Sugar Ray Nagin is Delusional!

Nagin calls N.O.’s dangerous image a “two-edged sword”

From the article:

Responding to a TV reporter’s question about whether New Orleans’ murder rate hurts the city’s tourism economy, Mayor Ray Nagin on Thursday called the phenomenon a “two-edged sword.”

“Do I worry about it? Somewhat. It’s not good for us, but it also keeps the New Orleans brand out there, and it keeps people thinking about our needs and what we need to bring this community back. So it is kind of a two-edged sword. Sure it hurts, but we have to keep working everyday to make the city better,” Nagin said, according to a transcript of provided by FOX8.

Jesus, I don’t even know where to begin.

I could start by saying , if this is the sort of rhetoric coming from his mouth in public, who knows what may be happening under the surface. Ray truly doesn’t give a damn. I have suspected it for quite some time and this latest stupid quote certainly makes it clear. If he did, would he be “somewhat” worried about the murder rate? I know I’m not “somewhat” worried about it!

I could also say that, it doesn’t matter how many murders make the national news, the problem is not one that federal money can or should fix. The feds need to build the levees, restore the coast and fix the infrastructure they destroyed. That’s it. The crime is not their responsibility. So every time a murder “keeps the New Orleans brand out there” it isn’t going to help anything. We don’t need help from the outside. We need it from within. We need it from the damn Mayor.

Then of course there is the notion that he is referring to our home as a “brand.” And referencing marketing techniques as a tool in governing a city. Nothing against those of us working in marketing and publicity but, they tend to operate in a realm that is often detached from reality, where they believe the product they are slinging is the bees knees and keep trying to drive that home to everyone their ploys and campaigns reach, hoping that someone else will buy into it. That’s fine when you are shilling smoothies or a breakfast burrito but when it is in reference to a city recovering from “the biggest godamn disaster in the history of America,” it conjures up images of Nero fiddling while Rome burns.

Concerning Ray, I think he probably was a decent executive. He would probably make a decent state representative, or maybe the mayor of a smaller city with less problems and more of a need for his booster mentality.

I don’t think Nagin has really found his political identity. He tends to keep grasping, and making stupid statements along the way, leaving him with a “brand” of stupidity.

I wish him luck.

I just wish his road to Oz takes him the hell out of this city.