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Archive for January, 2017

I received an email from an acquaintance whom shall remain nameless for two reasons.

  1. He didn’t compose the idiotic tripe so there is no reason to single him out;
  2. I don’t want to embarrass him needlessly just because he has drunk the Trump Kool-Aid.

But I cannot let this pass without addressing the content of the message, as intellectually weak and morally empty as it is.

Be proceeding any further, I also want to point out that a spokesman for the Louisiana Republican Party recently described me as a liberal blogger. He is incorrect. I am neither a conservative nor liberal. I am a recovering Republican who voted the Republican ticket faithfully until the Bobby Jindal accident. It was because of Jindal and the Republican programs that I, like a two-week-old puppy, finally opened my eyes.

Coincidentally, on the heels of the diatribe below, The Atlantic on Sunday published an article ARTICLE by Eliot Cohen entitled “A Clarifying Moment in American History,” which reads as if it was written in response to that email.

Rather than respond to the email at the end of the distorted message (in boldface), I am inserting my comments in italics throughout the document.

So without further ado, here goes:

GOOD MORNING. WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, a Christian nation, land of the free and home of the brave.

Press ‘1’ for English.

Press ‘2’ to disconnect until you learn to speak English. There has been an ongoing effort for years to preserve the Cajun heritage in South Louisiana, including the Cajun French language. No one seems to complain about that. Elsewhere in this country, no one seems to object when Swedes, Danes, Italians or Asians speak in their native tongues. Somehow, it’s only when Latinos or Middle Easterners do. But here’s a thought: If you’re so determined that everyone learn the language of their new home, perhaps we should all be speaking Apache, Comanche, Navajo or some other Native American dialect. Can you say “two-faced moron”?

And remember only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom. Not really sure what point is being made here but in my lifetime, the highest body count came from Vietnam, a country we had no business in, fighting a war without clear objectives other than a flawed philosophy called the “domino theory,” and where probably 90 percent of those killed were those who unfortunates who lacked the political connections to avoid the military draft in effect at the time. Don’t think any of those “offered” to die for me. In fact, one of the bravest men of that era, a Muslim, by the way, was stripped of his Heavyweight boxing title because he refused to sacrifice his religious principles.

2017, A NEW YEAR AND A NEW BEGINNING WILL SOON BE HERE. 
A Nation of Sheep – Breeds a Government of Wolves! And the rhetoric of wolves seems to breed a nation of sheep.

Borders: Closed. And the Native Americans wish they had thought of a wall way back when.

Language: English only. (See response to “Press 2 for English above.)

Culture: Constitution and the Bill of Rights!!! Soooo glad you brought up the Constitution and Bill or Rights. In fact, let’s go straight to the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” Let’s take the “establishment of religion” first. The prohibition of certain religions like Islam is a prohibition of the free exercise of religion in no uncertain terms. I recently read an online post which noted the irony of a country founded on the principle of allowing freedom from religious persecution now using religion to persecute freedom.

Now let’s talk about my favorite subject: freedom of the press. Thomas Jefferson is a man the so-called “patriots” love to quote and the uber-patriotic American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) even gives an annual Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award (Bobby Jindal is one of the recipients). That said, it was Jefferson who said given the choice between a government with no free press and a free press with no government, he would not hesitate to choose the latter. But der Führer Trump rolls out Sean Spicer to whine over the media’s attendance figures for the inauguration (as if that was an issue of real import) and Kellyanne Conway first invokes something called “alternative facts” and followed that with a complete meltdown on Fox News Sunday when she called for the firing of any journalist who wrote or said anything critical of her boss. Apparently the Trumpets’ first priority is, to paraphrase William Shakespeare in Henry VI, Part II, to kill all the journalists.

Drug Free: Make a drug screen mandatory for anyone on welfare and/or food stamps!

No problem. Provided that members of Congress, the President, Vice President and members of the President’s Cabinet be held to the same standard—because sometimes it seems they’re all on crack.

