Clueless or lying

Tonight WWLTV followed up on that surprise bit in Latoya Cantrell's Carnival ordinance we mentioned this morning about banning the Krewe of Tucks' signature throw.

NEW ORLEANS - Known for its light-hearted, unique throws, the Krewe of Tucks aims to poke fun at the old line krewes. For 35 years, toilet paper has been its signature throw.

“If you ask anyone, Krewe of Tucks, they think, ‘Oh, the parade that throws the toilet paper,” said float captain Marc Frischhertz.

But you may no longer see that signature toilet tissue flying from floats. The City Council is considering banning it.

“It was something that came up from the community, the krewes and the administration as something we needed to clean up and address,” said Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell, District B.

When she says, "came up from the community," Cantrell may be referring to the series of afternoon meetings she held with Uptown residents back in the fall. Uptown Messenger's coverage of these events lists all sorts of terrible ideas thrown about but doesn't mention the Tucks TP.   Where, down in the community, did this idea come up from? And regardless of where it came from, how did such an absurdity make it into the draft of the ordinance? 

As of now my working theory is that some important but stupid person (or people) Cantrell feels obliged to placate said something to her about the TP offending their sensibilities or something.  It certainly can't have anything to do with it being too messy.  That argument falls apart in five seconds.

The toilet paper is biodegradable and American-made. The krewe says it disappears with the first rainfall, while beads stay in trees for years.

Anyone who spends any time along the parade route can confirm this. The toilet paper streamers are everywhere on the day Tucks rolls.  After a few days in the weather, it's like they were never there.  Beads (and practically any other kind of throw you see out there for that matter) stick around considerably longer.



Of all the throws in all the parades, Tucks' disintegrating paper is probably the most eco-friendly and least damaging of them all.  So any person who spends more than a few minutes with this question, as Latoya Cantrell certainly has, and concludes that the T-P presents some special hazard is either completely clueless or just plain lying on purpose.

“The toilet paper is our coconut,” said Frischhertz. “From our  perspective, it's akin to going to [the Krewe of] Zulu and telling them  they can't throw out their [signature] coconuts any longer."

“It is not the same as a coconut in terms of it doesn't create litter into the community,” said Cantrell.

I realize that is some City Council level elocution Ms Cantrell is employing so let me clarify. She is saying that the least litter-like thing that gets thrown is the thing that "creates litter into the community." No idea whether she is lying or clueless here but either way this is an absurd position for her to take.   If anyone has any ideas as to why she's doing that, I'm willing to listen.