Today in front of the Margaret Haughery Monument, the volunteer members of the Monumental Task Committee, Inc. (MTC) will release more than 31,000 petitions in support of keeping all of the monuments in New Orleans. The MTC is a 26-year old non-profit organization. Volunteer members work tirelessly to restore, repair, and maintain all of the monuments in New Orleans.

In his bid to remove four Confederate monuments, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has divided the city over an issue that until recently was not being discussed. The Mayor turned a non-issue into a controversy when he decided to make the removal of the monuments a top priority of his administration. Unfortunately, while the Mayor and his underlings spend precious time on the supposed problem of four inanimate objects, too many of his living and breathing constituents are facing the threat of violent crime on the streets of New Orleans.

One can argue that US Senator and now Louisiana gubernatorial candidate, David Vitter, gets pleasure and political mileage, in knocking a Landrieu at every opportunity.  He helped torpedo Senator Mary Landrieu’s ship last year by backing fellow republican Bill Cassidy.  Now, he has another Landrieu in sight, her brother Mitch, the Mayor of New Orleans.

As New Orleans continues to burn, our emperor, Mayor Mitch Landrieu, continues to fiddle. In the first six months of 2015, violent crime has surged in New Orleans. Compared to last year, rapes have increased 61% and murders are up 30%. Since the end of June, murders have increased at an even more alarming rate. At this pace, murders will reach 200 in 2015, the highest level since 2007.