Who Dat? It's Bobby Hebert

You might remember Bobby Hebert from when he played for the Saints and Falcons back in the 1980s following a stint as a USFL quarterback. Well, Hebert now hosts a radio show in New Orleans and yesterday made good on a promise by the late Buddy Diliberto to walk down Bourbon Street in drag if the Saints ever made it to the Super Bowl.

"Who Dat in Heaven - Buddy D.''
That's what the sign said outside the Oceana Grill on Conti Street.

On the stage, a Pierre Thomas jersey was hugging a Sam Mills jersey.

A Drew Brees jersey was playing the trombone. A Marques Colston jersey was playing the trumpet. A Will Smith jersey was sipping suds. A Heath Evans jersey was carrying a mini-Who Dat on his shoulders. A Feilkow sign was doing the boogie.

They were part of a jam-packed crowd waiting for Buddy's Brawds to show up. On the parade route, from the Superdome to the French Quarter, they represented the finish line of the parade of men-in-dresses, in this case, all the way from thrift-store skirts to an elegant $14,000 wedding outfit.

Think about it.

All this because of a throwaway line from a Big Easy-bred legend.

"If the Saints ever made it to the Super Bowl,'' Buddy Diliberto once promised, "I'm going to wear a dress and dance through the streets.''

Well, there they were Sunday, thousands of men in dresses, dancing from the Dome into the Quarter, with thousands and thousands looking on.

A week before a Super Bowl, ask yourself: Was there anything like this, or close to it, in Cowboy Nation, in Patriot Nation, in 49er Nation, in Redskin Nation, in Dolphin Nation, in Viking Nation?

This was a tribute to the memory of an endearing Mr. Malaprop.

Throughout a career that began at The Times Picayune, and went on to television and radio, Buddy D could be a critic, but he was no mean-spirited critic, no critic eaten up with ego.

He was someone who refused to take himself seriously, who was quick to admit mistakes, never reluctant to join his legion of admirers in poking fun at himself, at his tongue-twisting, at those endless malaprops.

There was the day he introduced Joe Yenni, the mayor of Kenner, as "Joe Yenner, mayor of Kenni.''

Meaning to say "secondaries,'' he once announced "quarterback Dan Fouts retired today after 17 seasons of terrorizing NFL secretaries.''

And there were those throwaway lines:

"That's a mute point.''

"That's just the chip of the iceberg.''

"The Saints led in time of obsession.''

"If the Saints can make the trade, it will be a good one, like manana from heaven.''

"Old Dominion'' became "Old Dominican.''

When it came to injuries, a player was out with "a torn lee nigament.'' On another day, a shoulder operation might be called one to remedy "a torn rotary cup.''

A visit to Children's Hospital once prompted the observation about "those courageous boys and girls lying there, hooked up to their RVs.''

Looks like Saints fans are just getting warmed up. One can only imagine the scene down there next Sunday.

Mayor Nagin Defers To The Experts

I am so glad Rep Landrieu got a tidy little $300 million for the poor perpetual victims of New Orleans.

What else should we expect from the area that brought us William "Cold Hard Cash" Jefferson? Here is the latest from Mayor Nagin who sees nothing wrong in awarding government contracts to people who have been convicted of defrauding the government.

This whole pitiful area is nothing more then Al Capone's Chicago moved south.

Your tax dollars at work.

Democrats, Media Outraged Over Lack of Katrina Funding in Stimulus Bill

Oh wait, they haven't made a peep about it. Nothing like having double standards when it comes to the President-in-Training.

Just image the howls of indignation if George W. Bush shoved a $787 billion spending orgy down our throats and not a nickel of it went to Katrina aid.

The economic stimulus signed by President Barack Obama will spread billions of dollars across the country to spruce up aging roads and bridges. But there's not a dime specifically dedicated to fixing leftover damage from Hurricane Katrina.

And there's no outrage about it.

Democrats who routinely criticized President George W. Bush for not sending more money to the Gulf Coast appear to be giving Obama the benefit of the doubt in his first major spending initiative. Even the Gulf's fiercest advocates say they're happy with the stimulus package, and their states have enough money for now to address their needs.

