More Nagin notes

Here are a few of the most telling moments from Ray Nagin's career that spring to mind for me.

First there's this Details profile by Ethan Brown where we learn that Nagin is reading Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine and that he very well may be reading it as a how-to manual.

“I understand exactly the premise that they’re presenting,” Nagin says, holding the book aloft, “that’s for sure. Look, man, after this disaster there is big money! The shock-and-awe piece of what they’re talking about is absolutely correct.” I ask if he’s read the chapter in which Klein laments that the public sphere in New Orleans is “being erased, with the storm used as the excuse.” Nagin replies cheerily, “I haven’t gotten that far! I just picked it up.”

And then there's this interview where we find what I think is nearest to the essential Ray Nagin in his own words we'll ever get.

Nagin also talked about growing up in a lower middle class family, watching his father work as a custodian at City Hall, attending Catholic and public schools, and eventually plodding a career in business and eventually politics.

"Politics in New Orleans is the dominant industry, so I decided to get in," he said. "Besides tourism, politics dominates everything. I just think it's part of our legacy and our history. Politics is definitely a sport and something that the citizens pay attention to." 

Meanwhile some fun stuff:

First, the once verboten shout-out

Nagin’s image as a crime fighter first started to crumble in 2006 and 2007, when the blog American Zombie and Gordon Russell of The Times-Picayune exposed inside dealing in Nagin’s technology office.

And finally, the near-boundless frivolity  much of which is conveniently assembled here.