NOTE: This is my last blog post from on the road until I can find a solid internet connection in New Orleans. Please follow me on Twitter.
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After a good night’s rest, we are packing up to drive back to New Orleans.
Gambit Weekly’s online presence, The Blog Of New Orleans, is doing a fine job of wading through the mess of news coming out of New Orleans. Please read them to stay informed, now that the mainstream media is playing the Republican National Convention on all channels. Is Joe Lieberman on five consecutive hotel TV stations really necessary?
No matter what is on the City website, we are now allowed back into Orleans Parish as long as we have identification that proves we live in the parish and dusk-to-dawn curfew is lax. Power is still out over a good chunk of the city and clean drinking water is also a concern. Guess we’re going to have to drop some coin at an Alabama Target before heading back in – a power inverter, coffee in a can, bottled water and cans of soup come to mind. Or Pop Tarts and beer, as D suggests. It will be just like my geology field work days!
After we settle back in to our “normal lives” in New Orleans, there will be much blogosphere discussion about a) the Entergy rodeo, b) City Council members bickering with City Hall bickering with local radio hosts bickering with the Mayor bickering with everyone while the point should be getting residents back into Orleans Parish with a sound re-entry plan, c) are people going to leave New Orleans in the face of a hurricane really, truly headed right for us after continued mismanagement three years after Katrina? and d) Gustav wasn’t Katrina, so stop comparing the hurricanes, aftermath and government response, thank you very much. In fact, the pointed questioning has already begun. Adrastos says it best:
… This is, of course, the sort of asinine crap we can expect from the cretins who run Orleans Parish. NOPD has secondary jurisdiction on the interstates: the State Police have primary law enforcement responsibility. Hopefully, they have more sense than C Ray or Warren Riley. It wouldn’t be hard. This is a grotesque abuse of power. If C Ray wants to open a can of whoopass on anyone he should pay Entergy a visit.
More from The Dangerblond:
People are furious about the way the re-entry is being handled. This is going to make people refuse to evacuate next time. For some, this is costing money that they don’t have.
… Ray Nagin is a smart-ass and a jerk. In my humble opinion? You are the mayor, asshole. Your opinion is not humble. We are all hanging on your every ill-considered, poorly thought-through statement. Worst mayor EVER … You are simply not up to the job. Resign now so that we can be free of your foolish statements and confused policies.
In case of (a randomly-placed) checkpoint, my plan was to flash my work ID and say, “If you want gasoline in the future, you’d best let me in.” This was Oyster’s plan:
… just the concept of this pisses me off, and is like an invitation to infiltrate. If they stop me at one of the designated roadblocks, perhaps I’ll just flash my (homemade) “badge” which I fashioned out of an old school ID and my Sears charge card. I’ll say: “I’m going in to check the vital ‘stocks’ of Toughskins at our Metairie store. A police escort is not necessary.”
Alright, guys, we’re leaving. More from the road via Twitter.
