I suppose you could say it’s official: State Rep. Kelee Hennessy Dickerson, who represents House District 64, which comprises part of Livingston Parish, is an official member of the bedbug crazy MAGAmites.
The freshman legislator has introduced three bills which appear to put her on the same moral equivalence level as one Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Cro-Magnon congresswoman from Georgia.
Here’s what Dickerson has offered thus far in her brief tenure:
- HB644 (authorizes students enrolled in home study programs to participate in public school activities)
- HB737 (prohibits a person from engaging in picketing at the residence or dwelling of an individual)
- HB777 (provides criminal penalties for certain use of public library funds)
Now, let’s look at each one individually.
HB644 would allow home study students to participate in public school activities. Sounds pretty self-explanatory. But taking a deeper dive, one of the driving forces behind home schooling is to avoid having to learn unpleasant topics like global warming, certain American history, i.e. slavery and the Civil War, and evolution. But this bill, while shielding home schoolers from such unpleasantries, nevertheless wants them to be able to participate in sports and, I suppose, certain club activities). So, Dickerson apparently wants it both ways.
HB737 would prohibit picketing of residences or dwellings (and all this time, thought the terms residences and dwellings were interchangeable) of an individual. Never mind the fact that Dickerson regurgitates the familiar Trumpian banalities and that Trump supporters had no problem disclosing the names and addresses of prosecutors and grand juror members in his Georgia criminal case. There’s something about this bill that just doesn’t smell right. Maybe it’s that thing called the First Amendment and something about freedom of assembly (on public property such as sidewalks and easements).
HB777 would subject a public employee (read: librarian) to up to two years’ imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $1000 for membership in the American Library Association or for attending any of its continuing education functions. Are you kidding me? Jail time for a librarian attending a continuing education course sponsored by ALA? Has Dickerson gone completely batshit crazy? The entire legislative process, state legislature to congress, has devolved into a sorry one-upmanship game of who-flung-dung.
Bear in mind that literally dozens of legislators annually attend American Legislative Exchange Council (an arm of the radical-right Repugnantcan Party) on the state dime. Moreover, a large plurality, if not a majority, of legislators attend legislative conferences, all expenses paid by the Louisiana taxpayers. Several even fine creative ways to claim “official state business” as a means of having travel, lodging and meals provided by taxpayers so they can attend Washington Mardi Gras balls (I almost typed Mardi Bras, which might have been a Freudian slip).
There’s more. Several legislators get the nice little perk they don’t want you to know about in the form of fully furnished Pentagon Apartments across the street from the Capitol at year-round rental agreements the average tenant can only dream about (think 1950s rent rates). Here’s another perk. For the 85- and 60-day legislative sessions, lawmakers receive (in addition to their salaries, office expenses and travel) per diem payments. Per diem, of course, means daily and that’s just what they get. Daily payments for all 85 days in even-numbered years and 60 days in odd-numbered years – even though the House doesn’t meet on Saturdays and Sundays and the Senate takes Fridays off. Oh, and for those Fridays that 39 senators take off, add another $58,500 for 85-day sessions, a tad less for 60-day sessions.
That’s 20 extra days this year that they get paid but don’t work. Let’s see, at $175 per day times 20 days times 144 legislators, that’s a cool $504,000 per year for not working – or an extra $3,500 per legislator. And that doesn’t include special sessions.
And Dickerson has her britches in a wad over librarians? Get real, lady. The former TV newsperson (a-la Arizona’s Kari Lake) campaigned against a tax to finance teacher pay raises in Livingston Parish last year (though she now apparently wants public school teachers to take on the additional responsibility of monitoring home-schooled kids at public school functions) and before that, when she served on the Livingston Parish School Board, she was penalized by the State Board of Ethics for improper assistance in getting a buddy a contract job at Live Oak High School.
So, let me understand; in Louisiana, we have abysmal health, equally inadequate general health and mental healthcare, poverty, pollution, floods, shoreline erosion, cities with high crime rates and myriad other problems but we’re going to go after the librarians.
