Louisiana Voice

The headline in today’s New York Sun pretty much says everything one needs to know about the Repugnantcan Party of 2025:

Republicans Cast This Weekend’s ‘No Kings’ Protests as ‘Hate America’ Rallies, Raising Organizer Fears of a Crackdown

Repugnantcans are absolutely terrified of tomorrow’s No Kings 2.0 demonstrations scheduled from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Canadian to the Mexican borders. A reader even provided us with a handy illustration that carries a Louisiana theme for the rallies:

Even in Baton Rouge, it appears that the local Repugnantcans, from the governor’s office to the mayor’s office, may have joined efforts to attempt to diminish the effect of the rally by Indivisible Baton Rouge – or at least keep the demonstration as far from the public eye as much as possible.

A spokesperson for Indivisible Baton Rouge said, “We are not able to hold this event at or near the State Capitol or in the downtown Baton Rouge area. The state Office of Facility Planning and Control informed Indivisible Baton Rouge that the capitol is undergoing cleaning and construction and will not be available for outdoor events for approximately a year. The Baton Rouge City Police said that permits for the downtown area were not available for Oct. 18, as several events and a parade have already been scheduled on that date for the downtown area.”

Sounds awfully coincidental but hey, that’s just me. But okay, defy the tide at your own peril.

The Baton Rouge rally has been scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon at 7122 Perkins Road, from Pennington Biomedical Research Center to Kenilworth Parkway, down Kenilworth to the BREC Perkins Rd. Community Park. “We will line up on the sidewalk near the entrance to Pennington, march towards Kenilworth Parkway, turn right on Kenilworth. There will be a rally in the BREC park near the corner of Perkins Rd. and Kenilworth Parkway,” the representative said.

Another statement from the organization was much more important, however. In light of the No Kings 2.0’s being labeled as “hate America” rallies, it’s key to note this: 

 “A core principle of this No Kings event, and all Indivisible events, is our commitment to non-violent action.”  Participants will act lawfully at all times and will seek to de-escalate potential confrontations with anyone who violently disagrees with our principles,a statement from Indivisible Baton Rouge said.

“From the ballot box to the picket line, generations of Americans have fought to secure fundamental freedom and dignity for all of us. The Trump administration is trying to strip away our freedom, including reproductive freedom. That’s why on Saturday, October 18, millions will gather together and demand: No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings!”

Indivisible is a grassroots movement founded in 2016 by former staff of the US Congress. The mission is to elect progressive leaders, rebuild and save our democracy, and defeat authoritarianism.

The original “Indivisible Guide” was written by a pair of former Congressional staffers in 2016 to help people resist the incoming Trump administration. The free Google Doc guide quickly went viral, and led to creation of the Indivisible movement and inspiring the book, “We Are Indivisible: A Blueprint for Democracy After Trump.”  Soon, other contributors joined to write updated editions of the Guide and to create the Indivisible Project. The message was clear and simple: even in a dark and frightening moment, when Trump and his minions controlled every branch of the federal government, The People still had power. We could use our power to resist—and ultimately, to win.

The original two authors could never have predicted what would come next: that thousands of people would come together resist, to speak up and speak out and create a grassroots movement that would help save the Affordable Care Act, build a Blue Wave in 2018, stand in fierce solidarity with communities under threat, and ultimately, kick Donald Trump out of office in 2020.

Thousands of local groups sprang up organically, all over the country.  Local groups build and wield power in ways that individuals can’t. Change is created by the power of diverse people working together. An active Baton Rouge group started in 2017, but over the years it faded away, until early this year, when eight people found one another through common contacts. They got together to launch a new Indivisible organization for greater Baton Rouge. 

The leadership has grown to 14 people, who bring to the table the experience, talents, skills and abilities needed to work together to produce peaceful, joyful protest events in solidarity with millions of Americans all over the country. These events serve as statements that we treasure our democracy, and that we reject the authoritarian turn that our government is taking. 

