Katrina, Personally and politically

Greetings, Editoriale folk, and thanks to "No One in Particular" for the opportunity to be the naysayer of the bunch. I look forward to an adverserial and friendly rapport. To begin, I'll say that it's tough for me to muster any real outrage over Katrina one way or the other, for a simple reason: much of my family has been directly affected by it. The great majority of my close relatives live along the Gulf Coastline, from New Orleans to Gulf Shores (the "Redneck Riviera"). Between all of us, we have suffered major damage or lost altogether both houses and businesses. Some made out okay - my mother had lost the house she grew up in to Camille; the house she currently owns miraculously made it - and it was the only one on its block to do so. We're all kind of in the same place - feeling lucky as hell for knowing it could have been far worse and walking around, zombie-like, trying to process the notion that the area we know and love will be, in many ways, totally unrecognizable. And moving forward, it's my deepest hope that those things that are unrecognizable are the things that have been overhauled. My ties with the Gulf Coast run very deep - I've watched my team (U. of Alabama) win two national championships in the Superdome, I've ridden floats for the Bacchus parade of Mardi Gras (an experience like none other), and I've watched that NINO team (NFL In Name Only) team, the Saints, promote my affinity for alcohol from a young and tender age. I've probably spent a good few years of my life down there despite never having lived there. So when you love something, you tend not only to dismiss the flaws, but defend vehemently when outsiders try and bring them up. Without dwelling too much, New Orleans is a failed combination of European Welfare state-perpetuated poverty, provincial old-boy cronyism that observes none of the tenets of true capitalism and meritocracy, and downright state-mandated theft. The problems are far bigger than any one mayor, governor, or federal assistance package could remedy. So I say: start with the money. Get headhunters moving around the country to court new businesses - headquarters downtown, plants upstate (Miss and AL have some good success stories recently) - and promise competitive tax structures that amount to sweetheart deals that will keep a new and upwardly mobile class of taxpayers generating new income to the bottom line. Then: have a special election. California did it under the wrong circumstances - now (or as soon as the water's dried out, durr) would be the proper time to let the local and state leadership make their cases for their blueprints moving forward - and let the best case win. Without touching on all the services, I'll point out a decent article I read regarding education, perhaps the worst of the problems. Now don't laugh, but pretend that you're not reading from Mr. Buckley's "fish wrapper" and you might notice a fresh idea or two. I've used enough space, so thanks again. Pray for them.