[timotheeeee]

I don't really know the context of that quote, but I'm willing to put forth that he meant it in the same way that any normal person with a stretch of bad luck would mean it. Much like I might say "whoa, bad karma" at bad luck even though I don't believe in karma.

Robertson and Falwell have explicit reasons and genuinely believe in baneful divine intervention meant to suade iniquitous heathens away from their base and depraved lifestyle. This is probably not what Nagin meant.

As for his other comment, who knows. There obviously is a difference between a white person saying 'I want a vanilla city' and a black guy saying 'I want a chocolate city.' The former would most likely be motivated by racism while the latter could be an ill-worded wish that their representatives not be some remote white guy that doesn't really understand their issues and problems. With the recent history of New Orleans I can't say I really blame him.

But I'm open to debate. Like I said I don't know the context of all this stuff so I'm just speculating.