Our Lady of Perpetual Victimhood is NOT a parish in NOLA

Since the first French explorers established a camp here in 1699, New Orleanians have developed a reputation for being able to adapt and bounce back from adversity. From the fire of 1788, which destroyed over 80% of the buildings in the city, to yellow fever epidemics in the 1830s, to Hurricanes Betsey and Katrina, and now with the worst oil spill in the history of mankind just a hundred miles away, the people of this city have experienced their share of disasters that would have caused lesser people to fold the tent and walk away. New Orleans is not a city where people who whine a lot last very long. So, it's no surprise when I read about folks coming to town end up leaving within a year or two, because they can't nurture a local following as a victim.

Take the tea party movement, for example. When you go beyond the racial aspects of the movement, the loudest people in the group are folks who are, for one reason or another, professional victims. Take the guy from Alabama who advocates throwing rocks and bricks at Congressional offices while collecting Social Security disability. The "black helicopter" set have long part of the permanent victim class of American society.

These folks don't last long in New Orleans, mainly because we don't have time for it. Some of the most conservative (therefore, the most likely to be teabaggers) voters in the area live in St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes. Down there, people make the most of good economic times by working in the oil/gas industry, in the refineries and offshore. When the really good oil/gas jobs fall off, they turn back to the bayous and the gulf for their livelihood. They've survived boom and bust, political changes and hurricanes. Even now, when BP's oil threatens to trump all of that, they're not whining. They're angry, and they know that nobody in the area will give them the time of day if all they do is claim victim status.

On the left, what little of the city's "victim class" got washed away by the storm. There was a group of "activists" who regularly attended meetings of the Orleans Parish School Board, complaining about the "plantation mentality" of white folks in the city, but their complaints only became shriller and shriller as black OPSB members were perp-walked to Club Fed. The storm has altered the landscape of public education in the entire metro area that these "victims" are now forced to either join in to support the charter schools in the area or shut up. On issues other than education, complaints that prior to the storm arguably could have been dismissed as victim-hood are, sadly, all too real in post-storm NOLA. The fight for affordable housing leads the way in this regard.

In the political arena, victims rarely garner sympathy. You don't like how a neighborhood treats you (or a member of your family who is running for office)? There's a simple solution: don't feckin run for office. Politics in NOLA is no worse than, oh, I dunno, maybe New Jersey? Are the townships and counties in and around Princeton small islands of Platonic Democracy? Consider the value of even a seat in the Louisiana Legislature. I can see someone getting into a campaign for such a seat and not appreciating that others are willing to go to extreme lengths to win, but that's how it goes. The storm wiped a lot of slates clean, but politics wasn't one of them. Many folks who run for office have long-term goals in that regard. The storm might have been a speed bump in the path, but five years is ample time to put distance between a candidate and the speed bump. While there are always opportunities for newcomers, assuming that the "old ways" of NOLA politics died with the storm is a quick ticket to defeat. The savvy politician builds on each run for office, win or lose, working the neighborhood groups, active non-profits, and courting the folks with the money.

Like re-building lives after tough times in the bayou country, there's no room for victim-hood in politics.

New Orleans has no place for professional victims. Take that shit someplace else, like back to school.