Nagin hittin' the ganja pipe again?

Ray Nagin, at a speech on Tuesday (HT: Da Po Boy):

“Anybody got a Road Home check in here?’’ he asked sarcastically, but no one in the audience of nearly 150 people raised a hand. “I’m searching for one, just one.’’

You know, that's funny -- Ray Nagin criticizing a program he never got involved with pro-actively -- Governor Blanco's Road Home program to issue home rebuilding grants.

Actually, it's not that funny.

Where the hell is Ray Nagin in the negotiations with Entergy? Where's his advocacy for hundreds of thousands of homeowners being screwed by their insurance companies? Where's his plan to rebuild New Orleans? The NOPD is bleeding manpower -- what's the plan? What the hell does the budget situation look like?

I can criticize Nagin because I'm just a blogger. He wanted the job, and the power, and the salary, and the associated responsibilities. Okay, maybe he didn't want the responsibilities. If he's going to criticize other people for not doing their jobs, he damn straight better make sure he's doing his own job!

Since he hasn't had a damn thing to do with the LRA, when Nagin says he's tried everything under the sun, I'm thinking he's hittin' the ganja, man, back in Jamaica again:

“I’ve tried everything under the sun to accelerate the LRA money. We’ve done everything."

What does Nagin know about Kobe, or Oklahoma City, or New York?

The mayor said when people complain that the city’s recovery and rebuilding should be moving more quickly, he simply responds, “Quicker compared to what?’’ Kobe, Japan, Oklahoma City and New York City were not case studies in quick recovery.

This isn't Kobe, or Oklahoma City, or New York. Nagin ought to do his job, here in New Orleans -- at a minimum, to manage the things in his area of control, like the budget, and to establish a vision for the future. He hasn't produced either. Just one example -- rather than address the schools problem before and after Katrina, he let the state and charters take over. Whether that was the right outcome or not, whether Nagin wanted that to happen or not, he never had a clearly-defined schools plan that he elaborated for the public. He doesn't have a plan for anything that happens in New Orleans. He governs from crisis to crisis, just like Mitch Landrieu said he does, never anticipating what this city and its residents need.

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