There is so very much going on at both the state and national level and LouisianaVoice has stumbled upon a thread that connects, however tenuously, the events swirling around Donald Trump and the redacted information coming out of the special prosecutor’s office and the Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s office and a couple of familiar state political players—via the NRA.
That’s a helluva salient lede. I was taught by Wiley Hilburn, my Louisiana Tech journalism professor, to write, short, succinct sentences in my opening paragraph. I don’t think a 63-word opening sentence would have cut it in my classes, but it’s the best I could do. And just for lagniappe, throw in a little Russian spy story for added spice.
First, a couple of observations on the local level. To the surprise of a few observers, some interesting wannabes have dropped out of next year’s governor’s race and a couple of others have jumped in.
Businessman Eddie Rispone filed official paperwork back in October and on Thursday, 5th District U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, who on Monday said he was too busy in Congress to run, changed his mine and entered the race, saying, “I intend to win.”
In between, two who certainly had their eyes on the office, Attorney General Jeff Landry and on Sunday, Dec. 2, U.S. Sen. John N. Kennedy, opted out. Landry and Kennedy, both Republicans, have kept up continuous barrages of criticism of Gov. John Bel Edwards and are expected to continue taking shots through their respective press offices that attempt to deflect any of Edwards’s positives and to create, if they have to, negatives. real or imagined.
By “creating,” I mean people like Rep. Cameron Henry of Metairie who refused to go along with the Revenue Estimating Conference recently—apparently as an attempt to thwart the governor’s efforts to raise teachers’ pay. Louisiana’s teachers would do well to remember the actions of Henry and House Speaker Taylor Barras of New Iberia, both of whom seem to exist only to block any legislation proposed by Edwards.
Barras would be wiser to try and resolve the myriad of problems plaguing the sheriff’s office in his home parish than spending time picking fights with the governor. As for Henry, he just seems to be a wet-nosed upstart who needs a nap and a pacifier.
But, unless there’s another Republican, a heavy-hitter who can legitimately go toe-to-toe with Edwards, it appears from right now, 10 months out, the governor will return for another four years in office. He’s proven himself to be a champion of the state’s teachers, he’s favored by the all-powerful (some say all too-powerful) Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association (his brother is sheriff of Tangipahoa Parish), he’s for raising the minimum wage (an entirely sensible thing to do), and his Obamacare expansion, like it or not, has brought a lot of federal money into the state. And he hasn’t raised taxes.
(As a side note, I heard AFL-CIO President Louis Reine on the Jim Engster Show on Thursday and a caller took him to task because of his support for raising the minimum wage above the impossible-to-live-on $7.25 an hour rate, claiming it would hurt business and hurt the very people Reine and the AFL-CIO purport to want to help. That caller obviously does not live on minimum wage, or he would never be so dense as to oppose a decent living wage for working people. Other states have raised the minimum wage and seen no ill-effects on business—or workers. It’s a false argument (dare I say fake news) promoted by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry whose members enjoy $3 billion per year in tax exemptions, credits, and incentives—at the expense of the working people of this state who have to make up the tax shortfall created by those breaks.)
But back to the governor’s race. Who do you know who is still in his 40s , has already served three years as a congressman and eight years as governor (who would love to eclipse Edwin Edwards’s record of four terms), who is so ego-driven that he thought he was presidential timber, and who writes for the Wall Street Journal so as to keep his name before the public?
What might be the odds that Bobby Jindal might somehow think he can fool the people of this state again? Especially with Timmy Teepell telling him how smart and how great he is—all the while raking in consulting fees for himself and his firm, OnMessage?
But wait!
What did I just read about Donald Trump, the NRA and OnMessage? Oh, yes, that story (CLICK HERE) on Daily Kos about how the NRA illegally coordinated $30 million in political spending to benefit Trump in the 2016 election. The NRA, it turns out, was infiltrated by accused Russian spy MARIA BUTINA who was working for powerful Russian banker ALEXANDER TORSHIN. Donald Trump Jr. met with Torshin at a private dinner hosted by the NRA.
And much of that $30 million, it turns out, was RUSSIAN MONEY funneled through the NRA.
The NRA used an apparent shell firm called Starboard Strategic, Inc. to produce ads for Senate candidates who employed a Republican consulting firm called OnMessage. Starboard Strategic and OnMessage both share the same Alexandria, Virginia, address as National Media, which had staff members working for Trump. By law, Trump campaign staffers and National Media staffers were required to be completely and totally separate. Otherwise, the limits on campaign contributions would’ve been $5,000, not $30 million.
Guess who is a partner in the OnMessage firm? None other than Baton Rouge’s very own Timmy Teepell, the political guru to whom Bobby Jindal turns for those sweet nothings whispered in his ear—for a very bigly fee, of course.
But back to MARIA BUTINA: She’s in jail as I write this, pondering a plea bargain with federal prosecutors. But who was she photographed with at an NRA event? None other than Bobby Jindal, who I’m sure was clueless (as he is about most things) as to her real motives as a Russian agent.
But then, not all Republican operatives may have been completely ignorant of her intent. She had a boyfriend. His name is Paul Erickson. He’s a Republican operative and you can read about him HERE and HERE.
To paraphrase our late friend C.B. Forgotston, not even Alex Jones (https://www.infowars.com/) can make this stuff up.
Zounds!!!! All we need is for Jindal to jump into the governor’s race on the premise of Making Louisiana Great Again, like he did the first time. Just look at what JBE and the legislature have done to undo his greatest accomplishments and always remember, as our president says, debt is good and deficits are better. Put him in the game, Timmy!
We in Arkansas had the good sense and decency to raise the minimum wage to $11.00 per hour starting in January while Lousyana remains mired in greed, stupidity, and economic last place. It’s no wonder when on a national scope we see the likes of Gov’nor Jindal and Minion Timmy Teepell flagrantly violating laws in order to advance the Republican cause. You folks are getting what you deserve.
Those Russian/NRA tentacles reach way down low…south. Who woulda thought they’d reach as far south as Lose-ee-ana! Go figure. Last I heard the NRA and Russia own most ALL republicans. This country and state has got to change. And this state has, with the help of John Bel. But if people here wanna be beholden to Russia, what can one say? Typical of repubs to let time go by, wait for a new generation to grow up unaware of the past debacle of Bobby J., and wait for others to forget. Some or most of us will NEVER forget. I, for one, will never forget the robbery of OGB money. Never! Bobby J.? Timmy Teeple? No way! May the good Lord protect Lose-ee-ana!
Jindal? Lordy, say it ain’t so Bubba.
This is a tad petty, but every time I see Bobby Jindal “BJ” talking I cannot help but think of Liver Lips McGraw from Disney’s Country Bear Jamboree. What do you think? Link: https://youtu.be/DS7wE0S31eQ
If BJ ever rears his nasty head again on the Louisiana political scene, he will be met with a shitstorm of opposition. First we reprise some Louisiana Voice posts, remind people that he and a complicit republican legislature wrecked the budget, destroyed the charity hospital system, laid waste to the state mental health system (try to find a slot for adolescent mental health care, a rarer commodity than adult beds), played havoc with state employees’ paychecks and thus retirement benefits for life, on and on…the most destructive individual ever to reside in the governor’s mansion.
And KP, that lawsuit in the OGB matter is still out there, quietly awaiting any further attacks….
on the other hand, good rallying point for Louisiana Dems!