NEW ORLEANSMay 30th, 2011President Tom DeLay and FoxDisney Chairman Rupert Murdoch were among the luminaries present today for the opening of Disneys New Orleans, the entertainment conglomerates newest theme park built on the ruins of the once great city. The ceremony marked the culmination of a process that began almost six years ago when the city was largely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.
This represents a triumph of innovation and partnership between the pubic and private sectors, said President DeLay, fresh from his 117th appearance before a grand jury. Once again we have shown just what the American people are capable of when we get government out of the way and let Business take care of business.
After postponing relief for the city for several years to pay for tax cuts and the war in Iraq, a deal was struck in the waning days of the Bush Administration in which the federal government acquired all the land of the former New Orleans and then leased it out to private companies for redevelopment.
The center piece of the development is Disneys New Orleans, or NoLaDisney as it is popularly known. Encompassing The French Quarter and Garden District, the park represents a nostalgic and idealized version of the Crescent City updated for the 21st century.
NoLaDisney has the music, food, and carnival atmosphere of old New Orleans without all the crime, filth, and poverty, said FoxDisneys Murdoch. Attractions include Pirates of the Caribbean: Shore Leave on the old Bourbon Street, Caf Du Petit Monde Aprs Tous on the site of the old Caf Du Monde, and a full animatronic replica of a New Orleans Jazz Funeral playing once every two hours.
However not all was happy in the newest outpost of the Happiest Place on Earth. Vice President James Dobson has long opposed the deal, citing Disneys policy of extending benefits to gay couples. And many have decried the removal of tens of thousands of residents from the 9th Ward and other poor areas of the city and their resettlement in equally impoverished regions of Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama.
Those people were largely underprivileged and are better off where they are now, said Barbara Bush, honorary chair of the Greater New Orleans Prosperity Sphere, when pressed for an explanation. Theyve been moved to higher ground among their own kind in congressional districts where the GOP really had no chance anyway.
The now empty neighborhoods have been leased to Halliburton for development as oil and chemical refinery sites. The lease was awarded on a no bid basis and terms have yet to be disclosed. When pressed for details, Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney was not forthcoming. Go fuck yourself, he told reporters over a video link from an undisclosed location.
An eleventh hour attempt to stop the massive transfer of public land into private hands failed when the Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that the governments actions were proper under the doctrine of Eminent Domain.
This is the coolest case ever!!! said Associate Justice Harriet Miers, author of the remarkably well-punctuated majority opinion. Though I dont see what Maine had to do with it. New Orleans is in Louisiana, right?
As a gesture of goodwill and an attempt to defuse controversy, Disney officials promised free park admission during the first year of operation to the families of veterans returning from the wars in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, and North Korea.
This represents a triumph of innovation and partnership between the pubic and private sectors, said President DeLay, fresh from his 117th appearance before a grand jury. Once again we have shown just what the American people are capable of when we get government out of the way and let Business take care of business.
After postponing relief for the city for several years to pay for tax cuts and the war in Iraq, a deal was struck in the waning days of the Bush Administration in which the federal government acquired all the land of the former New Orleans and then leased it out to private companies for redevelopment.
The center piece of the development is Disneys New Orleans, or NoLaDisney as it is popularly known. Encompassing The French Quarter and Garden District, the park represents a nostalgic and idealized version of the Crescent City updated for the 21st century.
NoLaDisney has the music, food, and carnival atmosphere of old New Orleans without all the crime, filth, and poverty, said FoxDisneys Murdoch. Attractions include Pirates of the Caribbean: Shore Leave on the old Bourbon Street, Caf Du Petit Monde Aprs Tous on the site of the old Caf Du Monde, and a full animatronic replica of a New Orleans Jazz Funeral playing once every two hours.
However not all was happy in the newest outpost of the Happiest Place on Earth. Vice President James Dobson has long opposed the deal, citing Disneys policy of extending benefits to gay couples. And many have decried the removal of tens of thousands of residents from the 9th Ward and other poor areas of the city and their resettlement in equally impoverished regions of Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama.
Those people were largely underprivileged and are better off where they are now, said Barbara Bush, honorary chair of the Greater New Orleans Prosperity Sphere, when pressed for an explanation. Theyve been moved to higher ground among their own kind in congressional districts where the GOP really had no chance anyway.
The now empty neighborhoods have been leased to Halliburton for development as oil and chemical refinery sites. The lease was awarded on a no bid basis and terms have yet to be disclosed. When pressed for details, Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney was not forthcoming. Go fuck yourself, he told reporters over a video link from an undisclosed location.
An eleventh hour attempt to stop the massive transfer of public land into private hands failed when the Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that the governments actions were proper under the doctrine of Eminent Domain.
This is the coolest case ever!!! said Associate Justice Harriet Miers, author of the remarkably well-punctuated majority opinion. Though I dont see what Maine had to do with it. New Orleans is in Louisiana, right?
As a gesture of goodwill and an attempt to defuse controversy, Disney officials promised free park admission during the first year of operation to the families of veterans returning from the wars in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, and North Korea.
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[Edited on Oct 20, 2005 11:08PM]