Now, the levees were designed to protect New Orleans. They were tragically
under-engineered, and they still are. Even as we speak, the city continues to
literally sink towards the seafloor. The protection of the Mississippi Delta
continues to wash away with the delta itself. It is disappearing by 25 to 30
square miles, an area the size of Manhattan, each and every year. That means
that over two more acres will be gone by the time tonight`s show is over. So
tonight, here`s what you need to know. President Bush can propose to pledge
another $1 billion or hundred gazillion dollars into rebuilding New Orleans. It
doesn`t matter. You can`t change New Orleans` doomed geography. As hard as it
may be hard to say, or maybe for you to hear, the Big Easy is a lost cause. And
we`re throwing good money after bad.And more importantly, we`re sending people
back into a water hole death trap. That`s what New Orleans is. And it is as
foolish as those misguided people in Malibu who continue to rebuild their homes
on sliding mountains of mud. At the end of the day, Mother Nature always wins.
Now, the private sector, you know, if you want to go ahead and put New Orleans
back together and risk your life in that process, none of my business. But when
a dope like Mayor Ray Nagin wants to ship the poorest of the poor back into
harm`s way and says we need to do it with my tax dollars and your tax dollars,
it`s all my business. I`m all for compassion, but I`m out of tolerance for
stupidity. Now, it would be different if New Orleans were being built
bulletproof for a Category 5 hurricane, like the one that just rocked Mexico
just a week ago. But it`s not. New Orleans, the new levees, would be lucky to
weather another Category 3, the exact same storm that destroyed it two years ago
today.
I actually think that there is good reason to not rebuild the whole city. There are areas of the city that were in a position of such inherent danger that there is little if anything that can be done to make them safe. New Orleans amounts to being a very big sand bar, some of which lays under sea level. It doesn't make sense to me to build on such a foundation. Offer people who lost their homes funds to help them relocate. I know that some will talk about wanting to go back to their homes, and if they want to do that they should be able to. If they want to pay for it themselves.
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