Indivisible Baton Rouge’s first event was the April 5 Hands Off protest that drew about 600 people to the state capitol. We followed with the June 14 No Kings Day visibility event, that drew about 2000 people to downtown Baton Rouge. We partnered with 10,000 Women Louisiana for the June 20 Empty Chair Town Hall that packed the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge with an overflow crowd, with speakers who challenged the absent members of Congress (who were invited but were cowardly no-shows) to meet with constituents, actively listen to our concerns, and represent us in Washington according to authentic American values and traditions. 

Indivisible believes in a multiracial, inclusive democracy—one where everyone has equal rights and equal power, no matter where they live, who they love, or what they look like.  That’s the America we’re fighting for.

Similar rallies are scheduled for tomorrow across Louisiana:

• New Orleans Lafitte Greenway, 2200 Lafitte Ave. 3:30 – 5:30 pm. Congregate along the Greenway and walk down the trail and meet on the “Great Lawn” to rally between N. Prieur St. and N. Galvez St.
•  Shreveport-Bossier – 1. 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. along East 70th St. and Youree Drive.  2. Caddo Courthouse, 501 Texas St., 1 p.m.- 4 p.m.
• Alexandria – Outside the Riverfront Center, Jackson Street and 2nd Street, 10 a.m. – 12 noon
• Lake Charles – Lock Park, 1535 Ryan St., 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Lafayette – Prejean Unity Point, 735 Jefferson St., 10 a.m. until 12 noon.
• Ruston – Ruston Civic Center, 401 N Trenton St., 10 a.m. until 11 a.m.
• Northshore – Hammond – Zemurray Park, 400 S Oak St., 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. There will be a protest and rally, followed by a series of speakers and chants, then a caravan to the New Orleans’ No Kings protest.
• Leesville – Leesville City Hall, 508 S 5th St., 12 noon – 2:00 p.m.
• Monroe –Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Renwick Street. Convene at the Renwick Pedestrian Footbridge, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.

A hint to those who would ignore the growing dissatisfaction with the administration of Pedo-POTUS, here’s more information for you to ponder:

No Kings events are also planned in Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France ,Germany, Italy, Ireland, United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rico, Japan and perhaps even Greenland.

Read Full Post »

It has brought to my attention by an attentive reader that:

• Republicans have the majority in both houses of Congress and the presidency so they are responsible for the shut down and not resolving it
• Congress is NOT shut down; their lights never went out
• Republicans are refusing to fix the problem they created, but they are still taking their paychecks
• Speaker Johnson’s job as the leader of the House Republicans is to operate the United States Government
  • The problem is not what is in the Continuing Resolution (CR), but that Republicans have removed the funding for health care from the budget and the CR
  • He knew they would not get the required 60 votes in the Senate
  • By passing the “clean CR”, he has not “done his job”, because the government is still shut down
• Congress is not shut down like the rest of the government, the lights are on in Congress
  • The only way to get government back open is to negotiate with the Democrats
  • Saying that they can’t negotiate until the government “lights are back on” is a lie
  • The Republicans are refusing to do their jobs, negotiate a settlement, even though they are being paid 

Having made these points, I decided to dive a bit further and reveal the following:

Essential federal employees like air traffic controllers, are being required to work without pay and thousands of employees have been furloughed or fired while the Republicans and Democrats take turns pointing fingers at each other and nothing gets done. Members of the military were initially included in those who would go unpaid but Trump, under considerable pressure, illegally decreed that money earmarked for other purposes be clawed back to pay those in uniform.

The point is, while those who actually get the work done go without pay, members of Congress are exempted and will not miss a single paycheck.

Rank-and-file members of the House and Senate are paid $174,000 per year.

That means for the 17 days (and counting) of the government shutdown, Reps. Julia Letlow, Clay Higgins, Troy Carter and Cleo Fields and Sens. John N. Kennedy and Bill Cassidy have each been paid $476.71 per day, or a total of $8,104 each for not working.

Carter, at least, made the effort to pay for meals for TSA workers but was told that federal employees could not accept gratuities from elected officials. Of course, that didn’t stop Kennedy from once attempting to make a contribution to LouisianaVoice from his campaign funds – a contribution that was promptly returned by LouisianaVoice.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is paid $195,400 per year, or $529.86 per day. For the 17 days that he has not worked, he has been paid $9,067.62.

