Orwellian 'Orleans

Q: When is looting not looting?

A: When the looter is a New Orleans Police Officer.

That's the only conclusion I can come to after reading the latest from The Associated Press. The news agency reported that the New Orleans Police Department has begun an investigation into whether police officers participated in the giant looting spree that overtook the city after Hurricane Katrina.

News reports after the storm said that cops were present and participating in some of the heaviest looting, especially at the Wal-Mart in the Lower Garden District. Witnesses, which included a reporter from the New Orleans Times-Picayune said police were taking items from shelves.

The AP quotes police spokesman Marlon Defillo as saying, "Out of 1,750 officers, we're looking into the possibility that maybe 12 officers were involved in misconduct." If true, the 'Nawlins police obviously defines misconduct very narrowly.

The police department spokesman, in a bit of doublespeak worth of the best bureaucrat, also rejected the use of the term "looting," but said authorities were looking into, "the possibility of appropriation of non-essential items during the height of Katrina, from businesses."