The Saints Go Marching Out

2.5 years ago, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the South. The rallies began. The fundraisers. The government relief efforts, the rock concerts, the internet money drives. Mother Nature didn't do it, Bush did it. Western guilt was shoved down our throats, and it's still being fed to us on a regular basis.

Three months ago I heard a guy on the radio say that he had recently been to New Orleans. He said, "I looked around at all the devastation and I thought, hmmm. Somebody's fault." The DJs murmured agreement. They patted him on the back for raising money and trying to make a difference.

You know which 'somebody' he meant. He meant the state government, the Federal government, Bush, and I suppose, the world at large. Yup, poor New Orleans. No one is there to help them.

Last year I wrote a blog about New Orleans, and I let them off easy. I said, "I have no right to tell them how to live, but maybe they should start helping themselves instead of waiting for more assistance."

Today I read the following:

"A gunman opened fire Wednesday morning and killed a 26-year-old man driving a rental car in the Lower Garden District, sending the car careening into a nearby building.

The fatal shooting, the 21st murder in New Orleans this year, occurred closely on the heels of a trying Carnival season for police, one in which four people were murdered and 12 others injured in shootings in the past five days, according to police records." -- Times-Picayune

So now I've changed my tune. To the people of New Orleans: shut up and get off your ass. Crying for more cash while you throw Carnival parties and shoot each other? "21st murder so far this year." Nice way of putting it. I prefer, "21st murder in the last 38 days."

As for Ray Nagin, that butthead of a mayor, I'd like him to put a sock in it, too. During Katrina, the guy ranted and screamed on the phone that the Feds didn't care about his electorate; the next day, Drudge ran a photo showing dozens of buses in a New Orleans parking lot, up to their windshields in water. When confronted about it on Meet The Press, Ray said the buses sat idle because there was no one to drive them. He really said that on national TV.

That's about as big a knee-slapper as I've ever heard. Who was he kidding? There must have been a ton of guys in the can doing a stretch for grand theft auto. They would have been pleased to help him out.

What need do you have of donations, Ray? Ask your citizenry to turn over the loot from their last hold-up. You obviously don't want to do anything about the crime in your 'needy' city, so why should I care?

Here's a quote from Nagin's Katrina rant: ""Now get off your asses and let's do something, and let's fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country."

Nevermind the country. The man should listen to his own advice and do something about the crisis that is his city.

Almost three years since the storm hit, and I'm supposed to feel guilty because New Orleans and tough-talking Ray can't get their act together? I'm out.