No freebies to Non-Citizens or illegal immigrants!

Again, let’s prohibit special perks like a gym, dining hall, barber shops, franking, and limos for members of Congress and throw up our own wall—blocking lobbyists’ access to lawmakers.

WITH THE ELECTION OF DONALD TRUMP, WE THE PEOPLE, WILL BE HEARD AT LAST.

Seriously? You really believe in your heart of hearts that your opinion matters to this egomaniac? You poor, pathetic, misguided person, you are in for the biggest disappointment of your Kool-Aid-drinking life.

(AND TO ALL MY LIBERAL FRIENDS OUT THERE – REMEMBER THE IMMORTAL WORDS OF THE NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT OBAMA IN 2008:

“ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES…..I WON ……YOU LOST…..GET OVER IT!”). WE REMEMBER!

Well, first of all, you moron, it was in 2013, not 2008, that he made that statement.

That being said, the person who sent this email to me also asked that I give Trump a chance.

Sure, no problem. I’ll give Trump the same chance all those who hate Obama for no other reason than the color of his skin (and don’t even try to deny that) gave him. When Republican Congressional leaders said they would not support an Obama Supreme Court nominee “no matter who it is,” what does that tell you about bipartisanship? When Rush “Pass the OxyContin” Limbaugh said in 2008 that he hoped Obama would fail, what does that tell you about pseudo-patriotism?

But did Obama fail as a president? Well, first of all, he inherited a catastrophic economic crisis when greedy Wall Street investment firms run amok, intoxicated on deregulation, went into a financial free fall, threatening the economic well-being of not just the U.S., but the entire world. Wall Street not only recovered, but has been consistently breaking new records. Only last week the Dow hit 20,000 for the first time in history. Along with that, unemployment has been cut in half during Obama’s eight years—and this from an administration that Republicans in Congress tried to block at every turn.

But do you can find a single Trumpet who would give a nod of approval to Obama. You can check that box “NO” with a red, heavy-duty Sharpie. How else could you explain support for a man who cheated people out of millions of dollars with his Trump University? How else could you explain that support when the Florida Attorney General abruptly dropped her investigation of Trump University after Trump gave her a $25,000 campaign contribution? And don’t try to say there was nothing to investigate when we all know there was massive fraud.

One final note: Trump is so frightening, so deranged, so mentally unstable and so narcissistic, that I find myself longing for the comparative sanity and ethical integrity of Bobby Jindal.

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There was a popular game about 40 years ago called “Whack-a-mole.” (For all I know, it may well still be around.) Anyway, the object of the game was for a player to “whack” a rodent with a rubber mallet each time it appeared out of one of five holes. The problem was each time a mole was “whacked”, it invariably popped up again from one of the remaining four holes.

So it is with certain news stories that just when you think you’ve written about all there is to say on the subject, up pops another angle to pursue.

This time though, two separate—and seemingly unrelated—stories that have been covered extensively in the past by LouisianaVoice have now converged to warrant a fresh look at old news.

Before I go any further, I should acknowledge the ever-sharp eyes of my bronchitis-infected friend and Ruston High School classmate John Sachs (Class of ’61). It is he, after all, that brought an otherwise routine local news story in the Farmerville Gazette to my attention. (I guess I’m going to have acquiesce and give him that honorary Deputy Ace Reporter badge he’s been clamoring for.)

Eagle-Eye John called me about efforts to hire a private prison management company to take over management of the 380-bed Union Parish Detention Center. You may recall that LouisianaVoice had a couple of stories about the facility last year, on MAY 10 and MAY 31 about a convicted rapist who was allowed out of his cell to rape a female prisoner. Twice.

That incident, deplorable as it certainly was, is not what this is about, however.

The Gazette story recounted the reason for the decision by LaSalle Corrections to decline Union Parish’s offer. Those reasons dealt with the potential shortage of prisoners if Gov. John Bel Edwards is successful in reducing the number of state inmates and the financial impact of such a move.