"I'm not saying there won't be a need in the future, but right now the focus is not on more money, it's on using what we have," said Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who has criticized Democrats and Republicans alike over Katrina funding.

Before they never had enough money. Now all of a sudden Landrieu is the image of economic austerity.

How convenient.

It's a significant change in tone from the Bush years, when any perceived slight of Katrina victims was met with charges that the Republican president who bungled the initial response to the disaster continued to callously ignore the Gulf's needs years later.

Of course as we all know it was the bumbling governor of Louisiana and the hapless mayor of New Orleans who bungled the initial response as well as the build up to Katrina, but that reality disappeared when the Democrats found a convenient punching bag in Bush. Sure, FEMA bore some responsibility, but it sure would have helped if people evacuated when they were warned to. Also, Bush only delivered a mere $175 billion in aid, much of which is still unspent.

Just last summer, Democrats accused Bush of putting Iraq before New Orleans when he sought to block Gulf Coast reconstruction money from a $162 billion war spending bill. Bush was pilloried for not mentioning the disaster in back-to-back State of the Union addresses.

Now they don't get anything and they're silent.

Double standards, anyone?

Last month thousands were without power in Kentucky for weeks and Obama was given a free pass. Heck, he was too busy partying to even visit the people there.

Any outrage from the media?

None whatsoever. Not a peep.

Global Warming Alert: Heavy Snow In Downtown New Orleans

Noted climatologist Al Gore was unavailable for comment.

NEW ORLEANS -- A rare snowfall blanketed south Louisiana Thursday, with accumulations of up to four inches in some areas. Heavy snow was blowing through downtown New Orleans.

Schools in some parishes were closed and police reported accidents on major highways, especially in the Baton Rouge area.

State Police Sgt. Stephen Lafargue said the Interstate 10 and U.S. 190 bridges over the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge were closed.

"We have some delays and some cancellations," said Michelle Wilcut, spokeswoman for Louis Armstrong International Airport. She said de-icing equipment was being used on planes. Cancellations were due not just to the weather in New Orleans but because of winter weather causing problems at other airports around the nation, she said. She had no estimate on the number of cancellations.

Meanwhile, despite record cold around the nation, we're told we must do more to fight mythical global warming.

Here in the northeast we're bracing for ice storms. Brrrr! Send us some global warming.

Fay Heads for Chocolate City

The timing is impeccable. Just as Democrats gather to bitch and moan about Hurricane Katrina, a new storm threatens to arrive in New Orleans.

A tropical storm watch is in effect from the mouth of the Pearl River to Grand Isle, including the New Orleans area and Lake Pontchartrain, as Fay maintains strength as it continues to straddle the Gulf of Mexico coastline on its wobbly path from Florida.

Tropical storm strength winds of 35 to 45 mph, with gusts to 55 mph, accompanied by above normal tides, will be moving into the area during the day Sunday and continuing through early Monday morning.

Rainfall totals of 3 to 4 inches, with 6 inches falling in some areas, is possible in areas east of Interstate 55.

Tides will be 2 to 3 feet above normal on Sunday. The strongest winds are expected on the North Shore and in coastal areas in eastern New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish.

An Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman this morning said corps officials are monitoring the path of the storm closely. Computer modeling of Fay's forecast path and strength has not yet shown it will create storm surges high enough to require closure of any gates or other structures, said corps spokeswoman Amanda Jones.

All in the Family: Fresh Off Obama Endorsement, William 'The Refrigerator' Jefferson's Brother, Sister and Niece Hit With 31-Count Indictment

Livin' large down in New Orleans. This crew must have some oversized freezers to hold all that stolen cash.

What a crew. Stealing money intended for charity. Excellent timing for that Barack Obama endorsement, I might add.

A brother, sister and niece of indicted U.S. Rep. William Jefferson were charged Wednesday with pocketing more than $600,000 in state and federal grant money intended for charitable and educational projects.

A federal grand jury indicted New Orleans tax assessor Betty Jefferson, her brother, Mose Jefferson, and her daughter, Angela Coleman, on charges that include federal program fraud, identity theft and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said the family members used several nonprofit and for-profit companies to obtain grants designed to help pregnant teens, at-risk youths and others in need of assistance. They allegedly deposited some of the grant money into personal checking accounts and used it for personal expenses.

