we built this city on rock and roll

the most potentially frightening aspect of what's happened to new orleans is the sudden knowledge that cities are vulnerable. while in new york, four years ago, the cry was to rebuild, the cry in louisiana is to vacate a city that has become a very literal hazard to its few remaining occupants. there is a very real question as to whether new orleans should even be repopulated.

the city has been a constant since its advent in north america, and even more so since the rural flight of the last 100 years. we've grown accustomed to the death of small towns, so much so that to find one that thrives is a surprise. we know, as much as we hate to admit it, that small towns are over. cities are all we have. they are the only context we understand, regardless of what our mythology might say. we use rupert's land for weekend recreation, but without a city's anchor, we would lose our coherence. while urban decay, suburban booms, office parks et al have complicated the urban myth, no serious challenge has been launched against the supremacy of the city. now, however, a city may have died, and our myth of the immortal city will have to incorporate, somehow, this newfound fear.

here's a question: who gets to hold their 2008 presidential convention in new orleans, the democrats or the republicans?