I didn’t know 9/11 destroyed New York City…

Guess what everyone? New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin is no Rudy Giuliani according to Thomas Galvin:

The overwhelmed Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin was not up to the job. He sent out an “S.O.S.” and had a profanity laced meltdown in a radio interview instead of rolling up his sleeves and saving his city.

As soon as the World Trade Center was on fire, Rudy Giuliani told his police commissioner Bernard Kerik, “Thank God we have George Bush in the White House.”

Rudy Giuliani was the central figure of 9/11 for New Yorkers, and for the rest of the nation. As mayor he knew New York better than anyone. He had a handle on all of the agencies and was able to defly maneuver through all of the intricacies of managing America’s biggest and most complicated city in response to an unanticipated terror attack.

New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin was overwhelmed by the task at hand despite having advance warning of a hurricane. Can you even name the police commissioner of New Orleans? The commissioner’s name is Eddie Compass. In the immediate aftermath of the levees being broken in New Orleans, Nagin was ineffectual and Compass was out of sight. New Orleans police officers turned in their badges. Can you imagine if New York police and firefighters refused to run into the burning twin towers but instead turned in their badges? By the way, where are the New Orleans firefighters? No one has seen one story involving the first responders of New Orleans.

Well I declare! Silly me. I thought just the World Trade Center was destroyed on 9/11. But based on Mr. Galvin’s words, New York City was destroyed. After all, the destruction of a duo of buildings and the lives lost in them parallels the destruction of an entire city and the lives uprooted and lost. Two buildings = one city, eh? HMMM! Sounds like some of that nouveau math. Triple gag me with a spoon.

Let me be extemely clear. The destruction of the World Trade Centers and the loss of life was terrible. To this day, I feel for the victims of 9/11. BUT it doesn’t approach the devastation of the entire city of New Orleans. So to look at the behavior of Ray Nagin now and compare it to Rudy Giuliani’s behavior after 9/11 is flat out silly. Ray Nagin is human. He’s overwhelmed, upset, and disheartened by destruction he can’t comprehend. He isn’t a military general that is used to looking at devastation. He is an ordinary man that runs a city. A city that is now basically gone. Let a tidal wave roll through NYC, flooding 80% of the entire city and destroying/damaging buildings. Knocking out all communication, running water, and sewage. Then put Rudy Giuliani in charge. If that scenario was real and Ol’ Rudy handled it like a champ, then you can compare. Otherwise, your criticism is empty, flaky, and flooded with nonsense.

[zing! to Thomas Galvin]

5 Responses to “I didn’t know 9/11 destroyed New York City…”

1. Thomas Galvin says:

   September 2, 2005 at 9:10 pm

   T-Steel:

   First of all, thanks for checking out and taking the time to post a comment on my blog. I responded to your comments on my blog and I’ll repost it below. I do think you make good points in your expanded argument, here, but here is what I wrote in response. Once again, thanks…

   …Perhaps you didn’t read the title of the piece, it’s “a tale of 2 mayors” not “a tale of 2 cities.”

   I’m not comparing the physical devastation of the 2 cities. I am comparing the leadership style of 2 mayors, which is important to examine.

   Giuliani would have handled things differently than Nagin did. Many mayors in USA would have reacted differently (from both sides of the political aisle), including Chicago’s Daley, Boston’s Menino and Washington’s Williams and New York’s Bloomberg.
2. Stone says:

   September 2, 2005 at 10:49 pm

   >Giuliani would have handled things differently than Nagin did.

   Well, you have to remember that Giuliani had all of the RESOUCES thank Nagin has. Within hours he had federal help. It took DAYS for Nagin to get the help he needed.
3. Publicola says:

   September 3, 2005 at 12:06 am

   Look, I just heard Nagin talk. I’m no fan of Guilianni but he at leats had a clue. Nagin is in a tough spot for sure, but judging from his words I’d say he’s bordering on incompotence. He actually said some things that were just so ridiculous that I was hoping it was someone doing a parody of him. To think that he got elected is further enhancement of my cynicism towards voters. The guy was elected mayor. Now most of the time the job isn’t as stressful as it is now. & most of the time, the vast majority of the time you don’t have your city wiped out under your watch. But that’s one of the things you should keep in mind when you pull the lever inside the booth - that the guy you’re voting for might have to deal with a crisis.

   I know it’s easy to criticize someone in his position, but honestly he does not make it any more difficult. In fact he helps you crtique him. An active crack addict could beat him in the next election just using clips from Tuesday to Friday of this week.

   The destruction in NY was limited to 2 buildings. It had serious nationwide implications but all they had to immedietely deal with was two skyscrapers. NO has been smacked down. I don’t think anyone was ever trying to compare the level of actual damage to the two places.

   But that doesn’t mean you can’t make a determination about who was on his game. Guilliani would have done many things I didn’t like, but he would have had an air of purpose & the semblence of competence. Nagin - he doesn’t knwo what’s going on or why it’s going on. He’s just saying other folks should have bailed him out so it’s their fault.

   Nagin just isn’t handling things. Guilianni might not have done any better, but you’d have got the feeling that he was at least trying to handle things.
4. Tom Strong says:

   September 3, 2005 at 1:14 pm

   The comparison seems invalid to me as well. I notice that Gavin does not speculate how Giuliani, acting as mayor of New Orleans, might have done things better - especially given the already existing corruption of that city’s government.

   I mean no disrespect to Giuliani - I’m a former New Yorker and he did good that day. But condemning Nagin under such different circumstances is ridiculous.
5. Brandon says:

   September 4, 2005 at 9:59 am

   Normally, I would simply ignore a man such as Galvin. If I thought he had any power though, I would certainly castrate him.