Nick Clooney's editorial on NOLA

[Miss Mary]

Yes, he's George Clooney's dad......

Cincinnati Post

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... /509140347

What it means to miss New Orleans

"Way down yonder in New Orleans,

"That's the land of the dreamy dreams."

Translate "dreamy dreams" to "forbidden fantasies." The truth is, New Orleans has been an American guilty pleasure since before we were a nation.

From the beginning, it was so French, so Southern, so Catholic, so Black, so Exotic, so Waterbound that the stalwart, staunchly Protestant Yankees didn't know what to make of it.

For that matter, neither did the rest of the South.

Though it gave the region its nickname "Dixie" - for the bold "Dix," meaning 10 - on the 10-dollar shinplaster minted there before the Civil War, New Orleans was just as much an enigma to Atlanta and Richmond as it was to New York City.

That has never changed, though New Orleans itself has changed many times over. Gumbo is not just a famous local dish. It is also a fair description of the society.

The French and African-Americans of 1718 were mixed with the Spanish who took over in 1763. The rough and lawless rivermen of the frontier added to the stew and so did the "Kaintucks" who came by the thousands with Andy Jackson to defeat the best the British had to offer at Chalmette in 1815's Battle of New Orleans. It only added to the city's mystique that the battle was fought after the war was over.

"Basin Street is the street/

"Where all the light and the dark folks meet."

That concept was so inflammatory that even into the 1960s the lyrics were changed for national consumption to "Where the elite always meet." The question of race has always been more complicated in New Orleans than any other American city.

Some echo of the French tolerance for differences in skin color has always been part of the New Orleans story. Not that African-Americans had an easier time economically there than anywhere else. But the social interaction and, if must be said, the sexual interaction, between the races was accepted in New Orleans to a degree unknown even in the rest of Louisiana. In this atmosphere parts of the city became zones of a rough sort of equality. Jazz came bubbling up out of that experience and so did some of the greatest cooking in the world.

Still, the stark differences in opportunity - economics, educational and social - were not addressed by events such as the notorious "Quadroon Ball," nor even by Mr. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. The exploitation of the black and other impoverished population and the consequent anger and frustration led to a contempt for inept and corrupt law enforcement.

New Orleans has always been a crime-ridden city. It has often been called "corrupt," and in spite of heroic efforts by many honest people, most of the charges ring true. It is a dark, unseemly side of the city.

And yet:

"Do you know what it means

"to miss New Orleans?"

What would we do without the Vieux Carre," the old French Quarter that looks and sounds as foreign as Naples?

What would our wider culture be without jazz and blues, invented in this steamy city, which for a century has defined us - rightly or wrongly - to the rest of the world?

What would we do without the love of good cooking that is so commonplace that a lunch at a Walgreens counter there rivals the best gourmet meal the priciest restaurants elsewhere can offer?

What would we do without the ugly, smelly, bustling port that feeds our appetite for oil and sends our grain and chemicals all over the world? Without the clash and melding of cultures that produces some of our most innovative literature? Without the image of the great Mississippi curving around its last and most celebrated river city before spitting into a hundred watery fragments in the delta?

And, yes, what would we do without occasional glimpses into the ancient guilty pleasures of humankind?

When I hear politicians gravely pronounce we might be better off not to rebuild New Orleans, I smile. New Orleans will come back, and sooner than we think. People of good will say that New Orleans needs us now. That's true.

But when all is said and done, we need New Orleans more than it needs us.

Nick Clooney writes for The Post every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Write to him in care of The Post at 125 E. Court St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

[Skywatch_NC]

Mary,

A very nice and thought-provoking write up there from our dear friend Nick!
And some history, too...I've always been a big history enthusiast!

Yes, New Orleans will certainly be BACK as well as Biloxi, Gulfport and other areas affected by Katrina!!

Eric

[sunny]

Thank you for sharing this Mary!

[Stephanie]

Every city has it's "legends" and problems, but they are all unique, though maybe not as flamboyant as New Orleans. I'd hate to see New Orlean's history and culture die.

[Miss Mary]

I didn't even know it was written by Nick until the end. And of course I said well, how appropriate right now....he's such a nice man. I've always been able to see where George gets his nice-guyness from. Not to mention, uh his good looks....gotta get my hottie reference in there....LOL

FYI, George Clooney's dad Nick Clooney was actually more famous in Cincinnati, before he was. Of course Nick was known b/c of his connections to his sister, Rosemary. But quickly he made a name for himself, much the same way as a young Jerry Springer did here - in the Jouralism world that. BUT, Nick took the high road and well, Jerry really took a wrong turn somewhere.......

Eric, I knew you'd enjoy that piece and well, maybe you needed that Cindy as well.

Mary

[sunny]

I did need to see that, Mary. Having heard so much negativity, it was refreshing.

I will tell you, people are optimistic about the rebuilding of New Orleans. The heritage and culture of our city should not be lost.

Here is a little trivia for some who may not know this. The great fire in 1794 destroyed much of the French Quarter. The city was under Spanish rule at that time, so when the French Quarter was rebuilt, it was done so with Spanish "influence". So the architecture you see when you come down here is actually Spanish!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Quarter