Letter from the Editors: Night of the Iguana

Are you ready to Pimp Don't Vote? Nothing is more of a gamble than democracy.

The first of April was a beautiful day in New Orleans, the kind of day you clutch like a life preserver while laying on the hardwoods, trying to soak up the cool in late-August. The sun was bright, the air cool, a soft breeze bearing the insinuations of sweet olive and jasmine that wasn't yet the heavy whore's perfume they'd soon become. In the French Quarter, you could forget the whole thing had happened, riding to the land of Nod on a streetcar named Desire.

The Tennessee Williams Festival is one of the landmarks of the New Orleans literary calendar; people come from all over to revel in the memory of the dead playwright, il miglio fagiore of our city's 20th century mythology. As part of the NOLAFugees.com press junket, I sat in on a panel titled "Covering Katrina" moderated by local media guru Errol Laborde. It featured Loyola professor John Biguenet (who covered for The New York Times) Joshua Clark (who covered for Slate and NPR), and John Hill and Pullitzer-nominee Chris Rose, of the Times-Picayune.

The hotel's ballroom had been packed, the crowd a fairly homogenous sample of the sort that attend literary conferences. Laborde moderated a discussion that broadly addressed the role of the media in Post-K New Orleans, both in the immediate aftermath and in the future: what went wrong, what went right, which national outlets and anchors were worthy of praise, which weren't. Most importantly, "what we learned."

It was a fairly serious discussion; Biguenet's gravitas was palpable, and Hill's clear-eyed analysis of the successes and failures of the Times-Picayune in the wake were honest and humane. Clark's on-the-street anecdotes and Rose's vaudevillian routines ("With the exception of Kimberly Williamson Butler, I've had the most public breakdown in New Orleans!"--laughter, applause), the experience was a piece of quality infotainment, as they say.

Mention was made of the role of minor outlets (Rose singled out the returning Where Y'at-- "I don't know what they'll contribute"), and the obligatory minute was spent on the internet, blogs, the potential benefits and inherent unreliability of internet journalism, the very conditions under which NOLAFugees.com was conceived.

I had a few questions to ask, but the panel didn't take any questions.

Now an apparently pivotal election is upon us, for we are told "we have only one chance for success and our margin for error is zero." This election will determine the collective fate of the city, and the hurricane season is upon us. In this issue of NOLAFugees.com, we continue our 2006 mayoral campaign coverage with interviews with nine of the candidates, including Virginia Boulet, Tom Watson, and Manny Chevrolet. Jack Moss offers his odds on the race, and Joe Longo reports on the recent debates.

After the primary, the real show will start. National attention begins to stir even as hurricane season bears down on us. In studios all over the country, producers are working on Katrina: The First Anniversary segments. One of the debates was nationally televised (albeit on MSNBC). Regardless of who becomes mayor of the city of New Orleans, the action on the city is hot, definitely hotter than the levees.

The truth of the matter is that living here is a gamble, and if you aren't willing to gamble, you shouldn't be living here.

On election night, we'll be in the dark heart of the CBD, at Handsome Willy's, betting on the race they say will determine New Orleans' fate. Also, we are selling PIMP DON'T VOTE T-shirts. And then there will be a few more beautiful Spring days left before hurricane season.

Keep it Real,

J. Lofstead, Senior Editor
NOLAFugees.com