As longtime readers of this site may know, I despise the city of New Orleans. While many feel sympathy for the city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, I think that event and its aftermath exposed the fact that many in that city have lost their self-reliance, and depend totally on the government. At the same time, they continue to elect incompetent and/or corrupt leaders (e.g., Ray Nagin, William Jefferson). They also seem to have a sense of entitlement. Rather than roll up their sleeves and get things done, like Mississippi seems to have done quite well, they continue to scream for more money from Washington.
And now there's
this. The city's sense of entitlement extends so far that they think they deserve to host a presidential debate next year, and have reacted with outrage and offense that they didn't get one.
“Politics trumped the correct moral decision,” Ms. Milling said. “Supposedly, many people said that they would not be comfortable coming here,” because New Orleans stands as a rebuke to the federal government’s response to the hurricane.
Maybe they wouldn't feel comfortable there because of all the crime. Just a thought.
Wow. I've never heard of anyone going so far as to hate an entire city. At least you didn't go for the standard Sodom/Gomorrah reasoning. So does that mean you also despise any local churches/Christian organizations that are working to rehabilitate the city?
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't go so far as to endorse Craig's now-controversial New Orleans-bashing, I do agree that the debate thing sounds like sense-of-entitlement whining. Lots of cities didn't get presidential debates, New Orleans. Come on.
ReplyDeleteAnd, in Craig's defense, I hate St. Louis, Manhattan KS, and New York City (because as far as self-involvement goes, New York makes everybody else, including post-Katrina New Orleans, look like amateurs. [I realize that, because of September 11th, this may parallel Craig's New Orleans thing, but seriously, my New York disdain is long-standing.]).
How much would you love it, Rachel, if the presidential election came down to Giuliani vs. Clinton vs. Bloomberg (all New Yorkers - at least nominally, in Clinton's case)?
ReplyDeleteI don't dislike the entire city, Tina, just those that fit my description, which seems to be a substantial portion of it. And I have utmost respect for the churches you mention. Christians should help everyone, not just those who seem to deserve it.
That makes more sense. I agree that they don't deserve a presidential debate, and I don't know why they would even want one. The debates today are like the trucker hats of yore (cool at first, but once you could get one at walmart/the dollar store/an actual truck stop, not so much).
ReplyDeleteStill, I think we could find a segment of any city who feels a sense of entitlement, even cities that haven't been decimated by nature/poor engineering.