Another factor, said LaSalle Chief of Operations Johnny Creed, was the size of four other facilities in north Louisiana managed by LaSalle: Richwood Correctional Center (1,129 inmates), Jackson Parish Correctional Center (1,285), LaSalle Correctional Center (785) and Catahoula Correctional Center (835).

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And then Creed said the thing that caught Sach’s eye, prompting him to call me with his croaking voice and rattling cough: “As small as (Union Parish Detention Center) is, we would need to bring our work release inmate that work for Foster Farms from our Richwood facility.”

Wait. What?

Foster Farms has 100 work release inmates working at its cotton-pickin’ chicken-pluckin’ plant in Farmerville?

Isn’t this the same plant that Bobby Jindal, with the support of State Sen. Mike Walsworth (R-West Monroe), gave $50 million to in order to get Foster Farms to take over the plant from Pilgrim’s Pride back in 2009?

Wasn’t Foster Farms supposed to provide up to 1,100 jobs with that $50 million?

Does Foster Farms get a $2,400 tax credit for each inmate it employs in the work release program?

And aren’t work release programs something of a cash cow for sheriffs and private prisons farming out prisoners to work for just a smidgen more than minimum wage?

Yes,

Uh-huh.

Yep.

Hell, yes.

You mean to tell me Foster Farms gets a $240,000 tax credit (that’s credit, not a deduction, meaning that’s $240,000 income on which Foster Farm pays no taxes) for hiring 100 prisoners at $7.75 per hour (about 60 percent of which goes to the local sheriff), jobs that should be going to local folks?

Very perceptive, Grasshopper.

This, folks, is yet another lingering smell that hits our olfactory like a pair of dirty socks but which we affectionately call the Jindal Legacy.

The work release program is such a golden egg that sheriffs all over the state, reading the tea leaves shaped like dollar signs, rushed to build their own programs, complete with barracks and vans for workers. And to make sure the beds stayed filled, which is the only way they can get the maximum state dollars, the accommodating Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association lobbied (read parties, booze, women and campaign contributions) Louisiana’s law and order legislators to be more law and order-oriented and pass stiffer penalties for even the most insignificant crimes.

To see just how lucrative this could be for a small parish like Union, let’s run the numbers.

State law allows the sheriff or operator of the private prison to take up to 62 percent of a prisoner’s earnings. One hundred prisoners working 40 hours per week for 50 weeks per year at $7.75 per hour. That comes to $1.55 million earned by the prisoner.

The Union Parish Detention Center is unique in that it is the only such facility in the state in which neither the sheriff nor a private company has operational controls. It is operated by committee comprised of a member of the Union Parish Police Jury, the district attorney and parish police chiefs. Lincoln Parish at one time was run in the same manner but it is now run by the sheriff.

If the parish takes “just” 60 percent, that’s $930,000 per year for the sheriff/operator. And that’s over and above the rate the state pays the sheriff/operator to house the prisoners. More than six years ago, LOUISIANA VOICE published a story that examined some of the housing contracts between the state and several Louisiana parishes.

Despite the money generated by the work release program, the Union Parish Detention Center has continued to lose money. That is the reason for the unsuccessful attempt to lure LaSalle into managing the center.

We followed our December 2010 post with a story in AUGUST 2015 that illustrated the abuses that can occur when someone with the right connections can use that advantage to manipulate a system like work release for his own monetary gain.

Jail operators, be they sheriffs or private corporations, love the money the work release program brings in to augment that paid by the state for housing the prisoners.

And businesses like Foster Farms love being able to hire 100 prisoners at near-minimum wage and receive a $240,000 tax credit in the process.

It’s a win-win for everyone but the taxpayers.

So, bottom line: Thar’s gold in them thar jails.

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One thing about Louisiana politics: the only constant is that the rumors are never ceasing.

Another is that even though the rumors may be baseless, sometimes the logic behind them can actually make sense.

Sort of.

That is, if anything in Louisiana politics makes sense.

