God, I miss New Orleans.
A daughter's college graduation and other family matters have prompted a return to Minnesota for the summer, but already I feel like I am missing out on--well--everything.
Nagin Goes for Obama
I was no sooner pointed north on I-35 when superdelegate Mayor ("chocolate city") Ray Nagin endorsed Barack Obama for president on May 13. A statement attributed to Nagin had him explaining that Obama can "heal the divisions of the past and unify this country." Heck, what about unifying and fixing New Orleans?
Would this turn of events negate my prediction of where the NOLA black vote will go this November? More about that prediction later.
The news of superdelegate posturing came just two days after a stunning robbery went down in my mid-city neighborhood shortly before I headed out for St. Charles and points west.
Drag Queens with Revealing Bust Lines in Pick Ups
The MSNBC New Orleans News Channel and WDSU reported that security cameras showed a drag queen robbing the South Carrollton Burger King. The official published report and video showed the "man," attired in "a dress with a revealing bust line and hair barrettes," boldly climbing through the takeout window and holding employees at gunpoint.
Apparently, the robber then climbed back through the same takeout window and drove away in a pickup. Why he/she did not just flounce in through the door like every other cross-dresser in the neighborhood was a mystery. I badly wanted to be back in town to ask this question. WSDU has offered no insight on this difficult point-of-entry.
May 17, the unusual Burger King caper appears to be partly solved.
Since Mayor Nagin's police force is totally understaffed and still relying upon Louisiana National Guard members to staff many of the squad cars, it fell to the forensic analysis of television station WDSU to analyze the video of the crime scene. WDSU crime and safety specialist Howard Robertson assured the public that this was a genuine cross dresser and not a cheap imitation.
"His necklace matched the dress, his nails appeared to be painted and the wig was well made," Robertson was quoted on the WDSU website.
"Most of the time when somebody puts on a wig they're just trying to hide their identity by putting on something like a Halloween Mask, but he's pretty," Robertson said.
I hope my neighborhood is resting easy, knowing that the perpetrator is one of their own and not a terrorist infiltrator.
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