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We just finished celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday, feasting on turkey with our families. At this time, it is also appropriate to look back over the year and nominate a select group of political leaders who qualified for our Turkey of the Year Awards. As usual, the competition was tough, but the following individuals rose to the occasion with their particular accomplishments. Here is a list of our 2007 winners:

Governor Kathleen Blanco

During the year, Blanco spent precious time, energy and resources pursuing a German steel plant to no avail. The company decided to locate in Alabama even though Louisiana was offering millions to entice them to our state. Blanco’s leadership post-Katrina was so lame that her approval ratings ranked at the bottom among the nation’s governors and she decided not to run for re-election. Since announcing that she would not run for re-election, Blanco has been traveling the world on the state taxpayer’s dime. Supposedly these trips were "economic development" missions, yet they seemed more like shopping sprees. We are still waiting to hear about all of those jobs that Blanco recruited for Louisiana from her trips to Spain and the Far East.

President George W. Bush

After stating in Jackson Square that New Orleans would not be forgotten, Bush has unfortunately not lived up to his promise. His visits to the area have pretty much stopped. In his State of the Union message, he did not even mention New Orleans or the recovery. He even vetoed the Water Resources bill, a crucial piece of legislation that includes billions in critical hurricane protection projects. Bush claimed that the bill was too pork laden, yet he has not showed similar concern about the rampant growth of government during his tenure. Thankfully, Congress disregarded Bush’s veto and overrode it.

Attorney General Charles Foti

Foti is known for spending his time prosecuting nurses, a doctor and nursing home owners. He lost on both of his high profile cases and created plenty of antipathy among the public. In fact, he failed to even make the run-off in October. In contrast, the Attorney General of Mississippi was aggressively pursing insurance companies and others who were not dealing fairly with citizens. Now there is talk about Foti running for District Attorney in New Orleans. Based on his record as Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff and Louisiana Attorney General, Foti should not be considered by the voters.

Former District Attorney Eddie Jordan

The former District Attorney fired dozens of white employees in the days after he took office in 2003. It was downhill from there for Jordan, who presided over an office that was characterized by incompetence and led to a revolving door criminal justice system. Criminals were not prosecuted and crime soared during Jordan’s tenure. The final straw occurred when a criminal hung out at Jordan’s home after fleeing the scene of a crime. After meeting the young carjacker, Jordan did not call the police, but, instead, he went back into his bedroom. Jordan eventually was forced to resign, then took a high paying consulting job with the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation. His ill-advised firing was racially discriminatory and cost City of New Orleans and State of Louisiana over $3 million to clean up. Instead of collecting a cushy consulting income, Jordan should have been made financially responsible for his mess.

Former Orleans Parish Councilman Oliver Thomas

By accepting $19,000 in bribes, Oliver Thomas betrayed the people of New Orleans who elected him to the City Council. Thomas threw away a chance to be Mayor of New Orleans when he was exposed as a criminal. He will spend 37 months in jail and thus becomes the latest example of a politician who has suffered a tremendous fall from grace. Sadly, Thomas refused to work with federal prosecutors and expose other criminal behavior. Supposedly, he did not want to be known as a "rat." Instead, he will forever be remembered as a crook.

United States Senator David Vitter

In July, Vitter admitted to a "serious sin" when his name appeared on the phone records of the D.C. Madam. After spending a week in hiding, he appeared before the cameras and refused to account for his actions. He also claimed that "those New Orleans stories" were untrue. Since then, a former New Orleans prostitute Wendy Vow Ellis, aka Wendy Cotez, has called Vitter a liar and told her story on the pages of Hustler Magazine. The Canal Street Madam Jeanette Maier also said that Vitter was a customer. This incident did not cost Vitter his job, but it did limit his effectiveness on Capitol Hill. In fact, there is still a possibility that he might be called as a witness in the trial of the D.C. Madam Deborah Jean Palfrey, not a pleasing prospect for an individual who ran on a "family values" platform.

All of these individuals deserve recognition as Turkeys of the Year, but the top honor goes to an individual who distinguished himself numerous times throughout 2007. Of course, the 2007 Turkey of the Year is none other than New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

TURKEY OF THE YEAR—NEW ORLEANS MAYOR RAY NAGIN

During his tenure, Nagin has proven himself to be not only ineffective, but also quite a hypocrite. It seems the Mayor neglected to vote in March, May and in the October 20 primary after exhorting his fellow citizens to take part in the democratic process. According to Nagin, "It was kind of offensive to me, because here I am busting my butt every day and all I’m asking citizens to do is to plug into the democratic process." Well, Mr. Mayor it is offensive that you complained about other people not voting and you did not even bother to vote.

When Nagin was asked about the high crime rate in New Orleans, he claimed that it was not all that bad because it helped the city keep its "brand out there." With the reputation as the Murder Capital of the nation, what type of brand does New Orleans have? After the march against violence in January, Nagin claimed that he would make fighting murder his number one priority. Since that time, 202 people have been murdered in New Orleans.

Nagin has also shown unwillingness to properly fund the Inspector General Robert Cerasoli, even though it is critical for corruption to be eliminated at City Hall. Nagin has also refused to deal effectively with the homeless problem in the city. In the past few weeks, a homeless city has sprung up at Duncan Plaza, right across from City Hall. Some critics call it "Naginville." Due to these missteps, Hizzoner’s influence is waning with the citizens of New Orleans. The candidates that Nagin recently endorsed for the legislature, city council and Governor all lost. If only voters were this wise before the last mayoral election.