Not the time or place

New Orleans is now that place where resolve and foolhardiness flow together.

The city clearly is toxic - the mere smell tells you that, according to witnesses - and is likely to be uninhabitable for perhaps months. Yet, as many as 5,000 to 10,000 were believed to be holding out late last week against Mayor Ray Nagin's orders to evacuate.

Some may be acting out of a foolish sense of stubborn resolve. Others don't realize how dire the situation is. Still others may simply be mentally ill or temporarily delusional.

Either way, they're getting in the way - and the continuing mission to get them out is straining scarce resources and putting volunteers and emergency personnel at risk.

They need to go. They needed to go days ago.

The notion of a forced evacuation is more than a little uncomfortable in the land of the free. We're not sure how comfortable we are with Americans being forced to leave their homes. But in times of emergency, authorities need the ability to clear vast stretches of territory for everybody's well-being.

Ultimately, you can't save people from themselves, and some people may just have to be left to their own devices.

On the other hand, those who are clearly out of it mentally - who may not realize what's really going on, or may be off their medication since the hurricane - need help. It wouldn't be humane to leave them in a toxic environment devoid of the very basics of human survival, which much of New Orleans will be without for some time.

We've seen the small bands of festive residents whose spirits could not be diluted by the floodwaters. In other circumstances we'd admire their defiance against cruel fate. Now is not the time for that. New Orleans is not the place. Get out, for your sake and for the greater good.

Resolve is admirable only to the point it flows into stupidity.