Got it.
Louisiana Voice 
Yes, it’s deplorable, and thank you, Tom. But it’s only the beginning. We have eight years of Landry and God help us what this state will look like at the end of his two terms. We keep electing these people and we suffer the consequences. Oh, and today TFG announced the sale of Bibles for $59.99. Get your copies, folks.
If our comparison is John Bel, we can only go up from there. Crime. Out migration. Planting our flag on the bottom of every good list. JBE left quite the small shoes to fill.
The better news is Louisiana will become a destination state for right leaning voters and dilute the dwindling dem vote. Good times ahead.
Our “flag” was planted at the bottom long before John Bel. In fact, Jindal contributed to that status in no small way.
And wasn’t it you who said, “The right and left are 2 petulant toddlers fighting over a toy in the back of a car being driven off a cliff”?
I do believe the mainstream political parties are petulant children. But, if I have to babysit, I’ll attend to the right child. The kid on the left doesn’t know which bathroom to use and insists on wearing a face mask.
Yeah, the utter garbage that’s likely to pass this session is defying even the most pessimistic predictions. Predictably, some really great stuff from Horton, Mizelle, and Hodges among others.
It would be humorous if it was not so serious that the MAGA group runs around the nation proclaiming “Freedom” and “Individual” rights while pushing legislation to do just the opposite. Sad situation!
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It’s even better for legislators than what you wrote.
When Jindal’s platinum ethics package was deliberated, legislators carved out an exemption for ALEC and other such, out of state conferences, exempting themselves from any and all restrictions or limits on expenditures by special interests.
This is a problem with, for example, the National Conference of State Legislators, for well-healed lobbyists attend these conferences and spend and entertain freely. Funded entirely by corporate interests, however, the annual ALEC conference is in a class by itself. With everything from babysitting and childcare to trips to Disney World paid for by corporate, the ALEC Conference is, for many legislators, their annual, family vacation.
Now that’s lobbying!
If I want to inspire my children I certainly don’t give them a book about politicians.
On that we can certainly agree.
Kooky, ridiculous, or self-serving legislation certainly didn’t originate with the current legislature. But it is true this year’s bunch has more than its share. My nomination for stupidest piece of legislation goes to Raymond Crews (R-Bossier) in the House and Mark Abraham (R-Lake Charles) in the Senate to return Louisiana to the gold standard. Oh it doesn’t start out that way but as it’s derived from right-wing conspiracy theories about the global elite, covid pandemic, Federal Reserve and who know what else the ultimate goal is a return to the gold standard. I’m sure some QAnon type could “explain” it. Of course it we actually divided up all the gold in this country according to the current distribution of wealth Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and a handful of others would have all the actual gold while the rest of us would hoard our few particles of dust. How much groceries could you buy with a grain of dust, I wonder? Fortunately this bill never made it out of committee. But others will.
Where is the conspiracy part of covid? Our own government believes it was a lab leak from China. We were funding gain of function research there. China skated because they are the manufacturing hub of the world and thus controls everything. Klaus Schwab, the WEF and the swell folk who attend Davos, brag about the great reset. Where is the conspiracy if it’s in the open?
What’s that noise? It almost sounds like someone talking. But it’s distorted, out of phase. Like it’s coming from an alternate reality.
Paul, it sounds like noise because the most important trait to being a liberal is gullibility. This susceptibility to believe lies (Russian collision, covid animal origin) relies on your intrinsic inability to absorb anything other than what Bernie and Rachel Maddow tells you to believe.
Global warming is a great example (since we are exploring conspiracy theories). The weather/climate people can’t accurately tell me what the weather will be next Tuesday, but they know what happens in 1, 5 or 50 years? If their science is so ironclad why not use their modeling to predict winning lottery numbers? Stay gullible my patsy.
mr aswell, you need to come out of retirement. we need you!