Louisiana Voice

“You know what Mitch’s biggest thing is in the whole world? His judges. He will absolutely ask me, ‘Please, let’s get the judge approved instead of 10 ambassadors.’ ”

—Trump, in taped interview with Bob Woodward for Woodward’s book Rage, in which Trump said Barack Obama left office with more than 100 federal court vacancies that Trump called “golden nuggets.” [Obama left with those vacancies unfilled because Mitch McConnell deliberately blocked and delayed Obama’s nominees.]

“It is easy to conclude that the recent Postal Services’ changes is an intentional effort on the part the current Administration to disrupt and challenge the legitimacy of upcoming local, state, and federal elections.”

—US District Judge Stanley Bastian, in ruling to block Postmaster General Louis DeJoy from implementing proposed changes operational changes to the US postal system.

“He has lied repeatedly about the security of mail-in balloting. He has made numerous unsupported claims about how the only way he could lose his election is if it is rigged against him. And so, he’s been actively casting doubt on the election process and creating the conditions where I think both sides believe the other side is primed to steal the election.”

—University of California-Irvine election law expert Rick Hasen, speaking of Donald Trump.

A political party which allowed 200,000 innocent people to DIE is running around calling itself “pro–life.”

—Tweet by Mikel Jollett.

Mitch McConnell is trying to pass a Supreme Court nomination before passing a Coronavirus bill. Tells you everything you need to know.

—Tweet by Chris Strider.

“He should resign because he has resolutely failed — and continues to fail — the most fundamental test of any president: to put his nation’s interests first.” (USA Today).

“He should resign because his repeated, reckless deceits have dishonored his presidency beyond repair.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

—Calls for Donald Trump to step down? Nope, two of more than 100 newspapers who called for Bill Clinton’s resignation in what Esquire Magazine calls the “Great Penis Chase of 1998.” [But with a president who has trampled the Constitution, alienated our allies, exchanged “love letters” with Kim Jong Un, and insulted veterans, women, minorities, the media, and the physically handicapped…crickets.]

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There are only 10 more days in LouisianaVoice’s September fund drive. We’re still short of our objective of a most modest budget of $5,000 to get us through until our next drive next April.

I know times have been tough. This year has been an especially cruel one for everyone so, I am not asking those hurt by the pandemic or the storms to sacrifice even more; I’m asking only those who can afford to help to do so.

I’m launching an extensive investigation even as I write this that is going to cost quite a bit of money, but it’s an investigation that needs to be undertaken and I don’t see anyone else on the horizon taking it on.

You can contribute by credit card by clicking on the yellow button in the column to the right of this post or you can mail a check to:

LouisianaVoice

P.O. Box 922

Denham Springs, Louisiana 70727

Remember: we are now a 501(c)(3) non-profit which means your contributions are fully tax-deductible.

Also, anyone investing $100 or more will receive a signed copy of my latest book, Louisiana’s Rogue Sheriffs: A Culture of Corruption. If you already have one, you may receive another signed to whomever you designate. BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR MAILING ADDRESS and instructions for signing.

As always, your help is greatly and humbly appreciated. To paraphrase Trump, “No one is more humbly appreciative than I am.”

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A new twist has been added to the ongoing investigation of the DEATH of Ronald Greene at the hands of six Louisiana State Troopers and a Union Parish Sheriff’s deputy back on May 10, 2019.

Chris Hollingsworth, one of the six troopers involved Greene’s death, was involved in a one-vehicle accident at 2:30 a.m. Monday in Monroe and was flown to Ochsner-LSU Health Center in Shreveport where he was in critical condition in the center’s intensive care unit.

To date, Hollingsworth is the only one of the seven law enforcement officers to face any disciplinary action, having been placed on leave less than a month ago, on Aug. 25, more than 15 months following Greene’s death.

The Hollingsworth accident was worked by Monroe city police, who told LouisianaVoice the incident was still under investigation. After identifying myself by name (they asked, “What’s your name?”), I spoke to an officer who said the accident occurred on I-20 eastbound when Hollingsworth’s vehicle hit a guard rail. “He was flown to Ochsner in Shreveport, the officer said.

Only after having given me that much information did he think to ask, “Are you with the Troop (LSP Troop F)?”

“No, I’m a reporter,” I replied.

“I’m sorry. I can’t talk to you.” The line went dead.

The incident is under federal investigation and Greene’s family has filed a federal lawsuit after conflicting reports provided by LSP in an apparent attempt to conceal the details surrounding his death at the hands of police.

