Malkin hacks out another post. This time it involves New Orleans beingrejected as a site for a presidential debate. What bothers me is that on one level Malkin doesn’t now what she is talking about and on another level won’t admit what a teenager could figure out…New Orleans would be the last city in America that a Republican would want to have stand in, to debate and defend Republican domestic policy. Malkin claims that NOLA Democrats are “really really mad,” ignoring the non partisan groan and anger coming out of New Orleanians upon realizing the negative impact of the national publicity likely to result from the debate commission’s claim that supposedly New Orleans is not ready to play host. I guess it is just too much reality for Malkin that regardless of political party a New Orleanian would not be happy with such news. ButBehold this from Malkin:

New Orleans Democrats are really, really mad that their city wasn’t
chosen. They’re accusing the panel of politics for not wanting to turn
the debate forum into a politicized, Katrina-focused indulgence. Me,
me, me, me, me, me, me:

New Orleans took offense at its omission, with a leader of one
Louisiana advocacy group saying she had been told that the city had not
recovered sufficiently from Hurricane Katrina to act as host of such an
event. New Orleans was one of 16 finalists and has attracted major
conventions since the hurricane devastated much of the city more than
two years ago.

Where in that above paragraph from theNYT article titled “Panel Picks 4 Debate Sites, Angering Excluded New Orleans” does it say Democrats? Malkin must be assuming that “New Orleans” and “leader of one Louisiana advocacy group” = Democrats. Let’s look at that because it really bugs me when one acribes something to individuals or groups without facts to support such.

The “leader” and “group” cited would be Anne Milling founder of the Women of the Storm. It wasWomen of the Storm, “in concert with Dillard, Loyola, Tulane and Xavier universities” that lead the effortto bring a presidential debate to New Orleans. 

Let’s look at Women of the Storm. I have followed press accounts of the group and their work since its inception post Katrina because it is an extraordinary group. Malkin obviously has not. It is specifically a “non-partisan, non-political group” founded to “educate the elected leadership of this country about
the urgent needs of the areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.” Members are “culturally, socially and economically diverse.” Many are also from the upper crust of New Orleans society. For example go readthis Times Picayune article about the 6 women who comprise the “core leadership.” These are women who are leaders in the community and beyond as illustrated in a portion from that article which involved the networking efforts of one of the core, Peggy Laborde and another member with ties to none other than Laura Bush…

In classic networking fashion, Laborde this week was in
the process of orchestrating an audience with Laura
Bush’s chief of staff, relying on connections through
Adriel “Sparky” Arceneaux, a member of Women of
the Storm, who Milling said is a former roommate of the
president’s wife.

I would submit Malkin has no idea who the members of that advocay group are. Rest assured they are not the dirty f&*%ing hippies of NOLA but rather many would be considered the finest example of Southern genteel womanhood.

And what of Anne Milling who was a driving force behind the effort to bring the debate to New Orleans? Who dared speak the obvious that politics trumped morals in the commission’s decision because as shestated… “Supposedly, many people said that they would not be comfortable coming here”? Is she a Me,
me, me, me, me, me, me Democrat as Malkin would have you believe? Well it is impossible to tell from press accounts as Milling and the group have been rigorous in maintaining they are non partisan.That really is the point here but to put a finer point on that… searches of theFederal Election Commission doesn’t yield anything to confirm Malkin’s claim. Anne Milling contributed $1000 to Mary Ladrieu in 2002 and 2007 but also contributed $1000 to George W Bush for President in 1999. Milling is married toKing Milling who is the president of Whitney National Bank. Mr Milling contributed to Republicans Robert Smith (2002), Bobby Jindal (2004 & 2005) and to the Republican Party of Louisiana (2003) He made no (which I could find) contributions to Democrats.

Perhaps Malkin should have dug deeper by driving past the Uptown homes of the members of Women of the Storm to decipher their political affiliation prior to writing her post. Of course she could still do so. Michelle go to New Orleans!

But beware Michelle residency may trump politics on this one. You may
just find that New Orleanians believe their beloved city deserves to be
rebuilt, deserves to host a presidential debate, deserves an honest
answer when rejected, deserves to question such rejection regardless of
membership of political party and most decidedly would take umbrage
with undeserved claims the city is not ready for a debate.

Finally Malkin goes on to quote Landrieu and Blanco. Landrieu was not really
really mad but “disappointed” at the apparent lack of impartiality by
the debate commission. The Blanco quote states there
would be “no better way to help” the city’s recovery through tourism
than by hosting a debate. Where is the really really mad in that? But even here
Malkin screws up by innaccurately referring to Blanco as the “former”
governor of Louisiana. A commenter pointed out that Blanco is indeed the
present Governor necessitating Malkin to add the correction of
“soon-to-be” former Governor.

Hack.