I have been accused of “intellectual laziness” by one of our readers.
That comment came after I posted my last story about Billy Nungesser’s negating 18 writs of mandamus filed over his failure to take certain actions and to produce public documents requested by the Plaquemines Parish Council in 2010 during the time he served as Parish President. https://louisianavoice.com/2016/04/26/insight-into-nungesser-disregard-for-laws-revealed-in-his-blatant-disregard-for-public-records-demands-other-actions/
“Must be a slow news week,” said the writer, who identified himself only as “Who Cares.” He went on to say, “Reporting on topics six years old is intellectual laziness.”
Well, Who Cares, or whatever your real name is (probably a political ally or even Nungesser himself), it really wasn’t intellectual laziness, but an effort to let readers know the type individual who now holds the second-highest elective office in state government.
The point of that story was to illustrate the past may well be prologue (to borrow a phrase from Shakespeare’s The Tempest…or was it that 1967 episode of Ironside?), i.e. if he was capable of such abuse of office then, who’s to say he won’t attempt the same type shenanigans as lieutenant governor?
Oops, sorry. We almost forgot: he already has. https://louisianavoice.com/2016/04/12/louisiana-has-a-new-clown-prince-but-its-egg-not-a-pie-all-over-lt-gov-nungessers-face-after-succession-of-blunders/
So, Who Cares, there was a relevance to the post and if you thought that was old news, read on.
Precisely five years ago today (April 28, 2011) Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell sent quite a testy letter to Nungesser who at the time was ramping up his first run for lieutenant governor barely six months after his October 2010 re-election as Parish President.
And lest anyone think our rehashing of Campbell’s five-year-old letter is an endorsement for his election to the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by David Vitter, it’s not. We have not and do not intend to make an endorsement in that race.
But Campbell took Nungesser to task for his political exploitation of the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico and for his failure to take the lead in coastal restoration prior to that disaster.
Here is Campbell’s letter in its entirety:
I received your letter on your thoughts of running for Lieutenant Governor. You wrote that you have been busy helping Plaquemines Parish and our state to recover from Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill. You described “struggles with federal bureaucrats” and your amazement that a foreign company (British Petroleum) would be put in charge of cleaning up the spill.
You’ve concluded that you can do the most good for Louisiana by leading the effort to rebuild our image as Lieutenant Governor. You asked for my opinion, so here it is:
I wrote to you and all Louisiana elected officials after watching you and Gov. Jindal on national television following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil well. You and the governor were taking every media opportunity to express your anger at BP and the federal government.
My question then, and now as well, was: Where have you been?
You have been leader since 2007 of the parish that is Ground Zero for coastal erosion, and yet, I have heard not a word from you about the part played by other “foreign” and multinational oil companies in damaging Louisiana’s coast.
Louisiana political leaders have known for years that oil and gas production has contributed heavily to the destruction of our marshes. It is also well-established that the force of Katrina which ravaged Plaquemines Parish and southeast Louisiana, was heightened by the loss of our barrier islands to erosion.
The silence of you, Gov. Jindal and other elected officials from coastal Louisiana is deafening when it comes to asking major oil companies to pay for the damage they’ve caused. Your later father (William Nungesser), who (sic) I knew well, worked for the only statewide politician to make such a demand, Gov. Dave Treen. He was absolutely right.
As destructive as it has been, the BP oil spill is minor compared to the devastation of coastal erosion which costs Louisiana a football field of land every hour. Maybe it is easier to go on CNN and rant about BP and a federal government perceived as unpopular in Louisiana than to stand up to powerful corporations doing harm to our coastline.
I have written to you, Mr. Jindal, Mr. Vitter, Ms. (U.S. Sen. Mary) Landrieu, Mr. (U.S. Rep. Steve) Scalise, and others on this issue and I never get a reply. Maybe when you run for Lieutenant Governor, you can tell the rest of the story. I would welcome a frank discussion with you on Katrina, BP, coastal erosion and the oil industry. Let’s ask Tulane to host an event in New Orleans. Let’s determine who owes who (sic) for what. I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Foster Campbell
Public Service Commissioner
C: Louisiana Elected Officials
Prof. Oliver Houck (Tulane University Law School)
No further comment seems necessary.
No offense, but Foster Cambell is the biggest wind bag/waste of space in Louisiana. Dude doesn’t have an original thought in his head. He is a party hack. A prominent democratic friend said he listened to his speech at the BR press club last month and actually made the remark that he feels “dumber” for doing so.
As is said, the post was not an endorsement but in this case, the criticism of Nungesser does appear valid, the vehicle for same notwithstanding.
I think I like Nungesser better after that letter. Who writes something like that?! It just shows Campbell to be a severe asshat.
@fairness2014: I’d say the moral of the story is be careful what you wish (or ask) for. Billy asked and it appears that Campbell answered.
Now, that’s funny, I am certainly not a big Campbell supporter, but I don’t think anything he said in this letter was wrong. I would also venture to say that Nungesser might give him a run for his money as to who gets the biggest wind bag award.
Keep up the good work, Tom. Anyone defending Pinky Nungesser is surely just a rider on the Gravy Train!
Summary item from today’s Greater Baton Rouge Business Report:
“On tour: Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser is launching a statewide tour next week to promote Louisiana’s tourism efforts and to celebrate National Tourism Week. The Associated Press reports the Republican lieutenant governor, in office since January, will have multiple stops at visitors’ centers, historic sites and other tourist locations around Louisiana from Monday through Friday. He’ll begin Monday in Port Allen and wrap up the tour Friday in Lake Charles. Other stops include Lafayette, St. Francisville, New Orleans, Houma, Morgan City, Opelousas, Alexandria, Natchitoches, Ruston, Monroe, Shreveport and Lacassine. Nungesser will be traveling in a van wrapped in the state’s current tourism marketing campaign and statistics, and will post about his travels on Twitter and Facebook. Tourism was an $11.5 billion industry for the state last year, with Louisiana drawing nearly 29 million visitors in 2015.”
2 Questions:
1. Is this tour intended to promote tourism or Billy Nungesser?
2. Given the very limited funding available to promote Louisiana tourism, coupled with the fact we only have a true state net economic gain from out-of-state tourists, would a better use of money be touring Louisiana or promoting Louisiana in other states?
Excellent Stephen.
The state tourism budget has been cut so much, despite the economic benefit of the sector to Louisiana, that it is important to promote tourism within the state. I see the purpose of the tour to build support for properly funding museums, parks, and festivals. You can advertise Louisiana all you like in New York and California, but it’s not going to do much for the economy when those tourists arrive and the lights have been turned off. In other words, don’t let your personal dislike for someone cloud your thinking.
I absolutely love Foster Campbell. Nungesser is David Vitter. The Republicans will use taxpayer money to promote themselves, thus saving all of their pac money to throw up smoke screens. I share Campbell’s favorite book, “Lonesome Dove”, and to paraphrase Gus “well, Woodrow, whores(republicans) need loving too” ron thompson