WhatFinger


New Orleans, Ray Nagin, politicians

Shame



Jarvis DeBerry, in a copyrighted column in the Times Picayune of New Orleans admitted that “Many New Orleanians are loath to admit it now, but at one point or another, just about all of us supported Ray Nagin”. DeBerry also observed: “So there's no need for us to feel ashamed. Yes, embarrassed and angry that yet another politician has allegedly contributed to the city's roguish reputation. But not ashamed. If he's guilty of the crimes the federal government says he is, we weren't the accomplices, we were the victims.”
In light of the fact it’s proven no honest man was ever suckered by a con-man, one must wonder about the difference between a victim and an accomplice. It would also seem necessary that we recognize we bought the Huey P. Long Bridge from this guy and equally so bought the Washington Monument from Beaurat Obama. Nagin presented himself as a neophyte politician, a man selected from the halls of business; a common man. His polished posture, presentation and head casting a sunlit glare reminiscent of a halo impressed us. He was rhetorically strong, his resume’ reflected capability and he was cast as an underdog because of his race. Caucasian interests and precinct elements pushed votes into ballot boxes out of a faux sense of “enlightenment” and elected the candidate because they watched his campaign from their couches on televisions fed by Nagin’s cable TV employer and made a mistake. It was a whopper.

Support Canada Free Press


They were enlightened and to prove it they added one more point of evidence: if they had a picture on the set, it had to be a sign of his qualification for the job of mayor. It’s a stretch to say this. But, so is the chance of a man being elected to the presidency simply on a set of slogans such as – “HOPE” and “Change” and no more qualifications than an inflated resume’ which can’t be proven. Sam Adams said: “It does not take a majority to prevail…but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires… in the minds of men”. DeBerry says Nagin didn’t win by pulling the masses together; he more realistically won based on a hardened core of supporters drinking the Kool-aid® necessarily spreading the “sugar-buzz” and getting people to believe the messiah was on their doorsteps. He touted an open administration, he promised transparency in government, and he also promised there’d be no scandals while in office. I’ll leave it up to you which one of the two I’m speaking of; their similarities are so great as to be scary. Now, Nagin’s under indictment for a total of 21 Federal charges. He’s been “ratted out” by several co-conspirators interested in spending the least amount of time dwelling at the Edwin Edwards Wing of any specific Federal prison. Two local businessmen admitted they bribed Nagin. Nagin accepted extravagant family vacations while releasing false public records, and failed to report the bribes on his income tax filings. That’s called Income Tax Evasion; and you can add in money laundering and conspiracy. It’ll possibly be in Texas or Atlanta where he spends his time doing his and the general population’s laundry rather than laundering money. But where I draw most umbrage is in DeBerry’s statement concerning the fact nobody should be ashamed for having elected these guys to office in the first place. New Orleanians and Americans voting for these two yahoos should feel deep, crimson cheeked and head dropping shame for having been bamboozled into elected these charlatans not once, but TWICE! This shows a certain complicity between the electors and the elected and does away with the idea the electors should feel no shame.
Shame is the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper or ridiculous done by oneself or another. It also describes the susceptibility to this feeling after being disgraced and suffering a feeling of ignominy leading to a feeling of regret. (Dictionary.com)
“Fool me once; shame on YOU. Fool me twice shame on ME!” You should learn from stepping in a cat’s mess not to wander near its stomping ground. But some people never learn. Thanks for listening


View Comments

Sarge -- Bio and Archives

Richard J. “Sarge” Garwood is a retired Law Enforcement Officer with 30 years service; a syndicated columnist in Louisiana. Married with 2 sons.


Sponsored