We interrupt this vacation to......

talk politics. It still surprises me how different states can be -- even parts of the same state. When I'm in Alabama it's all about football and it's easy to forget how much politics dominates life in Louisiana. However, friends and WWL bring me up to speed quickly -- even when I'm away. Take this week for instance....

New Orleans is finally tearing down one of the projects. This was scheduled before Katrina -- the residents of the project voted for it. A multi-purpose, multi-income development will take the place of the horrid conditions people once lived in. Even so.... activists (mostly from out-of-state, it seems) are trying to stop it from being torn down. A demonstration in front of HUD in D.C. is supposedly planned for today.

Here's the question no one seems to be able to answer. Who are these activists? And to go even further, what's their agenda? Maybe they think they are saving homes for the underprivileged? Maybe they think NOLA has an agenda to tear down the projects so the poor will have no place to come back to? Maybe they think NOLA is attempting to socially engineer the city? Maybe they're right -- to a point.

I don't know if there's anyone in this country who doesn't know that New Orleans failed many of its citizens. The projects were hell holes -- for the most part. People were stuck. People were being used for political advantage. You hear people tell their stories of how their ancestors came over from Italy, moved into the projects to get a start, and then moved out and up. They wonder why the group of people who've called the projects home for generations can't (or haven't) done the same.

I think some forget the circumstances under which the ancestors of many who now call the projects home, were brought to America. It wasn't a choice for them. They didn't have the freedoms to make a new life as easily as some. This is a problem that has been generations in the making and it won't be easily solved.

I don't know the answer. I know change is hard. I don't know the motives of any of the people involved. I just hope that good intentions win out and the people who have called New Orleans home for so many generations, who have helped the city function, who have contributed so much to the culture that many of us love, are able to move back into a better situation that will enable them to live better lives than before. I hope we get it right this time.

I admit that this post is not well thought out. I was writing as I thought (usually not a good idea). I present you with today's ramblilngs -- for what it's worth....