Congratulations on your victory Ray Ray

Ahem ... although built upon a campaign slandering an entire family's service to New Orleans -- including an incredible service to African American New Orleanians like yourself. Nice.

But really, congratulations. I wish you the best. As your opponent said, there really is no margin for error. We have one chance to get it right. I hope you got the message.

So ... finished celebrating? Had a breather?

I hope so, because now it's time to get back to work.

As the mayor of the city, and given the incredible sacrifice this New Orleanian has made to serve the city you represent, it would have been nice to hear you say something today on behalf of Andres Gonzalez, a brave NOPD officer who dared to risk his own personal safety to serve New Orleans residents.

Let me just remind you of something you said in a campaign debate:

"As the population has come up, there starts to be a little uptick in the murder rate, but if you convert that on a per capita basis . . . and you compare that to pre-Katrina, murder is down almost 50 percent," Nagin said.

In retrospect, do you still think that's an adequate answer Mr. mayor? Do you really think that will fly with the family of Andres Gonzalez?

Damn it man? What IS your problem?

Start acting like you appreciate the gravity of the situation. Start acting like this really is a national disaster, and the destiny of one of the world's most unique cultural cities, as well as the well-being of hundreds of thousands of residents, hangs in the balance, hinged upon every word you say to as an indication of whether the future holds promise, or more suffering.

You can't have "one New Orleans," Ray Ray, while criminals prey upon innocent citizens, gunning down police officers who serve to protect.

Andres: You and your family are in our prayers. May God speed you to a healthy recovery and a promising future.

5/23/06 update: Mayor Nagin expressed his regrets this morning, according to WWL radio, saying that Andres Gonzalez and his family were in his thoughts and prayers. I thought it odd that the mayor didn't have something to say about it immediately, yesterday. A handful of other people were talking to the media long before Nagin, including the District C councilman-elect, James Carter. I actually think this sort of incident calls for the mayor to hold a press conference to reassure citizens that he appreciates the impact it can have on perceptions of safety, and that to enunciate his program to fight crime. The problem may be, however, that Nagin doesn't have a plan to fight crime. Instead, when he expressed his sympathies today, he called on citizens to become involved in fighting crime in their neighborhoods. Well, yes, they should, but unless he's calling for citizens to issue armed vigilante justice, we have to wait for the police to hunt down violent criminals. Way to go Ray Ray -- no vision, no planning, no follow through.

5/23/06 update (#2): Via WWL, here's Nagin's comment:

New Orleans Mayor Nagin hopes the shooting of a police officer will help unite the community behind efforts to fight crime.

Nagin says his thoughts and prayers go out to the critically injured police officer and his family. He also is urging all New Orleanians to come together and take a stand.

He wants them to work with the New Orleans Police Department to stop what his calls "senseless acts of violence."

Police on the local and federal level has launched a campaign to get citizens more actively involved in reporting criminal activity and cooperate with authorities to keep crime from resurging to pre-Katrina levels.

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