Common Ground?

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin may have found some common ground with Pat Robertson yesterday. Do you remember outrage from the left when Pat Robertson blamed hurricane Katrina on God's displeasure? Well, that never really happened, but yesterday Mayor Nagin did it where everyone could hear.

The Norman Transcript
"Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and put stress on this country," Nagin, who is black, said as he and other city leaders marked Martin Luther King Day.

"Surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also. We're not taking care of ourselves."

In his Martin Luther King Day speech, Nagin also declared that New Orleans should become a "chocolate" city because God wanted it that way.

CNN
"I don't care what people are saying Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day."

After mentioning the mostly white Uptown neighborhood Nagin continued.

The Norman Transcript
"It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild New Orleans _ the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans," the mayor said. "This city will be a majority African American city. It's the way God wants it to be. You can't have New Orleans no other way. It wouldn't be New Orleans."

Amazingly, the AP's reporter, Michelle Roberts, though she might have been in attendance, completely "missed " both of the insane parts of Nagin's speech. She glossed over the racist comments, and didn't even mention the wrath of God.

AP via Washington Post
Nagin said he is committed to seeing a diverse city rebuilt, and he hoped that this year's King celebrations, beginning Sunday, would focus on the legacy of King and Rosa Parks, as well as those who died as Hurricane Katrina hit the city on Aug. 29 and flooded its neighborhoods.

New Orleans, which before the storm was two-thirds black, cannot be allowed to change significantly in the rebuilding process, Nagin said.

"I'm focused on rebuilding one New Orleans for everyone," he said.

If I were on the Washington Post's editorial board I'd be rethinking my connections with a news service that got a story so terribly wrong. Unless reporting it this way matches an agenda...

Imagine the furor if Pat Robertson had made these racist proclamations--on MLK day, of all days. All you have to do is remember the furor that occurred when he didn't say anything of the sort and you'll get the picture; it would have been front page news on every liberal rag in the country.

The thing is, Nagin is a Democrat, and Democrats can't be racist. Right? I'll be hoping for front page calls for Nagin's resignation, but I won't hold my breath.

 

Update: Great minds think alike.

Update: More form LaShawn Barber an Michelle Malkin. Both are disgusted with Nagin's "apology." LaShawn asks,"Isn’t anyone man enough these days to stand behind what he says?"