Who will take ownership of New Orleans?

The Musicians' Village in the Ninth Ward is a project of Habitat for Humanity The profile of the most visible voice supporting New Orleans was lowered yesterday when John Edwards suspended his campaign. While Sen. Edwards will of course continue to speak out for social justice in New Orleans, the Gulf Coast, the folks who live down here wonder if anyone else will. If the track record and recent behavior of the two leading candidates for the Democratic nomination is any indication, nobody will until after the party convention. There's a good reason they'll blow us off: New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are just not essential. Let's face it, there's no political capital that can be had here for either candidate. Louisiana's preference primary is on 9-Feb, four days after Super Tuesday. Every consultant working for either campaign is wrestling with the tactical moves needed to maximize their candidate's turnout on 5-Feb, while we New Orleanians take a break from rebuilding the mess we're in for a long-standing annual event. Mississippi's not even on the radar yet; by the time those folks vote on 11-Mar, the whole thing might be over. There's not too much fear in either camp of reprisals for their neglect of New Orleans. After all, where are we going to go? A vote for McCain is a vote for another hundred years of war, so it'll be sometime next century before there will be money to help the region. A vote for Romney is only helpful if you want to see an all-white, all-wealthy New Orleans that hosts large sports events on the bulldozed land formerly owned by black people. (on a side note, that's one of the reasons that all of you who hate the other candidate so much you're staying things like you'll vote for McCain can kiss my fat white butt. Before you go into the booth and vote Republican, I want you to visualize yourself telling the owner of a house that was washed away by the Federal Flood that the Democrat running is somehow worse than McCain.) Now, once Labor Day comes and both sides have their nominees, things change a bit. It's no longer about comparing a candidate to another Democrat, it's contrasting them with Hundred Year Johnny or Mittens. This is when we'll see the nominee, no doubt, trotting out Ninth Ward residents like they're part of a minstrel show, to show how evil the Republicans are. The pundits and consultants will say the smart play is to focus on the things that get your candidate to Labor Day now. That's not what leadership is about. Leadership is about getting out in front of an issue that is important to this country. It's about doing the right thing. Labor Day is right at the midway point in this year's Atlantic hurricane season. New Orleans and the Gulf Coast don't have time to wait for after the conventions, much less 20-Jan-2009 for either of these two sitting Senators to get work on our problems. We need that help now. People need housing, kids need schools, and we need assurances from the dishonorable pieces of crap who run the Army Corps of Engineers that their lies have stopped. But the "experienced" people will say there are other things more important right now, like locking up delegates. That's a wasted use of experience. Experience in Washington is something that's in short supply when it comes to Louisiana. We have one Senator who divides his time between working against the interests of black people and whore-chasing, and another Senator who thinks it's more important to pander to Teleco companies and wingnuts than to do the job she was elected to do. One of our Congresscritters is under indictment and stripped of much of his influence, and the other resigned so he could more effectively screw us from the governer's mansion in Baton Rouge. (We're trying to change that last part by electing a true progressive to replace this last individual, but that's not going to help us in the short-term.) An experienced leader is needed to step up and do things that even John Edwards couldn't do, such as help break Vitty-cent's hold on the Landrieu housing bill. Alas, the wise, experienced types don't see it this way. Some look at New Orleans as a "wedge" issue. They'll argue that helping New Orleans will only alienate folks in other parts of the country. "Katrina fatigue," they'll say. New Orleans is only good to be the occasional symbol of hope. That's not what hope is. Hope is created by people who do the things that make this country better. Hope isn't about playing it safe. Senator Kennedy didn't pass on the keys to the Camelot-mobile for it to sit in the garage until the skies are clear and the weather is better. There is work to be done now, and that car needs to be taken out for a spin. It's a car that, when people see it driving through town, creates clear skies and hope. Unfortunately, it's not even idling in the driveway right now. There's a bumper sticker on it that's telling people the current owner is the only one who can drive it, and there's no guarantee that candidate's supporters will unify behind anyone else. That's not how unity works. Unity is about bringing everyone together for a common cause. Right now, that cause includes helping people who have given up a lot for this country. Louisiana and Mississippi have lost more than homes and schools in recent years. Entirely too many men and women from the Gulf Coast have lost their lives in wars promulgated by the disrespectful and dishonorable piece of crap who lives in the White House. A candidate who wants Unity among Americans should speak for those fallen men and women and the families they've left behind in FEMA trailers. I know that either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will be a better President than John McCain or Mitt Romney. I know they'll be lightyears better than the current occupant of the White House. What I don't know is whether or not they're good people. They can show us what they're made of by taking ownership of New Orleans NOW and working to right the wrongs of the Federal Flood. Doing this now will make it all the more easier to jam New Orleans down the throat of the Republican nominee in the fall.