Ray Nagin has been Mayor of New Orleans since March 2, 2002, and was re-elected in April of 2006 for a second term. Under his leadership and under his system, New Orleans has become the most violent city in America.
- New Orleans had the highest murder rate of any major American city in 2002 and in 2003.
- In 2003, according to FBI data, the murder rate in New Orleans was 7.54 times higher than the national average.
- In 2005, according to the Associated Press, the murder rate had climbed to nearly 10 times the national average.
- Newsbusters reported that in 2006, New Orleans had a higher murder rate than Iraq’s.
- In the first 8 days of 2007, New Orleans had already reported 9 murders.
So, after being in charge for 5 years, Mayor Ray Nagin has finally decided that enough-is-enough, and has promised to look into it:
“We’re sending a signal that the system that used to allow you to commit a murder and there were no consequences is over. It has been easier to commit a murder than another crime in New Orleans,” Nagin said.
Nice admission, Mr. Mayor — and exactly who’s system do you think it was that allowed murder to have “no consequences” in your city? That’s right, Ray — your system is the correct answer.
Why did they re-elect this idiot again?
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Here’s what he’s done (or hasn’t done) in his second term so far:
Nagin’s second term began on June 1, 2006. As of August 2006, Nagin has made few public appearances in New Orleans since the May election. He campaigned on a promise to develop a “100 day plan” to rebuild New Orleans, but as of the end of the 100 days no concrete plan has been released. Since then, some commentators have criticized Nagin for what they perceive as a lack of explanation of the details of this plan and a lack of activity in putting this plan forward.[35] At the end of the hundred day period, Nagin administration spokesperson Rob Couhig backed away from the promise, stating that it was not meant as a “time period,” but as a short-range campaign to improve quality-of-life issues.[36] Nagin has also recently been criticized for devoting time to an extensive national speaking tour while being rarely seen in New Orleans.[37]
Nagin’s administration counters this criticism by stating that the speaking tour is necessary in order to correct an inaccurate perception of the situation in New Orleans.
The perception is that people are killing each other at a record pace in New Orleans, Mr. Mayor. How is that in anyway inaccurate?
It seems more likely that Nagin has been scarce in New Orleans because he knows how dangerous it is.
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OTHERS who also caught Ray Nagin’s admission:
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I was in N.O. about 8 years ago and stayed in a swanky hotel..one of the best actually I’ve stayed in courtesy of my company. I was told that I should not go outside the hotel by myself for fear of being assaulted.
I’d never go back. Even before Katrina New Orleans was a pit.
Thanks for the link, and also for the photo of Generalisimo Nagin, what an idiot…
The reason Nagin was re-elected is because the voters were give a choice between re-electing him or replacing him with a politician from the corrupt state of Louisiana (Lieutenant Governor Lambieu). Given a choice between a New Orleans resident and anybody from the state, the voters will choose one of their own every time. In most cases, it all boils down to a matter of choices, and the people of New Orleans, and for that matter the overall voters of Louisiana, have very few of them to choose from.
Plus, the problem isn’t with any one individual, it is the overall system of Louisiana and New Orleans politics, which has been a bastion of corruption since the days of it’s inception. Any one individual is unlikely to make much of a difference, one way or another.
Chocolate is as chocolate does.