All in a Day's Work

People have expressed shock over the mayhem perpetrated on the lawless streets and shelters of New Orleans. Perhaps we shouldn't be so surprised at the reports of rape, carjacking, and robbery. After all, the city had a crime rate 10 times the national average before Katrina.

Judging by the looting and even resignations of police officers amid the chaos, the civic culture of New Orleans has probably been fragile at best even in fat times, and now is much worse during the lean. Maybe the viciousness on display before a watching world is just all in a day's work for the thugs who have ruled the city for years.