Mike Johnson, Donald Trump’s boy puppet, serves as House Speaker and accordingly, is paid $223,500 per year, or $612.33 per day. For the 17 days that he has refused to call the House to session, he has been paid $10,409.61.

But I’ve only given you the numbers for the 17 days of the shutdown. Let’s look at the real figures:

Since July 3, the House has been in session only 20 days, meaning there are actually 86 days in which members have been idly collecting their salaries:

Higgins, Letlow, Fields and Carter: $40,936 each, or a total of $163,744;

Scalise: $45,567;

Johnson: $52,660.

That’s a total of $261,971 for all six representatives – for doing nothing.

The minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. That means a minimum wage worker who works a 40-hour week would receive $15,080 per year.

For a rank-and-file member of the House or Senate to make $15,080 for doing nothing during a government shutdown, it would take 31 days, or the equivalent of one month. It’s even shorter for Scalise (28 days, or one February) and for Johnson, only 24 days of non-working would be required for him to receive a year’s salary of a minimum-wage worker.

Taken together, our two senators and six representatives have been paid $67,028 for the 17 days the government has been shut down. That’s $67,000 for sitting on their asses while others scramble to buy food, make mortgage payments, pay car notes, keep the lights on and find a way to pay for critical prescription drugs.

Take Johnson’s 86-day salary. It would take a minimum-wage worker three-and-a-half years to earn what it has taken him less than three months of idleness to be paid.

And just why is it the House has been a hollowed-out echo chamber all this time? It’s pure politics, really. You see, there’s this thing called a discharge petition that would force a House vote on releasing the Epstein files. The petition needs only one vote to succeed but Johnson the Enabler wants so desperately to protect Pedo-POTUS, that he’ll do anything to prevent the files’ release – including keeping the House in recess because to reconvene would mean he’d be forced to swear in newly-elected Democrat Adelita Grijalva who is the vote needed to pass the petition.

What the hell do you suppose could be in those files anyway?

Read Full Post »

We’ve just passed the halfway point of our October fundraiser. I’ve been reluctant to post a solicitation on a daily basis because to me, it seems to be placing fundraising before substance – kind of like being a member of Congress.

But today’s solicitation is a bit different. Sure, I welcome any contribution to help LouisianaVoice continue doing what it’s doing, but there’s a need that surpasses that of ours and it resonated with me this morning when U.S. Rep. Troy Carter (D-New Orleans) posted the following message:

“I have been providing food to TSA employees at New Orleans International Airport during this government shutdown because it’s the right thing to do. While these public servants are not getting paid, the least I can do is buy them some lunch. This week, they received an email saying that they ‘can’t accept donations from political figures.’ Republicans shut the government down and forced these public servants to work without pay. Now, they are depriving them of basic human kindness. New Orleans, let’s show up for our TSA workers. Let’s all bring them lunch.”

I concur with Rep. Carter: it’s the right thing to do. So, if you’d rather do the right thing and buy a meal or meals for an unpaid federal employee and/or his/her family, I’m perfectly good with that. Rep. Carter has set an example for each of us to emulate.

If, after that, you feel you can still help support our efforts, we’ll consider that lagniappe. If so, simply go HERE, scroll down to the YELLOW DONATE button on the right-hand side and click on that to contribute via credit card.

Whatever your choice, thank you as a patriotic American.

Read Full Post »

This may well fall under the heading of old news, but at this particular juncture it seems well worth revisiting.

Louisiana has a speaker of the House, two U.S. senators, a governor and a couple other House members who received improper – and illegal – CONTRIBUTIONS from a natural gas firm founded in New Orleans but controlled by a group of Russian oligarchs loyal to Vladimir Putin.

American Ethane, founded by New Orleans attorney John Houghtaling even though 88 percent of the company was controlled by Russian nationals, The Federal Election Commission later came under sharp criticism from two of its Democratic members when the other half, both Republicans, ignored the recommendations of the commission’s Office of General Counsel and IMPOSED A MEANINGLESS FINE OF $9,500.

