You know, politics is something that I keep off this blog as a general rule. The main exception being looking at the implementation of web 2.0 at the governmental level. This time I have to make an exception because it is all tied together by social media.

Our *ahem* flamboyant Mayor is known locally for the extreme opacity of his administration. Repeated controversy has dogged his footsteps since the levees failed. His latest faux pas is of a distinctly digital nature and came to me via @MayorNagin on Twitter, a faux persona that has had all of New Orleans in stitches for months. Always ready with a dose of black humor tied to the latest Nagin media disaster.

(The reference to branding relates to Nagin’s infamous comment about the incredible murder rate here “keeping the New Orleans brand out there.” )

@MayorNagin – It’s just a part of my re-branding–getting rid of the e-mails, that is. Wait to you see the new 2.0 me. http://tinyurl.com/c4oumg

The news article linked above will take you a disturbing case of deliberate and possibly criminal opacity on the part of Mr. Nagin’s administration.

Via NOLA.com:

Orleans Parish Civil Court Judge Rose Ledet delivered a stinging rebuke to Mayor Ray Nagin’s administration Tuesday after learning that virtually all of the e-mails sent and received by Nagin last year and much of the information on his 2008 calendar have been erased in an apparent violation of the state public records law.

Clearly disturbed by the revelation, Ledet ordered the Nagin administration to immediately halt the practice of “destroying correspondence” by the mayor and members of his executive staff.

So in true Carnival fashion we go from satire to disturbing truths and worrisome events. @MayorNagin is a pure expression of the New Orleans spirit in that regard. It is by lampooning the dire events around us that we derive the strength to carry on. It is always the court jester wo is able to speak truth to the king after all.

So from satire on Twitter to a digital records scandal involving government emails. It’s sure been one Internet based day here in the Crescent City. People with an interest in things of this nature should keep an eye on the story, the treatment of public documents be they paper or virtual is important to all of us. Especially when coming from an administration that runs a month and a half behind on public records requests (legally they have three days) while publicly claiming radical transparency.

George “Loki” Williams is the owner of SocialGumbo, LLC

Photo: Karen Apricot | License