Among those discrepancies:

• Greene’s family was initially told by police that Greene had died after hitting a tree;
• A call for Emergency Medical Services concealed the face that lethal force had been used;
• The police report failed to indicate the use of force;
• Officers claimed that Greene was intoxicated before leaning that a toxicology exam found no alcohol or drugs in Greene’s system;
• Greene’s body was transported out of state for an autopsy, thereby denying the family’s right to have a representative observe the autopsy;
• An emergency room physician at Glenwood Hospital in West Monroe said, “Upon obtaining more history from different law enforcement, personnel, history seems to be disjointed and does not add up. Different versions are present…family states they were told by law enforcement that patient died on impact with tree immediately after motor vehicle accident, but law enforcement state(ed) to me that patient far out of the car and running and involved in a fight and struggle where…he was tased three times.”

Subsequent to his death, the family has released post mortem photos of Greene which show his injuries to be inconsistent with the cause of his death as described by police. Because of the graphic nature of those photos, it is the decision of LouisianaVoice not to post them here.

Of course, LSP is now hiding behind the existence of a federal investigation and a federal lawsuit as grounds for refusing to release information about the pursuit and take-down of Greene. But that still leaves unexplained, as national news organizations now begin to ask questions of their own, the question of why an LSP captain (John Peters) was involved in a pursuit, especially at midnight.

Also unexplained is why officers continued to beat and tase Greene even after he was handcuffed. A retired state trooper told LouisianaVoice that all training dictates that once a suspect is subdued, he is immediately placed in a patrol unit. Obviously, this was not done.

You may wish to keep tabs on this site for updates on the Greene investigation since Gannett/GateHouse Media’s Monroe News-Star, aka McNewspaper, will probably be too busy covering the Duck Dynasty clan to devote a lot of ink to real reporting.

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“Some 80 minutes after her (Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg) death was reported, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a man without a shred of decency and seemingly without a soul, announced his intent to replace her as fast as possible, before the next president is sworn in. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) soon joined the Senate majority leader, announcing a 180-degree reversal from his position toward Obama Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland in 2016, and somehow blaming the Democrats for his rank hypocrisy and dishonorable conduct.

“And some of my colleagues in the media, regrettably, furthered the immediate politicization of Ginsburg’s death or demanded to know senators’ positions on the new nominee — before Ginsburg, whose dying wish was that the next president name her replacement, was even in her grave.

 “Aren’t we better than this?”

—Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank, on Sunday.

“I think we’re too close to the election. The president who is elected in November should be the one who makes this decision.”

—Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Col.), 2016.

“I don’t think we should be moving on a nominee in the last year of this president’s term — I would say that if it was a Republican president.”

—Sen Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), 2016. [Well, let’s just see if he still says that.]

“What Republicans are trying to pull off with the post-Ginsburg power grab has no precedence in American history and represents a corrupt power maneuver by an unpopular president. That’s how the press should cover the unfolding story.”

—Eric Boehlert, writing for Press Run, a daily online newsletter that critiques coverage of major news stories.

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“Over the coming days, we are all going to come under tremendous pressure from the press to announce how we will handle the coming nomination. For those of you who are unsure how to answer, or for those inclined to oppose giving a nominee a vote, I urge you all to keep your powder dry. This is not the time to prematurely lock yourselves into a position you may later regret.”

—Mitch McConnell, in email to Republican lawmakers. [Yes, Virginia, there really is a hypocrite (or two) in Washington.]

 “If an opening comes in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the primary process has started, we’ll wait to the next election. I want you to use my words against me. If there’s a Republican president in 2016 and a vacancy occurs in the last year of the first term, you can say ‘Lindsey Graham said let’s let the next president, whoever it might be, make that nomination.'”

—Lindsey Graham, 2018.

“I don’t want to speculate, but I think appointing judges is a high priority for me in 2020.”

—Lindsey Graham, 2020. [My, how quickly the chameleons can change colors.]

“Let me be clear: If Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans move forward with this, then nothing is off the table for next year. Nothing is off the table,” 

—Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, on Saturday.

“The last 70 years, a Supreme Court justice was not confirmed in the final year of a president’s term.”

—Faux News host Laura Ingraham, 2016. [Wrong again, Laura; the Democratic-controlled Senate in election year 1988, unanimously confirmed Anthony Kennedy, Ronald Reagan’s nomination. It was Mitch McConnell who changed the rules in 2016 and who now wants to change them again.]

“It was the most beautiful thing. It’s called law and order.”

—“Law and order” candidate Donald Trump, gloating about MSNBC reporter Ali Velshi.

“What law did I break while covering an entirely peaceful (yes, entirely peaceful) march?”

—Reporter Ali Velshi, responding to comments by a very sick Donald Trump.

“You love your president, and your president gets honored. I’m not being honored, you’re being honored, with the Nobel Peace Prize for Israel, what we did with Israel.”

—Donald Trump, at a campaign rally in Fayetteville, N.C. [Um, Donnie, you might want to hold off on the boasts for a bit. You’ve been nominated, but you haven’t actually won yet.]

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