Mayor's Speech: A thousand points of light

Ray Nagin's second inaugural address to the city of New Orleans predictably contained very little in the way of specifics regarding the Mayor's plan to reconstruct the battered, insulted, and demoralized city. The Mayor's rhetoric however made it clear to the audience just how much help the weary citiznery could expect from its government in the rebuilding process.. or even in the event of another storm. Judging by Nagin's phrasing, this amounts to something approaching, to use a term of his from the debates, zero-donut-egg.

"This is not on President Bush," Nagin said. "It's not on Kathleen Blanco. It's not on Ray Nagin. It's on you."

The Mayor said in an attempt to deflect blame for past and future government atrocities committed against the city... even going so far as to suggest who we should look to in order to solve that nasty evacuation of the elderly and infirm problem when the next storm comes.

Specifically, the mayor called on residents to help elderly and sickly neighbors evacuate during the next storm and to prop up a crippled recreation department by reaching out to children "who may not have someone to talk to," particularly during the summer months.

All of this sounds to me a lot like the first President Bush's "Thousand Points of Light" speech disingenuously heralding "volunteerism" over actual solutions to real life problems. This policy of favoring rhetoric over action has been the identifying m/o of the Mayor's good friend the current President Bush for five years now the effects of which have been.. well.. you know.
Congratulations, New Orleans. In your hour of greatest need, you voted for as little help as possible. At least you got someone who understands your cultrual traditions such as.. oh.. I don't know.. Indians on St. Joseph's day.

Mostly, though, Nagin stuck to his theme of optimism, going off-script to catalog the "miracles" that make New Orleans a special place.

"A miracle is Mardi Gras Indians on St. Patrick's Day," Nagin said. "A miracle is tasting that juicy po-boy, and sinking your teeth in and knowing you can't get that nowhere else in the world."

Oh well.. that's our C Ray!