President Reagan had it right

James Taranto at Best of the Web reports New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin isn't sure what he can do, if anything, about police officers who walked off the job in the aftermath of Katrina.

Sally Forman, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said it is not clear whether the deserters can be fired. She said the city is still looking into the civil service regulations.

Remember a few weeks back when left-wing commentators were citing Katrina as an indictment of Ronald Reagan's small-government philosophy? What we see here is Democratic big government at work. Employees walk off their job when they are most essential, and weeks later their bosses haven't figured out if that's a firing offense!

And remember then newly-elected President Reagan told the air traffic controllers he'd fire them if they walked off their jobs. They were sure he wouldn't do it. But President Reagan did.