And so it is that those close to Gov. John Bel Edwards have been called upon to deny rumors—and they have—that he is courting the Republican Party as he ponders the political practicality of a switcheroo, a-la Buddy Roemer, John Kennedy, John Alario, and former U.S. Reps. Billy Tauzin and Rodney Alexander.

Still, according to a high-ranking State Republican Party official, Edwards’s intermediaries have been talking with State Republican Party Chairman Roger Villere about that very possibility. Efforts by LouisianaVoice to reach Villere for a comment have been unsuccessful.

Gov. Edwards’s office categorically denies the report, hinting if anything, it was the Republican Party that asked him to the dance.

Either way, it’s now got both sides flinging rocks at each other with the next governor’s election nearly three years away yet.

As with any decision of such magnitude, fraught with perils as it would certainly be (it worked for Kennedy and Alexander but not so much for Roemer), there are plenty of pros and cons.

First the pros:

Remember those old (and I do mean old) Tareyton cigarette ads in which some happy smoker sporting a black eye proclaims that he/she would rather fight than switch?

Image result for i'd rather fight than switch

Well, in Edwards’s case, it could be that he’d rather switch than fight.

The worst-kept secret (if, indeed it is still a secret to anyone) in the state is that Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry is in a four-year campaign mode for the governorship. And Landry takes verbal (and legal) swipes at Edwards at every opportunity in his blatant self-promotion.

With $3 million already in his campaign coffers, what better way to cut the attorney general off at the knees than to take away Landry’s fund-raising capabilities while adding to his own? As one political observer put it, “If Edwards switches to Republican, $3 million might be enough. Landry won’t be able to buy a Chik-fil-A sandwich. Edwards would be the beneficiary of that scenario because the Republican money would allow him to raise even more cash.”

There’s also this: as a Republican governor, he would be able to do what he could not as a Democrat: name his choice for Speaker of the House.

Another, a former state official, said, “The Democratic Party in Louisiana is gravely disappointing and I have to wonder the extent to which what is happening here is replicated in other states and at the national level, i. e., if Democrats in power have essentially given up on their own party.

“As you know, (State Rep.) Karen Carter Peterson and former U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu tried to talk JBE out of even running (they wanted to support Dardenne) and it took him forever to get support from the national party in D.C.

“When is the last time our state party has come up with a viable candidate for anything? Was Hillary Clinton really the best the party could come up with as a POTUS candidate? Really? JBE got elected because the stars were aligned against Vitter—and look how long it took Republicans to essentially give up on Vitter. I had/have some hope for JBE. If he jumps ship, I guess the only place to go is independent which, to me, is like ceding all power to the Republicans and their führer.”

Another possible benefit to crossing over is Donald Trump. As vindictive, petulant, petty, vile and vicious as he is crazy, Trump would never hesitate to hit Louisiana where it hurts if it had a governor who insisted on partisan politics: the state treasury.

Louisiana already is the second most-reliant on federal funds of the 50 states. We are behind only Mississippi (but barely) in slopping at the federal trough. To see a cut in the influx of federal dollars for a variety of programs would only add to the already draconian budgetary woes facing the state.

On the con side, there is the obvious potential political fallout.

Politicians who change parties sometimes have a tough time of it, said a state employee who tends to keep his finger on the political pulse. “They are despised in the party they leave, and they are not trusted in the party they join. Buddy Roemer and John Connolly of Texas come to mind. However, Richard Shelby of Alabama changed from the Democratic Party to the GOP back in the mid-1990s, and he is still in the United States Senate.”

Finally, a Baton Rouge attorney said Edwards has been a difficult governor to figure out. “He is a real enigma and very disappointing, thus far, to me as a moderate conservative who voted for him. I cannot imagine how the progressives and the left feel at this point.

“I have been unable to figure out what his goals are,” the attorney, a former state employee, said. “He is obviously very indebted to many groups, such as the Sheriffs’ Association. That, it clearly appears to me, keeps him from doing many things that would make him more successful.”

