They Really Said This

Driving around New Orleans yesterday, The Oracle was listening to local talk radio. The host and a guest who seemed to have some sort of function related to local Mardi Gras activities joined in lamenting that out of state people had ruined the reputation of Mardi Gras. It is really about neighborhoods and families, they explained. The celebration's reputation had been ruined by out of state people promoting a wilder understanding of what it was all about -- the Girl's Gone Wild version. Mardi Gras, they said, really has nothing to do with Bourbon Street at all.

The Oracle can only say that New Orleans tourism has flourished under this misunderstanding. One suspects that the Chamber of Commerce will not be aggressively seeking to correct it.