Haley Barbour is a loathsome sewer creature

"We're not into being victims," Barbour said after a year of post-Katrina life in Mississippi, implying that those of us who live in Louisiana are.

There are a couple of significant differences between Louisiana and Mississippi:

• The towns on the Mississippi do not have to rebuild and repair their levees before they can get down to the business of recovering.

• Our governor did not ever serve as the chair of the National Republican Party

And even if all things were equal, Louisiana's slower progress is certainly not the choice of the people of Louisiana. Most Louisianians have had no choices at all.

There are a lot of people in Mississippi who haven't, either. The casinos in Biloxi/Gulfport are being rebuilt, but there is no one to staff them because there is no rental relief for the working poor. Millions of dollars are flowing to homeowners, but those who rent cannot return to their homes and take low-paying jobs in the casinos and hotels.

Barbour has been nasty from the get-go. He has asked Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco to cooperate on projects that benefit Mississippi, but has refused cooperation on projects that benefit Louisiana.