Go Ask Mary

Former FEMA director Michael Brown told a special congressional panel set up by House Republican leaders to investigate the catastrophe, "My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional", and put much of the blame for coordination failures on Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

Why didn't they enlist the help of Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA)? According to the New Orleans Times Picayune of 11/9/96, when Landrieu was trailing badly in her Senate race, she realized that 186,000 inner city folks would probably not get to the polls on election day (read inner city = democrat votes). That morning 1000 workers hit the streets, they found countless buses to get people to the polls, they organized parades to go through the housing projects with NO music bands, they gave away red beans and rice.

So, it appears that the local New Orleans government can be functional when it suits them. They can move the people, entertain them, & even feed them, but only when it suits them. Hurricane Katrina didn't fall on election day, perhaps if she had, the people would've been better served.