Board has quit amid questions about no-bid contracts to his relatives in the days after Hurricane Katrina.

The final days of board president Jim Huey's tenure also had been marred by his collection of nearly $100,000 in back pay several weeks before the storm. Huey had led the board for nine years.