Ray Nagin: Delusional Asshat

(originally posted September 1, 2008)

In response to the Republican Governor of Louisiana declaring the Gulf region of that state a disaster area almost a week prior to Gustav nearing the area and in response to the Republican POTUS changing his plans to stage at the federal government's FEMA HQ in Texas the incompetent Democrat Mayor of New Orleans (and the man who personally contributed to the death of 1500 people three years ago) praised Jindal and Bush by saying:

"It's amazing. It makes me feel really good that so many people are saying, 'We as Americans, we as the world, have to get this right this time,'" New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said. "We cannot afford to screw up again."

He just doesn't get it. Just like when Katrina hit and HE failed to act in time.

As the chief executive of NOLA it is his responsibility to protect his citizens. It is not the job of the state, and it most certainly is not the job of the federal government. But his egregious incompetence, and track history of contributing to the deaths of his citizens through his bumbling inaction, led the state and feds to usurp his authority... and he feels this is a good thing.
It is the culture of entitlements and generations of people used to looking to the government to meet their basic needs. In NOLA, Nagin and the residents were quick to blame the Army Corps of engineers for the levees failing, but it is the levee commissions who collect levee tax (more appropriately, a levee levy) in the protected parishes that is designed to go towards the maintenance of the systems of levees and pumps. Instead the largest expense the levee commission had in 2005 was a $200K fundraiser for Ray Nagin.

While the Governor of Mississippi issued evacuation orders for the MS gulf coast three days before Katrina hit, Nagin and LA governor Kathleen Blanco waited until 24 hours before the storm made landfall and never mandated evacuations, only suggested them. They also waited to declare an emergency, so no federal assistance was possible (at the time). And of course the pinnacle of the incompetence demonstrated by Nagin and Blanco occurred the day after Katrina hit when in the midst of the infamous conference call President Bush asked them what hey needed and how the levees were holding, and Blanco replies the levees were holding fine and they didn't need assistance as the levees were in fact collapsing.

So what I find "amazing", even more so than Nagin's reelection, is that Nagin once again waited for other people to do his job for him. And thanks to his bungling and chronic incompetence the state and federal government are empowered to declare disaster areas and state of emergency even if local governments have not requested assistance. Prior to Katrina the federal government could not usurp that authority from local and state governments, now they can.

Prior to Katrina FEMA was primarily responsible for handing out insurance documents. Now thanks to Ray Nagin (and the 9-11 AQ bombers) FEMA can be sent by the President to "take control" of local resources, such as the police, fire and EMS services through their new ICS system. They also can take control of a city's (and a state's) government by appointing an Incident Commander to whom local authorities ultimately would report.

So once again through his inaction and inability to lead the state and federal government usurped Nagin's power over his own city... and amazingly he is happy about it.

The federal government has specific deliniated powers, running states and cities is not one of them.

Look up the 10th Amendment. Our founding fathers tried to save us from federalism.