Choclate
I've always liked Nagin. I'm not exactly sure why. He just seemed like the kind of guy I could get behind. Sure he is a political novice but that was part of the appeal. Sadly, novices tend to make errors in judgement. Ugh. I read the whole speech and I think I understand what he was trying to say, but man, you just can't say some of those things and not expect people to get pissed. He needs to hire a speech writer with a quickness.
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Mayor's Speech: Wrong message, wrong time. City in dire need of strong, intelligent leadership.
Oddly enough, Nagin's comments remind me of Tom Cruise's comments re: the over-medication of society in that they both had valid points that were phrased poorly, buried in a mound of B.S., and both men appear to be becoming rapidly unhinged.
I doubt Nagin hates white people and that he just intended to say that the city should maintain the ethnic diversity it had before the storm, but...wording it that way invites disaster. And yes, there were valid points about the fact that our government has spent a trillion dollars in Iraq yet couldn't protect us from a hurricane and still refuses to commit to category 5 levee protection. Finally, the comment about the black community cannibalizing itself via crime and gang warfare is also important.
But, he screwed it all up by basically saying "God is mad at us b/c of this and flooded your homes as a result." At best, it's incredibly arrogant when anyone (be it Nagin, Pat Robertson, or Jerry Falwell) claims to speak for God. At worst, it's vicious. If you tell me God chose to destroy my home, then I say, "God's an asshole and so are you."
And, based on experiences related to me from a friend who worked for Nagin...no, he is not a nice guy. But, nice or not, I think the stress from Katrina is clearly getting to him as evidenced his increasingly loopy public appearances.
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