What we are witnessing in New Orleans is something we would only expect in a third world country. Not a City in the United States. Hundreds and possibly even thousands have been killed either by the Hurricane or the resulting chaos that has engulfed the city. How could it happen here in the most powerful and wealthy nation in the world?



The truth is New Orleans is a city ran like a third world nation. It is rife with corruption, cronyism, and organized crime up to the highest levels. The looting in New Orleans did not begin after the Hurricane. New Orleans has been looted for years by city officials, crooked police, organized gangs, racketeers, corrupt business, all on the take at the expense of the people who were supposed to be served. Billions of dollars in Federal aid money to shore up levees, disaster planning and civil defense has ended up in the pockets of government and private hands instead of being used for its intended purpose.



The Levee was supposed to have been able to take a category 3 hurricane. Yes, when Katrina hit land fall it was a category 4, but New Orleans was not hit head on. The winds and storm serge that hit New Orleans should have only been the equivalent to a 2 or possibly a 3. The Levee’s should have held the force they were given. Why did they fail? The levees were supposed to be able to handle a level 3 hurricane and would have if they were built up and maintained like they were supposed to.



Over 200 police officers have resigned since the hurricane. They have refused their duties and in some cases joined the chaos. Law and order has not existed in New Orleans for years, possibly ever. Along with the city government the police department was also on the take. Certainly not all policemen of the city are corrupt, but enough that they were incapable of protecting the citizens of their city. A corrupt policeman who was only there to catch the gravy train is not going to risk his life for others.



The corruption went all the way up to Mayor C. Ray Nagin who Ironically ran for mayor on a platform to clean up the cities rampant curruption. His incompetent lack of leadership has made a terrible situation even worse. He has been too busy doing media interviews and blaming the federal government instead of doing the things necessary to help the people. Before the hurricane he called for a mandatory evacuation but did not provide a way for many citizens to do so, and sent people to shelters that were not adequately provisioned



A huge fleet of school busses could have been deployed to assist in the evacuation but the Mayor did not want to use them. In a radio interview he talked about the buses. His statement was very telling.



“ I need reinforcements, I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man. We ain't talking about -- you know, one of the briefings we had, they were talking about getting public school bus drivers to come down here and bus people out here.

I'm like, "You got to be kidding me. This is a national disaster. Get every doggone Greyhound bus line in the country and get their a#$es moving to New Orleans."



That's -- they're thinking small, man. And this is a major, major, major deal. And I can't emphasize it enough, man. This is crazy.”



Well sir. Why didn’t you just hold out for limousines? I’m sure that people lying in their own excrement waiting to get out of New Orleans would have loved the sight of a school bus. When your people are dying you use whatever is available. You use what you have until something else comes along.



Nagin should have stayed in his city instead of hightailing it to Baton Rouge. He sat comfortably in a cushy air conditioned office while his people were suffering and dying. It was up to him to rise to the occasion and provide leadership, but instead he failed miserably. A mayor of a corrupt city like New Orleans is not going to put himself out for his people.



Thank goodness Adult supervision has arrived. Things are looking better now for the people, the outlaws are being rounded up and the city is being taken back from thugs and gangsters. Law and Order has finally come to New Orleans, probably for the first time. Perhaps the hurricane as terrible as it was has washed clean a corrupt city. We can only hope.