Send lawyers, guns and money

It's a sad fact of radio that some of the most compelling -- and real -- broadcasting you'll ever hear comes when, to finish the Warren Zevon line in the hed, "the s*** has hit the fan."

At WWL, the New Orleans blowtorch on 870 AM, Garland Robinette seems to be the epicenter of compelling radio, as he and his beloved city try to dodge what's been flying out of the fan since Aug. 29, 2005.

He was on the air as people called the station on their cell phones as the floodwaters rose around them in their attics. On the air as Katrina literally blew apart WWL's high-rise studios. On the air as he held on for dear life when the windows blew out, fighting against being sucked into the maelstrom and to his death.

Likewise, Robinette was on the air in the chaotic aftermath of the storm, when Mayor Ray Nagin called in, desperate, demanding that the state and federal governments "get off your asses and let's do something, and let's fix the biggest g**damn crisis in the history of this country."

NOW, AS NAGIN fails to heed his own advice of nearly two years ago -- as New Orleans continues to slide into mayhem and anomie -- Robinette is still there to chronicle the devolution of a crippled, dying city.

And as a once-grand city literally fights for its life in a sea of ruin during a reign of murder (the 2007 homicide count already has surpassed 100) it is saddled with a district attorney who barely can prosecute -- and certainly can't convict -- anyone. For Robinette, and for many other New Orleanians, the last straw came last week, when DA Eddie Jordan dropped charges against an alleged quintuple murderer because he couldn't find the witness.

After he dropped the charges -- without consulting the police department -- homicide detectives tracked her down in three hours. She was still willing to testify.

Thursday, Robinette devoted all three hours of his afternoon show on WWL to calling for the resignation of Jordan, laying out his case against the DA far more effectively than Jordan's prosecutors have against the Crescent City's burgeoning criminal element.

Friday, he did the same, expanding his assault by acknowledging the elephant in the parlor -- an African-American power structure in New Orleans that keeps incompetents like Jordan in office, directly adding to the misery (and to the continuing slaughter) of their fellow African-Americans in the city's Third World ghettos. Robinette cited Jordan -- the protege of indicted U.S. Rep. William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson -- as the poster child for that corrupt, self-serving system.

Then, a bit later, the veteran New Orleans broadcaster expanded his assault yet again to Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti, who served 30 years as the Orleans Parish criminal sheriff. Foti, at the behest of Nagin, Thursday announced an "investigation" of Jordan's office.

But, according to Robinette, the embattled Jordan -- who Foti is supposed to "investigate" -- is the only district attorney on the roster of Foti's political backers. No conflict of interest there, eh?

That's the background of the host's first question to Foti when he called in to the show Friday: "Why should we trust you to come in and fix this?"

When Foti launched into a litany of his glorious deeds as Louisiana AG, Robinette was having none of it.

"Let me read you a long list of. . . . The DA is the only, the only DA -- Jordan that is -- on a long list of your supporters. That gives us pause as to whether or not you can do anything," the broadcaster began.

"Second of all, your comments about Dr. Pou and the two nurses . . . we've had legal ethicists on this show that said what you did was unethical, so we've got. . . .

Foti interrupts. "I . . . I think you're trying to turn the conversation."

Robinette plows ahead, though.

"No, no. I'm saying 'Why should we trust you?' Why should we trust you, of all people, to come in and fix this situation?"

Foti responds by reciting his resume . . . and yet more of his post-Katrina wondrous deeds. And a testimonial to his "longstanding love affair with the city and the people."

Robinette: "Here's a quote from Allen Usry, supposedly your political alter ego for 30-something years. . . ."

"I don't want to hear a quote from Allen Usry. Thank you, Garland." (Click.)

But Robinette is undaunted. He keeps going.

"I'll tell you what he says, 'cause I know he's still listening, 'I've known Charlie Foti for 32 years. My problem with Foti is he's not reliable.'

"Think I got any apologies to you? Think again."

AND A MINUTE LATER, the WWL host throws the high, hard one:

I'm tellin' ya. . . . This is the man the mayor brings in, our power structure brings in to fix this? Gimme a break.

Tellin' ya' New Orleans, one man's opinion . . . maybe I'm crazier 'n' hell . . . you better wake up. You had better wake up; you better understand what's happening here.

This is not just about a district attorney. This is about a city that's broken. This is about a crime . . . about a judicial system that's horribly broken, and it needs to be fixed. We've got leaders who have told you for a year and a half to come back to this city.

I just spoke to an attorney general that's probably been more responsible for driving doctors and nurses out of this city and state than any other person. We just spoke to a gentleman that has 30-year friends on record as saying he's not reliable -- and this is who the mayor brings in.

We've had legal experts here tell us today that by bringing in the national DAs, you can't do much. By bringing the special prosecutor of the Supreme Court, you can't do much. This is beginning to sound like a statement that says to you 'This crime problem can't be fixed. To hell with the poor black people of this city that are being. . . .

(breaks down sobbing)

A CITY FIGHTING FOR ITS LIFE. A radio host trying to start a revolution armed only with righteous anger, guts and a microphone. The old guard trying to avoid the Full Ceausescu. That's drama.

That's compelling radio, and you don't know how rare that is today. Well, maybe you do, being that statistics show you don't much listen to radio anymore.

But once in a very blue moon, someone with passion and talent still commits compelling radio in a valiant attempt to serve the public (a lost concept in broadcasting). This week -- and for much of the past two years -- that person has been Garland Robinette of WWL in New Orleans.

And, in a world crying out for just the manna Robinette's audience is lucky enough to feed on, someone needed to point that out.

LISTEN to the audio.