"It's fair to say that the allegations in the indictment are very instructive on how such nonprofits can be exploited," Letten said.

A message seeking comment was left with an attorney who has represented Mose Jefferson; it was not immediately clear who was representing Betty Jefferson and Coleman.

With Wednesday's 31-count indictment, four members of the politically prominent Jefferson family now face federal criminal charges.

Rep. Jefferson, 61, a nine-term Louisiana Democrat, was indicted last year on bribery charges. He is awaiting a trial in Virginia and has denied wrongdoing. The congressman wasn't named in Wednesday's indictment, and faces a re-election campaign this fall.

Mose Jefferson, 66, pleaded not guilty in April to separate charges that he paid bribes to a former New Orleans school board president.

Wednesday's indictment also charges Betty Jefferson, 70, with four counts of tax evasion. She faces up to 279 years in prison. The grand jury also charged Mose Jefferson with making false statements to federal investigators. He faces up to 250 years in prison, while Coleman faces a maximum of 257 years behind bars.

Immigrant workers in New Orleans start leaving

Well that is the headline, but hmmmm, a word seems to be missing. I am immediately suspicious anytime I see a headline with the word immigrant in it, and sure enough I wasn't disappointed.

"Now there is less demand, and it is for workers with more skills and perhaps certification by the state. This translates to less demand for low-skill, undocumented workers."

Now was there anybody out there who didn't suspect for one minute that this would be a story about illegal immigrants. It is one of the usual fluff pieces about some poor lawbreaking, illegal alien, doing the work Americans won't do having to head back to Honduras.
Look New Orleans is a cesspool and with the mayor and all of the other elected officials from that area up to their eyeballs in corruption is there any doubt that the mayor of the "Chocolate City" wouldn't exploit illegal aliens?

U.S. Census data indicates nearly 100,000 Hispanics moved to the Gulf Coast after Katrina, but the Census tends not to reach undocumented immigrants.

A 2006 survey of 200 New Orleans construction workers by Tulane University and the University of California found half were Latino and one-quarter were illegal immigrants.

They are self deporting themselves now because work is drying up, mostly due to bureaucratic delays, but hey that is nothing new for NO. It that same shuffling of responsibility and bureaucratic nonsense that put them in this mess.
Is it just me or has anybody else noticed that the recovery in Iraq is going better then the recovery efforts in New Orleans? To quote Gen Honore from those days immediately following the hurricane, "Don't get stuck on stupid."
Just for an extra chuckle here is the by line on the article.

By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO, AP

Safer in Fallujah then New Orleans

I recommend an immediate withdrawal.

But marring the celebration this year have been sporadic reports of violence. On Wednesday, a stray bullet shattered a hotel window and struck and wounded a tour guide standing inside.

Friday night, police said, a man was wounded by gunfire near a parade route that skirts the crime-plagued Central City neighborhood; Saturday night, shortly after the Endymion parade had passed, five people were hit by gunfire downtown. And early Monday, at least one man was shot on Bourbon Street.

"The violence that happens along the parade routes here and in the city (is) not surrounding parades, it's not surrounding parade goers," said Sgt. Joe Narcisse of the New Orleans Police Department. He said most of the violence is related to drugs or involves people with personal grudges.

Spectator Winter Williams agreed.

"If you're at Mardi Gras and you get shot, it's because you're doing something you shouldn't. I'm not worried at all," Williams, 34, said Monday as she awaited the parades near her tent on the St. Charles streetcar tracks.

From Michael Tottens latest post

I met a young Marine named Austin — he did not give me his last name and he wasn't wearing his rank – who grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois. “I'm from a really bad area,” he said. “I didn't even go outside when I was a kid. Fallujah is a lot better.” I believe that from what I've read about East St. Louis. “My Mom doesn't believe me. She thinks I'm hiding stuff from her. So does my sister.”
I cannot tell you how many times I heard someone say “Mom, it's fine here,” when talking to family members back home on the phone. “Don't believe everything you see on TV.”

