Wednesday, February 17, 2010

All on a Mardi Gras Day

Turns out, I did end up spending Mardi Gras like many of the revelers on Bourbon street...face down in the toilet. My son contracted a very nasty stomach virus which he in turn gave to the rest of my family so we've had a blast the past 48 hours....and I do mean blast, but I won't get graphic. That was the sickest I've ever been in my life; avoid this bug at all costs.

Meanwhile an anon sent this:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "I am so jealous":

I appreciate the commentary and thought this blog would be blowing up over the $800,000 grant to Zulu.

Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club receives $800,000 grant

I don't understand why this is any more egregious than what Nagin has done with the D-CDBG budget or the Revolver fund. 800k is nothing compared to the 200 to 300 million he may be misappropriating with recovery dollars.

Is it because it's Zulu? What if he donated 800k to Rex...theoretically?

Maybe I'm jaded, but I'm just not that shocked or incensed. It's not like we didn't know his M.O. is to spend down as much public money to his peeps as possible in his final days. I'm more incensed at the potential individual profiteers like Cesar Burgos.

I would like to see Zulu donate some of that money to the Mardi Gras Indians but that's probably not going to happen.

One thing to consider....Nagin may be making another run at public office. I kid you not. 800k goes a long way to swaying votes.

17 comments:

mominem said...

Wouldn't surprise me to see him run against Cao, except that bizarrely Park Island isn't in the District according to the map on Cao's web site.

I can't see him beating Scalise

Anonymous said...

Maybe he wants Mitch's old job, a switcheroo.

If I were that guy, I'd be looking for some way to redeem myself about now.

Because he IS that guy, his way of doing that is probably not going to involve humility or listening to the people he hurt.

He's going to need something to make himself feel big.

It will be a "redeem myself in my own eyes" mission, not the kind of redemption he might want to spend the next forty days thinking on.

We had a vicious tummy bug, too. I threw up for the first time in years. I forgot how much it sucks to throw up. It really sucks. Glad to hear you are feeling better.

Anonymous said...

Zulu, Rex, Comus or Momus. Doesn't matter. Complete waste of taxpayer funds. I just don't buy the line that Zulu does a lot for the community to warrant this money. It is a Mardi Gras Krewe that throws a good parade. Unlike you, however, I was looking backwards and thought the $800k was political payback. I just can't believe that this guy would run for political office again. Take care and I really enjoy your blog (even though I'm on the other side of the political spectrum).

anonymous-lady said...

He used to be a member of Zulu. Even if he is not a current member, does that not present a conflict of interest?

I do not understand why he did not donate the money to a group that gives medical care, or provides free prescriptions, or the school district or pay the building permits for those people rebuilding their home within a given time, or....

No, Nagin is going out of his way to f_ck with the citizens and to make sure any money he can spend HIS way does not benefit the collective good of the citizens.

Xavier said...

Ashe, surely there is enough out there on the revolver fund and the D-CDBG budget to entice some responsible agency to look into it. Let's hope everyone has been doing their homework.

my veriword wedekne as in The citizens of New Orleans say "we dek ne if ne ain't spending the money right." this was a stretch

oyster said...

"800k goes a long way to swaying votes."

Unless you're John Georges.

No, I can confidently assert that Nagin is politically finished. The city repudiated him, in every corner of every precinct. His pathetic record will only get more tarnished in the coming months and years. And he has no statewide appeal, for any elective office.

The dude's finished.

Jason Brad Berry said...

I didn't say he could win, I just said he may run. There's logic behind it but it has nothing to do with winning.

bruthaman1 said...

if nagin ran against cao he would destroy him. cao is going to lose some of his political support from republicans because he is seen as an obama lover. but i would look for cedric richmond to win that seat even though cao might be better for new orleans.

look for nagin to do something along the lines of what morial did and become a national figure of some sorts. cable news outlets are always looking for talking heads and nagin can do a lot of talking.

Anonymous said...

yeah this stimulus "award" is totally bogus -- i also dont care if its Zulu or Rex, but the fact that hes a member makes it worse and certainly makes it more suspect.

krewes are private clubs. they fend for themselves. mardi gras is what it is due to the private generosity and efforts of these krewes. they should not be subsidized by the government.

my captcha: "hider"

Anonymous said...

...a national figure of some sort...

I'm trying to think of what national role might fit, and nothing comes to mind.

Anonymous said...

One advantage to running (oh, say, for Congress) would be to keep letten at bay on the premise that Letten would not interfere in an election until it is over...

By the way, why are ANY of these grants okay? Let's just get rid of these slush funds and just properly put the money into the budget.

Anonymous said...

One other note:

Morial jr. got a great landing spot with Nat. Urban League (with an office near Wall Street no less, very nice). He was basically untouchable and now he heads up the US census commission.

Isn't the White House social secretary an ex-Zulu queen or something similar?

No, I'm not saying her, but there are plenty of Zulu connections out there that can advance a generous man forward or provide a golden parachute to a new position just when its most needed.

Jason Brad Berry said...

- One advantage to running (oh, say, for Congress) would be to keep letten at bay on the premise that Letten would not interfere in an election until it is over...

Bingo! That's my theory as well.

Ricardo said...

With all shananigans that have gone on with Nagin and his cronies over the last 8 years it is inconceivable that Letten does not have enough on Nagin to indict him today. Every day that he delays in closing Nagin down (because he wants to increase the I-count and potential jail time) will cost the city and its citizens exponentially in recovery time, and stolen and wasted dollars.

I do not understand Lettin's logic. His strategy is hurting the recovery.

bruthaman1 said...

nagin would already have been indicted if letten had anything on him.

i asked this question before on this blog and i'll ask it again.

has a mayor of new orleans ever been indicted before?

Jason Brad Berry said...

- nagin would already have been indicted if letten had anything on him.

I completely disagree.

Anonymous said...

The White House social secretary is an ex-Zulu Queen, yes I think you are right about that.

But I suspect Obama's White House wants to stay as far away from Ray Nagin as it can get without deporting him to Gitmo.