September 10, 2005

Waiting for John Wayne

By James Lewis
If an honest history is ever written about the mess in New Orleans, "Waiting for John Wayne" might not be a bad title. Because that's what Mayor Ray Nagin was doing before President Bush was finally allowed by law to call in the National Guard. Said the Mayor: "Now, I will tell you this —— and I give the president some credit on this—— he sent one John Wayne dude down here that can get some stuff done, and his name is [Lt.] Gen. [Russel] Honore. And he came off the doggone chopper, and he started cussing and people started moving. And he's getting some stuff done. They ought to give that guy —— if they don't want to give it to me, give him full authority to get the job done, and we can save some people." We know now that the official disaster plan for New Orleans put responsibility for its execution squarely on the mayor. The mayor had the authority to mobilize 2,000 school buses and thousands of public transport vehicles to move those who...(Read Full Article)