While Johnson’s campaign said it returned the money after learning of its source, it was no coincidence or accident that a Russian firm would choose to contribute to a particular campaign without expecting something in return. It just doesn’t work that way. Quid pro quo is a Latin term. It’s English translation is: POLITICS.

The three Russian nationals who actually owned American Ethane – Konstantin Nikolaev, Mikhail Yuriev, and Andrey Kunatbaev – were allies of Putin and Nikolaev was behind efforts b Russian gun rights activist Maria Butina to solidify ties with the NRA and with those close to Donald Trump right about the time of the 2016 election. She pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy against the U.S. and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. She was deported six months following that sentencing.

Remember that infamous photo of her and Bobby Jindal at the 2014 NRA convention?

But probably more significant than all of that, it was Johnson himself who, at Trump’s direction, REJECTED a $24 billion Ukraine aid package near the end of the Biden administration in late 2024 after the Senate had already approved the bill. Only later did he allow the funding to go through.

That was apparently the first – but not the last – time Johnson did an about-face on a controversial issue.

As recently as this past July, Johnson called on the Justice Department to MAKE PUBLIC all documents related to Jeffrey Epstein. Since then, he has done everything humanly possible to keep the files under wraps. Among the unusual steps he has taken to shield the file from public view:

Later that same month, he DISMISSED the House in order to derail efforts to call for a vote on releasing the file.

He has REFUSED to call the House back into session or to have Adelita Grijalva seated as the new Democratic member of the House following her election last month because hers is the decisive vote needed to pass a discharge petition that would force a House vote on releasing the files.

This, then, is the type of representation we have chosen to send to Washington to represent our interests. Mike Johnson is a sanctimonious demagogue whose only mission in life is to carry out the wishes or our PEDO-POTUS. While he DISPLAYS the badge of Christianity and devoutness, he has shown the instincts of someone who is anything but Christian, charitable, or compassionate.

He can PROCLAIM his faith in the Almighty and his love for his fellow man until the holy cows come home, but until he begins acting on the core beliefs of the Christian faith, he is little more than the false prophet the Bible cautions us about.

Read Full Post »

Last month, I described State Sen. BLAKE MIGUEZ of New Iberia as a one-trick pony because of his glut of bills dealing with firearms and little else.

His initial TV AD announcing his candidacy to defeat U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy in next year’s primary does nothing to dispel that image. He obviously continues to function on a single track, that of guns and ammo despite the literal epidemic of mass shootings plaguing the U.S.

He opens his ad by donning protective eyewear and saying, “Bill Cassidy had his shot. He missed. I won’t” as he fires what appears to be some form of AR-15-type gun (I’m no weapons expert, so if that’s incorrect, forgive my lack of depth of knowledge about semi-automatic guns designed for one purpose: to kill). He fires the weapon and a huge explosion ensues, reminiscent to some B-movie where lots of things, including cars, buildings and people, explode.

He follows that with an exhibition by brandishing a pistol (though he doesn’t actually fire the weapon). After a cutaway clip to el presidente e Pluribus Plumptus, the camera returns to the gunslinger legislator who this time uses both index fingers to point at the camera as if his hands were guns.

I’m no fan of Bill Cassidy, by any stretch. I think he’s revealed himself to be cowardly and he has betrayed the Hippocratic Oath and the principle of “do no harm” because he has certainly done considerable harm by refusing to stand up to Robert Kennedy, Jr. But to launch a political campaign amid the climate of intolerance and violence that currently grips this country by using a semi-automatic weapon as a prop is ill-advised at best and foolhardy at worst.

At a time when children and political influencers are being murdered and when even a crackpot candidate is the target of would-be assassin (supposedly – at least that’s the official version), it’s nothing short of nutty to employ weaponry in a political campaign. It calls to mind LBJ’s provocative DAISY PETAL ad in the 1964 presidential campaign.

Simply put, Miguez, though he is a trained firearms expert, is stupid, callous, and tone deaf to employ such tactics designed to appeal to our worst instincts.

And as far as I can discern, those are his good qualities.

Read Full Post »