I do have thoughts on Deepwater Horizon, but that will have to wait for later this week. Today is a day of celebration.

It may be disputed as to whether 69th mayor was the worst mayor in the history of New Orleans, but it will hardly be disputed that he was not the right man for the job immediately after Katrina. To have seen one whose platform be based on "business" and "clean up corruption" turn around to hire a tech chief who allegedly pocketed hundreds of thousands on non-working technology (Greg Meffert), let Montgomery Watson Harza use the city as an ATM (recovery project management), and attempt to end-run through "contracts for nothing" that couldn't be reimbursed with federal dollars (Municipal Auditorium), it's a shame really. I have to wonder if, in 2002, he only saw his election as a payday, his turn to move the dollars around, and nothing more.

If you hear one thing from me, public, hear this: money is not the be-all end-all in life. If you hear a second thing from me, hear this: just because your hands control purse strings does not give you license to direct someone else's money to yourself or to your buddies without just cause.

As Mitchell Joseph Landrieu (a.k.a. "Little Moon") is sworn into office in about 80 minutes, I don't doubt there will be some dancing in the streets by some truly cynical pundits. I, for one, will be grinning up here in Illinois. I'm not about to christen him as the Savior of Perdido Street, but it would be very difficult to do worse than the blundering incompetence that hallmarked the Nagin mayorship.

-KIE