As we said, one source wired into the Edwards camp says it just ain’t so but we’ve all heard promises and denials before from our elected officials that in the end, turned out to be just so much hot air. He already is pro-life and pro-gun so half the battle’s won if he decides to go over.

So, the question is this: is this a non-story story on a slow news day or something major in the offing? The rumors and the denials are equally strong at this juncture so we’ll wait and see.

Edwards spokesperson Richard Carbo, reached by LouisianaVoice, expressed shock at the report. “Let me check this out and I’ll get right back to you. Give me five minutes.”

Two hours later he replied by text message: “I can confirm that neither the governor nor his ‘intermediaries’ have been in contact with the state GOP about changing parties.”

Carbo quickly followed with a second text that accused the Louisiana Republican Party of planting the rumor: “First the state GOP floats this idea, then backtrack(s) when the governor shows no interest. The governor did not have a single conversation regarding political parties. He’s too busy cleaning up their (Republicans’) budget mess. Roger Villere should stick to negotiating illegal Iraqi oil deals. He’s better at that than party leadership.

“Unless there’s a source named, the onus is on them,” he said.

His reference to Villere’s “negotiating illegal Iraqi oil deals” was in reference an April 12, 2016, LouisianaVoice STORY about Villere’s and Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser’s comedy of errors in being taken in by a con man promoting an oil deal with Iraq.

All of which just serves to support our advice: Never listen to what politicians say. In this case, observe instead, the governor’s action on the issues: taxes, education, higher education, etc. to get a true sense of which direction the political winds are blowing.

But above all else, remember that it’s the sincerity of the B.S. factor that trumps everything else (and no, that’s not a reference to anyone).

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There was a program on ABC-TV last week that recognized the achievements of Black Americans. For the most part, it was a tribute to musicians like James Brown, Michael Jackson, et al.

President and First Lady Obama were in attendance at the event at the Lincoln Center in Washington and the show was quite entertaining, especially the part of the show featuring Brown.

But then actor Tom Hanks came onstage and recounted how, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, thousands of Black men, like their white counterparts, enlisted in the armed forces to help defend their homeland. For the most part, Hanks correctly pointed out, the Blacks were relegated to the role of cooks, truck drivers “and even grave diggers.”

But then, President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order prohibiting discrimination against Blacks in the military and later, a group of Blacks were assigned to a special flight school for Black aviators at Tuskeegee Institute in Tuskeegee, Alabama. Thus was born the Red Tail Squadron which distinguished itself as bomber escorts. Incredible as it sounds, the Red Tails, so-named for the distinguishing red circles painted on the rudders of their P-51 Mustangs, had only seven bombers shot down of the 179 bombing escort missions flown, a number well below average.

Then Hanks, almost overcome, announced that the seven surviving members were in attendance and the crowd, as one, rose to its feet in one of the more memorable displays of raw emotion as the seven, one in a wheelchair and another on a walker, were brought onstage. http://atlantablackstar.com/2017/01/13/tuskegee-airmen-tribute-takingthestage-everyone-tears/ to America the Beautiful performed by a military choir as applause thundered and tears flowed freely.

Appropriately, Obama snapped off a salute to the airman and Retired Gen. Colin Powell strode onstage to personally salute them as a group and to embrace each one individually.

Sadly, in November, between the time of the show’s taping in September and its airing last week, the oldest of the seven, Willie Rogers, 101, died.

The point of this is a story that was related to me in West Monroe last night after I recounted the Lincoln Center tribute.

My cousin was active in the promotion of the former Selman Field Historical Association in Monroe and she told me about a World War II Selman Field navigator who managed to get his bomber pilot lost on his very first flight after training.

Literally thrown into combat immediately after flight school, he told of how he simply froze up and soon realized he had no idea of his coordinates as the pilot, frantically requested information from the navigator as they flew over North Africa. Finally, unable to rely on his navigator, the pilot put out an SOS.

