New Orleans Mayor Nagin: killings help market the city's "brand"

[blitzen]

could Nagin possibly be more of a bumbling doofus?


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LA_NAGIN_CRIME_LAOL-?SITE=LABAT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT



NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Mayor Ray Nagin said he worries that killings send the message that the city is dangerous, but the news also "keeps the New Orleans brand out there."

Nagin, whose city has recorded at least 117 murders this year, told WVUE-TV it's a "two-edged sword."

"It's not good for us, but it also keeps the New Orleans brand out there, and it keeps people thinking about our needs and what we need to bring this community back. So it is kind of a two-edged sword," he said, according to a station transcript. "Sure it hurts, but we have to keep working everyday to make the city better."

Anti-violence activist Baty Landis called Nagin's comments "stunningly insensitive."

"New Orleans is not a brand, it's a city," Landis, whose SilenceIsViolence group in January helped lead a march on City Hall demanding a response to the rash of violent crime. "We're not products. We're people with lives, some of which are being taken by other people."

[acmavm]

1. Normally I would say no. But this is Naugin. He has a remarkable way

of topping every crass and stupid thing he says with something even more crass and stupid.

Seems like that's a talent that most of today's politicians have (in abundance).