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PART OF THE MACHINE: BAH, HOMBURG ON NIGHTLINE
ABOVE L: Eddie Jordan's flack wags her finger at ABC's Brian Ross.
ABOVE R: Dollar Bill skulks with his frond Governor Meemaw.
The once mighty Jefferson machine continues to unravel. Dollar Bill faces a tough re-election fight and probable indictment on corruption charges. His lackey on the City Council, Renee Gill-Pratfall, was handed her head by Stacy Head. And Dollar Bill's former law partner and handpicked DA, Eddie Jordan seems to be melting down. I'll get to Jordan in a minute but this post requires a set up. Here it is:
There was a piece on ABC's Nightline last night about crime in Debrisville. It was called (what else?) Big Easy Crime Wave. I lost interest in Nightline when Ted Koppell was replaced by 3 headshots so I watched the video online after reading about it in the Picayune.
The piece was reported by veteran hardass/hard news reporter Brian Ross. It starts off with some clips of media savvy Deputy NOPD Chief Tony Cannatella. Reporters love Cannatella's bluntness and brashness: he's an old school cop with information age skills. Tony gives good sound bite, y'all.
Ross moved on to a formal interview with hapless DA and Dollar Bill stooge, Eddie Jordan. Jordan was immediately on the defensive: he obviously has never seen Brian Ross's stuff and/or was poorly briefed. He made the cardinal mistake of losing his temper when on the Rossian grill. His press aide, Leatrice Dupre, interrupted the interview when Jordan pitched a fit and started ranting about stupid questions. Then, Jordan made things even worse by stomping off like a mustachioed toddler. Rumor has it that he held his breath until he turned blue, refused to eat his veggies and then stomped on his homburg.
Jordan's infantile meltdown was entertaining television but yet another civic embarrassment for New Orleans. Hell, I voted for Jordan because I *thought* he'd been a good US Attorney. I was wrong. It's increasingly obvious that his right hand man and replacement, career prosecutor Jim Letten, was the reason Jordan looked good.
Even pre-K, Jordan's office was a joke. It never recovered from the way Jefferson henchchick, Stephanie Butler, handled the transition. Butler's heavy handedness in firing white holdovers from the Connick regime led to the discrimination lawsuit that Jordan lost. The plaintiffs are still trying to collect from Jordan's office. Talking about trying to squeeze blood from a turnip.
This is a combination of the near-sighted and self-serving in power and the
(mild / moderate / hot?) predisposition of national media to make us look
like incapable idiots. Don't you wish the press covered Rising Tide
instead of jackasses like Nagin and Jordan? Grrr ... sigh ... grrr ...
sigh ... so on and so forth.
I am no big fan of Eddie Jordan, but I have to agree that they were stupid
questions. "Adrastos, the President of the National Bloggers' Association
said today that bloggers are ugly and their mother dresses them funny. Was
he talking about you when he said that?"
Jordan used to be a trial lawyer or claims to be. Ya gotta keep your cool
when people say stupid shit.
I wonder if this will decrease Jordan's approval ratings when his staff
turns in the results of their weekly polling.
I agree that the Dollar Bill machine is weak and weakening further. I
believe he will not win re-election. I'll be pulling for Ms. Carter (and
salute Levigne), but respect and fear Shepherd's rising political machine.
I think Dollar Bill will squeak by so the interesting race may be for
second place.
Canatella. Now there's a name I haven't heard in a long time. I remember
when he used to tool around the 3rd district in his copper-colored Ford
with the subtle 67B plates that advertised "look, an unmarked police car"
and harrass kids on the lakefront for entertainment.
Was it Tony hisself? There are 1.5 million po-lice named Cannatella in this
town.
I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of a door if Tony Canatella were
kicking it down! He's my favorite cop!
Actually, the more I think about it, it was Joe not Tony, but if memory
serves they are related.
I'm witcha on Tony C, blondie. He's a combination of salt of the earth New
Orleanian and hardass cop. He's a lot like my friends the Eddies: Hosli and
Selby the top two guys at the 2D.