I had to think about this issue for awhile before I blogged about it. The president was here yesterday. He visited Martin Luther King Charter School and had a town hall meeting at UNO. Personally I wanted the president to stay for awhile because I feel you have to take time and travel the entire city and see the progress as well as what hasn’t been done. When it comes to New Orleans nothing beats the eyeball test when judging what is or isn’t going on. My preference would have been for him to come when he had time to check things out more thoroughly. Since that didn’t happen I won’t waste any time pouting about it. When I thought about it yesterday I realized that President Obama could have stayed here for a week and if his policies and the money don’t hit the right priorities it wouldn’t matter. We would still be in the same situation.
He’s got a few people from New Orleans in his administration. I don’t think they are going to just let him forget. I can personally attest to the fact that stimulus dollars are starting to hit the streets as we speak. I also like what happened with the housing authority and the changes there. If can make sure that the Corps of Engineers completes all of their levee projects and somehow we can get new school buildings and a medical facility or three opened from Washington D.C then he doesn’t have to worry about coming back anytime soon. Let’s see what happens in the next few months and maybe after we get our new mayor and new city council we can invite him back to stay a day or two. We had three years to make progress before he became president so I guess it’s fair to cut him some slack after all the things he has had to deal with in only nine months time. I may be going soft on President Obama. That’s probably true but if things are jacked up this time next year I won’t have a problem saying so. Right now I think we should thank him for coming, focus on our own local affairs, and see what happens.
P.S
No one should say anything negative about that little boy asking the president why people hate him. That baby doesn’t understand policies at his age. He’s only judging things by the energy he sees and feels. That kid asked the president a sincere question that he really wanted an answer to. Give that baby some credit.
9 comments:
I didn't care one bit that President Obama only stayed a short time. It's more important that he inspires people and responds in a loving way. The young boy's question was very to the point. I was happy that the town hall at UNO was covered live... all the questioners expressed themselves well. sp, n.o.
Thanks for the balanced perspective. It's worth noting that there have been several visits to NOLA by cabinet members and other administration officials. As for Terence (the little boy), he asked a good question that the president answered with his usual class.
Honestly man, I didn't watch anything and he was around the corner from here. I'll see if i can find it online today and watch it though
I appreciate your thoughtful remarks. You make a lot of sense, as usual.
Two little boys gave us contrasting and very illuminating glimpses of their parents' values yesterday, wouldn't you say?
I feel the same way Cliff. If by year things have stagnated, then I'll get indignant. But people are acting like he's never been here prior to yesterday. He came here five times just in the past couple of years. Yesterday was #6. his admin peeps come here often and he's juggling 500 priorities from groups around the country/world just as mad about their issues as we are about New Orleans.
The other thing I notice is that in all of this, he's not only maintaining his dignity and class under outrageous character assaults, he also appears to be making his family a top priority. His wife and his two daughters seem to be holding his attention and to me, that says VOLUMES about his wisdom, capacity, and commitment to doing the right thing. For now, I'm putting my trust in his ability to do his job and handle all the behind the scenes machinations that affect the pace of what we're seeing on the ground.
Hey Anita,
I would agree with your assessment on the little boys.
Obama "Crawfish One" did a good thing during his short visit here and doing the Town Hall. Just being here and reminding us that much is being done that most folk don't readily see.
Crawfish One -- that's a good one! LOL!
I don't hate the kid who asked the stupid question, but I do hate the media for reducing the entire story to that one question. I also am upset that nobody asked the president about coastal erosion or the levees.
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