As you might imagine, the disasters wrought by the Bush administration are very real to New Orleanians.

Indeed, as we watched the swearing-in ceremony and ate King Cake, I sensed that the excitement at the church was not for Obama himself but for the possibility of a much more fair, just country with a president who believes in the public good.

After the swearing-in, some of us went to the headquarters of the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club. The crowd was rocking to a DJ spinning the Rebirth Brass Band. Beer and fried chicken were passed around through the crowd. But the place was so packed that we couldn't stay long.

So we went over to the iconic soul food restaurant Dooky Chase for lunch. Since the levees broke, its 86 year old proprietor Leah Chase has struggled to re-open but it's humming with business now.

The service was fantastic--we were greeted like family at the door--and the candied yams were delicious. Writing about lunch at Dooky Chase, the late, great New Orleans blogger Ashley Morris observed that "if we worked anywhere else, we'd be having lunch. Here in New Orleans, we were having a world class meal." That's exactly how I felt at lunch yesterday.

On the way out of the restaurant we passed what used to be the Lafitte housing projects. In late 2007, New Orleans' City Council voted to demolish thousands of public housing units. It was an epic act of stupidity against the backdrop of an