Would You Like That in Cash or a Check?

Nothing like shooting for the moon.

Or more appropriately in this case, Saturn.

Katrina Victims Hit Feds With 489,000 Claims Including 1 for $3 Quadrillion

Three quadrillion? Goodness, I lose count once you get into the trillions.

What's next, a gazillion?

Hurricane Katrina's victims have put a price tag on their suffering and it is staggering — including one plaintiff seeking the unlikely sum of $3 quadrillion.

A whopping $3,014,170,389,176,410 is the dollar figure so far sought from some of the largest claims filed against the federal government over damage from the failure of levees and flood walls following the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane.

Of roughly 489,000 total claims, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it has received 247 for at least $1 billion apiece, including the one for $3 quadrillion.

"That's the mother of all high numbers," said Loren Scott, a Baton Rouge-based economist.

For the sake of perspective: A mere $1 quadrillion would dwarf the U.S. gross domestic product, which Scott said was $13.2 trillion in 2007. A stack of one quadrillion pennies would reach Saturn.

Some residents may have grossly exaggerated their claims to send a message to the corps, which has accepted blame for poorly designing the failed levees.

"I understand the anger," Scott said. "I also understand it's a negotiating tactic: Aim high and negotiate down."

How about stop whining and start rebuilding your lives already?

It's been 28 months and billions have been pumped into New Orleans.

At some point you need to move on and get your lives together. Enough people have already done it, but I suspect many who were used to sitting on their asses would like nothing better than to continue doing that at taxpayer expense.

Odd how we don't see such absurd suits coming from other devastated areas along the Gulf Coast, isn't it?

Empty Suit: No Hacks For Me

It's clear John Edwards has lost his mind. Get a load of this one.

Edwards wants law against "Brownies"

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Former Sen. John Edwards said at a Hurricane Katrina conference he would propose what he called "Brownie's Law" requiring that qualified people, not political hacks, lead key federal agencies.

Edwards, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, drew laughter when he spoke on Monday of the proposal at the "Hope and Recovery Summit" ahead of the two-year anniversary of the storm on Wednesday.

"It's an absolute travesty to have people who are essentially political hacks in a very responsible position," he told the audience at the University of New Orleans."

So what are you Mr. Edwards, if not the ultimate in an empty suit political hack?

Dealing with natural disasters is a local jurisdictional issue. Yes, the Fed's can come in and help, but only to the extent allowed by the local authorities.

In the case of Katrina, the New Orleans local officials have screwed it up from the very beginning, trying to grab as many Federal dollars as they can in the process.

But they're Democrats, so the media blames the White House instead.

Vitter and Another Madam?

A New Orleans brothel owner has come forward with the claim Louisiana Senator David Vitter was a frequent guest at her Canal Street establishment back in the 1990's, but the intrepid Dan Riehl has fleshed out some interesting details about one Jannette Maier.

The sordid netherworld takes another odd twist here.

Pimps, whores,and David Duke.

Only in New Orleans.

More from Fishwrap. Stacy McCain is a bit skeptical of the latest madam.

Yeah, I'm sorry, but I find it hard to take the word of someone who'd turn their own daughter into a prostitute -- and then take a 50 percent commission. Does the phrase "millstone around the neck" ring any bells?

Ray Nagin Needs Professional Help

The mayor of Chocolate City clearly has lost his mind.

Nagin Suspects a Plot To Keep Blacks Away

New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin has suggested that the slow recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina -- which has prevented many black former residents from returning -- is part of a plan to change the racial makeup and political leadership of his and other cities.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what happened in New Orleans could happen anywhere," Nagin said at a dinner sponsored by the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a trade group for newspapers that target black readers. "They are studying this model of natural disasters, dispersing the community and changing the electoral process in that community."

Nagin's remarks Thursday night recalled the controversy stirred up by his prediction in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day speech in 2006 that, despite the evacuation of thousands of black people in the wake of Katrina, New Orleans would once again become a "chocolate city." The mayor later apologized for the comment, which had infuriated many whites and African Americans.

Maybe if his city wasn't so dangerous more people, both black and white, would be willing to return.

UPDATE: More from Sister Toldjah.