Mississippi's Overrated Recovery

Posted by Guest Blogger at 1:17 PM on May 25, 2007.

Lindsay Beyerstein: While alligators prowl the ruins and the mail doesn't come, Mississippi's Republican governor, Haley Barbour, receives accolades.

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This post originally appeared on Majikthise

Chris Kromm and Sue Sturgis shine a hard light on Katrina recovery in Mississippi:

Today, Hancock County and the rest of coastal Mississippi are 21 months into a recovery that has garnered Gov. Haley Barbour lavish praise. Governing magazine named Barbour its 2006 Public Official of the Year largely due to his supposed post-Katrina leadership and savvy, including his skill in convincing federal lawmakers to channel billions of relief dollars to the Magnolia State. As Billy Hewes III, a Republican official from Gulfport, said: "He is to Katrina what Rudy Giuliani was to 9/11." Outsiders might be surprised to learn then, that despite the plaudits, and despite the fact that Barbour's GOP connections seem to have won him a disproportionate share of relief money from Washington, post-Katrina recovery in some of the hardest-hit areas of the Mississippi coast is moving as fast as molasses in winter. [Salon]

We learn that almost two years after the storm, residents of Hancock County, still aren't getting their mail because their post office still hasn't been rebuilt. Nor, for that matter, has any other major public building in the county.

Pretty shabby, when you consider how much more generous the Bush administration has been towards Barbour's Republican MS than it has been to Blanco's Democratic LA.

Read Kromm and Sturgis to learn why Barbour is being hailed as reconstruction hero while alligators are still prowling the ruins of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Tagged as: bush, hurricane katrina, mississippi, barbour

Lindsay Beyerstein is a New York-based photojournalist and national correspondent for Raw Story. Her work has appeared in TIME, Salon, AlterNet, and other publications. She blogs at Majikthise.

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Spurious claims. The Post Office is a FEDERAL organisation and [Report this comment] Posted by: albrechtkrausse on May 25, 2007 8:10 PM Current rating: 2 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] the governor, or any other state official, has nothing to do with the delivery of the US mail. (Notice I said Federal organisation because it is no longer a part of the actual Federal government but is a "independent establishment of the executive branch"). So, it is up to the USPS to deliver mail. Not to any State officials in Mississippi. Secondly, the American Alligator is formerly a FEDERALLY protected and is native to the region of Mississippi. Due to the protected status it, finally, has gotten back to pre-colonialism days and has been de-listed from the Federal government protection (although States still protect it and curtail hunting without seasons, bag limits, etc.) The American Alligator existed in the area long before even the Native Americans lived in the area, much less before there was a State, or governor, of Mississippi. To claim, somehow, that the government of the State made alligators appear, or allowed them to roam, is crazy. Shouldn't animals, especially ones that used to be over-hunted and Federally protected, be allowed to exist? Or should Mississippi only be casinos, riverboat gambling establishment, plantations, and suburban sprawl? [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: Spurious claims. The Post Office is a FEDERAL organisation and Posted by: SEDGFLD » As usual, Albrecht misses the point. Posted by: Ellie1 » RE: As usual, Albrecht misses the point. Posted by: albrechtkrausse » RE: Albatross scary as usual Posted by: chaoslegs Another Potemkin Leader? [Report this comment] Posted by: lessbread on May 26, 2007 4:02 PM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] As Billy Hewes III, a Republican official from Gulfport, said: "He is to Katrina what Rudy Giuliani was to 9/11." Since Giuliani's 9/11 leadership myth is a media contrivance, that appears to be a fair thing to say about Barbour... [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

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» RE: Spurious claims. The Post Office is a FEDERAL organisation and Posted by: SEDGFLD

» As usual, Albrecht misses the point. Posted by: Ellie1

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» RE: Spurious claims. The Post Office is a FEDERAL organisation and Posted by: SEDGFLD

» As usual, Albrecht misses the point. Posted by: Ellie1

» RE: As usual, Albrecht misses the point. Posted by: albrechtkrausse

» RE: Albatross scary as usual Posted by: chaoslegs