Shocker: Nagin Convicted of Bribery

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who famously ordered his police and National Guard troops to disarm citizens in the aftermath of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina, was convicted today on charges that he accepted bribes, free trips and other gratuities from contractors in exchange for helping them secure millions of dollars in city work while he was in office. A jury in New Orleans found the Democrat guilty of 20 of 21 counts against him.

Nagin, among other questionable decisions, left an entire fleet of school buses that could have been used to carry residents out of the stricken city parked in their lots where they were destroyed by flood waters. Residents were then crammed into the Louisiana Superdome, leading to a profusion of lurid and often greatly exaggerated stories of barbarism.

The forced disarmament of New Orleans citizens caused such an uproar that future confiscations were forbidden by the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act in 2006.

Make no mistake about it; we've had a few crooked politicians on our side. But the number on the other side is vastly larger. Most of them have been officials in large cities, and I'm not here to say whether they're more likely to be corrupt or just more likely to be caught. But Ray Nagin certainly typifies the sort. Never trust people who don't trust you with guns.