Here's the plan

Stephanie Grace:

They might think he actually means what he's saying.

And that's the point: By now, he should.

Nagin likes to chalk up his missteps to his outsider status, even though after four years he's no neophyte. But instead, his comments reek of a clumsy political rhetoric by a candidate for reelection trying to reach out to a specific bloc of voters.

That little voice inside my head keeps saying to me, "It's over. Stop obsessing about Nagin's blunder." But I can't stop. It annoys the hell out of me, and it has become the focus of what I think is wrong with New Orleans.

There's an interesting self-promotional ad that WDSU is running (and with their groveling news coverage, boy do they need the self-promotion!) in which a clip is shown of an angry man exhorting a panel in some post-Katrina meeting, "If you can't give us some direction, get the [bleep] out of the way!"

People around the country must be wondering what the hell is going on -- why can't New Orleans get unified around a plan of action? My answer? We are unified around a plan of action -- it's our leaders who aren't unified.

What's the plan?

1) Patch the existing miserable levee system.

2) Category 5 storm protection, and coastal restoration.

3) Everyone has the right to return -- help them rebuild their homes and businesses.

Ask anyone on the street in New Orleans -- there is absolute unanimity on these points. Only the last point will cause discussion, but only because of the uncertainty of the federal commitment to pay, which raises the question, who should have to pay to rebuild New Orleans? The federal government of course.

New Orleans' flooding was a man-made catastrophe caused by the failure of a federal levee system which performed far below the safety standard for which it was designed. If the federal government doesn't provide the financial support, then I advocate the biggest damned damages suit in history to get the compensation we deserve for lost homes, lost days of work, lost jobs, travel and lodging, negligent homicide, pain and suffering -- and if it were allowed, for incompetence as well.

The real question ought to be, why does George W. Bush's ongoing AWOL record and incompetence keep getting him a free pass with the press and the Washington punditry? People like Ray Nagin certainly make it easier to divert their attention, which is why I'm calling on Ray Nagin to resign (as he forced Eddie Compass to do for similarly egregious public statements), and for someone like Mitch Landrieu to run for mayor (or is Mitch waiting for Blanco's recall to succeed?).