"Normally, the theory is that locals can speak for themselves, " said the official. "But this is in a time of severe challenge for us, and they were criticizing the president of the United States. If they had criticized Ray Nagin, we'd have nothing to say about it."
Thou shalt NOT criticize THE ONE .
Farther down in the article is the interesting bit about the National organization trying to take control of local assets. Could it be the National Acorn is hurting for cash?

This here is BS, though.
The national entity is also making a play for roughly $90,000 in hurricane relief money controlled by the local group, Butler said.
I doubt that the state will step in, but they should.