There was immediate radio response and the pilot was directed to look for certain landmarks so that his location could be pinpointed. The strategy worked and the plane was eventually guided to a safe landing.

The plane was immediately surrounded by ambulance personnel and airmen who greeted the bomber crew with questions like “what battle were you in,” “how many wounded,” and other relevant question as they passed out ice cold beer to the bomber’s crew, ice being a rare delicacy in North Africa during the war.

Adding to the embarrassed navigator’s humiliation over getting his pilot lost, was the sudden realization that they were looking into the anxious faces of members of the legendary Tuskeegee Red Tails.

One of the bomber crew members replied, “Oh no, no casualties. We were just lost.”

“Give us back our beer,” came the disgusted response. As they did so, the Red Tails laughingly said they were joking and everyone managed a good chuckle at the situation that, with timely help from the Red Tails, turned out well for the rookie navigator and his fellow crewmen.

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It was Memorial Day weekend in Baton Rouge last year, the weekend of the BAYOU COUNTRY SUPERFEST that had country music fans flocking to LSU’s Tiger Stadium. LSU subsequently cancelled its contract with promoters and this year’s event will take place in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.

But this story isn’t about Bayou Country Superfest.

It was several hours after the final performance of one night of the three-day event, around 3 a.m., in fact, that a black SUV was pulled over by a Baton Rouge police officer at the corner of Perkins and Acadian, only a few blocks south of I-10.

The officer, a member of the city’s DWI Strike Force, suspected the driver of driving while impaired, perhaps even intoxicated. In the SUV was a woman, a blonde. She was not the driver’s wife; she’s a brunette.

The driver, violating all protocol, exited his SUV and started toward the officer who, alarmed, is said to have pulled his weapon just before recognizing the driver as a high-ranking member of the governor’s administration.

Instead of escalating, as the situation could easily have done, the driver was inexplicably allowed to proceed on to his destination, driving that black SUV. He was not arrested, issued a citation or even asked to submit to a field sobriety test and the matter was quickly hushed up. Even the city officer, when asked about the incident, denied it ever happened. But later, when asked about the incident by a fellow officer, rather than deny it occurred, said instead, “I can’t talk about that.”

Yet the stories continue to persist nearly nine full months after the stop that the officer denies ever took place. LouisianaVoice was even given the officer’s name by no fewer than eight different, independent sources. At least when Bobby Jindal’s Commissioner of Administration Paul Rainwater was pulled over for DWI, there was no attempt to keep the arrest quiet and he paid his fines and court costs for the offense. The only thing that raised eyebrows was when State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson showed up and gave him a ride home—a courtesy no ordinary citizen sans political connections would likely be accorded.

Who made the decision to allow the driver to go on his way? It’s unlikely the officer would have assumed the responsibility for such a decision fraught with all kinds of downsides on his own. That would mean there had to be an order from up the chain of command within the Baton Rouge Police Department. The question then, is at what level of the command was the decision made, mid-level or from the very top?

Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie is probably on his way out. At least that’s the indication given by former State Sen. Sharon Weston Broome who was recently elect Baton Rouge’s new Mayor-President and inaugurated on Jan. 2, though Dabadie appears to be fighting to keep his job.

This is not to say Dabadie was ever even aware of the stop but if (and of course, at this stage, that’s a very speculative if)…if he is the one who put the kibosh on the stop and potential arrest of the state official, both men need to go. Immediately.

If he had any records of the pullover expunged from the police log, he could be found guilty of injuring public records under Louisiana R.S. 14:132 and he conceivably could face imprisonment. At any rate, if any records of the stop were destroyed on his watch, he must be held accountable for destruction of public records.

If records were never tampered with, then somewhere there is a paper trail that still exists, perhaps by now buried somewhere in the bowels of the BRPD.

LouisianaVoice is continuing to investigate the matter. We’ll let you know if anything develops. If not, the story probably will evaporate as did the ghost stop of a black SUV at 3 a.m. during the 2016 Bayou Superfest.

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