Does New Orleans need a czar?

Why not? Just another character in the Mardi Gras gumbo. Czar Donald?

As this once-flooded city is flooded anew by commissions and subcommittees and study groups, the operative question is becoming: Who the heck is in charge here? "If we can't appear to get ourselves organized, how can we possibly convince the rest of the country that we can do this recovery right?" said Mel Lagarde, a health care executive who is co-chairman of Mayor C. Ray Nagin's rebuilding commission.

Wading into this tangle of internecine rivalries and push-me-pull-you Louisiana politics will be Donald E. Powell, 64, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. since 2001. President Bush named him Tuesday to oversee Gulf Coast hurricane recovery efforts.