Louisiana Voice

Fred Mulhearn is a long-time dear friend of mine and while our lives have differed career-wise, they somehow managed to take a parallel path geographically.

Fred grew up in Winnsboro but moved to Ruston. I grew up and lived in Ruston, working as managing editor of the Ruston Daily Leader, my hometown newspaper. Fred, on the other hand, worked as a cartoonist for the rival newspaper, The Morning Paper, run by the incomparable John Hays. Once Fred lampooned me in one of his Morning Paper cartoons for which I criticized him for making my lips to big.

But then I again moved to the Baton Rouge area (Denham Springs), this time to stay. That was in 1981. Coincidentally, Fred soon closed his flower shop and moved to Denham Springs where he enrolled in LSU Law School. I took him to visit Jim Hughes, executive editor of the Baton Rouge Advocate and introduced Fred and his political cartoons. Hughes hired Fred on the spot as a cartoonist for the paper.

Fred remained with The Advocate until he finished law school and began working for the Louisiana Department of Revenue.

Both he and I are members of the loose-knit Dinosaurs Club, a group of former employees of the Baton Rouge State-Times and Morning Advocate who meet once a month for lunch at the Piccadilly on South Sherwood Forest Blvd, a tradition actually begun by another good friend, Fayette Tompkins, originally from Homer and with whom I worked at the State-Times back in the ‘70s.

Fred “retired” his cartooning at some point after publishing a wonderful book of political cartoons entitled Looziana Political Cartoons.

But now, he’s making a long-awaited comeback with the publication of More Life in Looziana. I haven’t seen it yet, but it’s sure to be a delightful collection of cartoons that poke fun at Louisiana politics. Unlike some editorial cartoonists, Fred is never cruel with his illustrations of life in Louisiana’s political circles, but he’s spot-on in peeling back the layers to expose the hilarity – and foibles – of our unique state government or of our many and varied traditions.

Cavalier House Books at 114 North Range Ave. in Denham Springs will host a launch party and book-signing for Fred and his latest book this Friday at 6 p.m. He also will be on hand to offer signed copies of the book at the Louisiana Book Festival on Nov. 1 at the Louisiana State Library in downtown Baton Rouge.

But don’t take my word for it. Here are a couple of observations about the book from folks far more qualified than I:

• “Fred Muhearn’s More Life in Looziana really hits home again. His cartoons capture the heart and humor of everyday life here — the kind of people, places, and moments that make Louisiana one of a kind. You can feel the authenticity in every drawing, just like you can feel the warmth of the folks who call this state home. That’s what makes Louisiana so special — real people, real stories, and a whole lot to Feed Your Soul.” — Billy Nungesser, Lt. Governor for the State of Louisiana.
• “Fred Mulhearn has been entertaining readers for years with his clever cartoons capturing slices of our unique ways of enjoying life. His characters always make wry comments about issues large and small that challenge us on a regular basis.” — Jay Dardenne, former Lt. Governor for the State of Louisiana, and author of Why Louisiana Ain’t Mississippi… or Any Place Else!
• “Fred Mulhearn’s cartoons have entertained several generations of Louisianians. He’s a brilliant and gifted native son with the keen eye of an outsider for seeing clearly the quirks and foibles of his home state. And we have a lot of quirks! In this new collection of delightful cartoons, Fred will make you laugh–and probably even think.” — Robert “Bob” Mann, holder of the Manship Chair at the Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU for 18 years, and author of ten books including Kingfish U: Huey Long and LSU and You Are My Sunshine: Jimmie Davis and the Biography of a Song.

From the back cover:

This is Fred Mulhearn’s second collection of cartoons and commentary about what makes Louisiana different, unique, and sometimes just plain weird.  The first book was named Life in Looziana; this one is named More Life in Looziana.  (Apparently Fred is not all that creative when it comes to book titles.)  Looziana Political Cartoons: The Best of Fred Mulhearn is another of Fred’s books.

Fred Mulhearn, “Louisiana’s Own Cartoonist,” was born and raised in Winnsboro.  Now he lives in Denham Springs.  For over forty-five years, he has been drawing cartoons – almost all of them about living in Louisiana.  During that whole time, he has never won an award for his cartooning – not a single one.

(Editor’s note: I will award a signed copy of Fred’s book and Huey Long’s biography, Every Man A King (not signed) to the individual making the largest contribution to LouisianaVoice’s fundraiser which will run through the end of October.)

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It apparently takes a real man to take down a 110-pound woman

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If you watched Pam “Barbie Doll” Bondi in yesterday’s SENATE HEARINGS, you saw for yourself the arrogance, the deflection, the evasion and the outright lies this administration is capable of.

As the nation moves more and more into the abyss of political and social chaos and ever-closer to authoritarian rule, we are witnessing a weaker and weaker Congress and a compliant Supreme Court, both giving full leeway to a man sliding into the darkness of dementia who has:

• Declared war against American citizens,
• A president who has ordered the murder of foreign nationals in international waters,
• A president who has ordered the shaky indictment of a perceived political enemy while advocating for the jailing of a governor and mayor of a major city,
• A president whose policies are bankrupting farmers and small businesses,
• A president who promised but failed to deliver on numerous campaign promises,
• A president who refused to serve in the military via five medical deferments but who thinks he is qualified to lecture 800 generals and admirals on “warrior ethos,”
• A president who fires any government employee who dares submit an economic report that is not positive to his administration,
• A president who is not beyond bullying TV networks, law firms and universities to obtain the kind of treatment he thinks he deserves, respect that is certainly not earned,
• A president who is desperate to keep the contents of the so-called Epstein file secret, and
• A president who shamelessly lobbies for the Nobel Peace Prize.

And we have Barbie Doll siting before U.S. senators and declaring him to be a “great president.”

Well, lets examine her own past performance that has apparently led her to become the nation’s chief legal officer.

Before TACO Don entered the Republican primaries for the presidential nomination, he was operating a shady outfit called Trump University, aka Trump Wealth Institute, aka Trump Entrepreneur Initiative LLC, down in Florida, ostensibly educating suckers on how to become rich in real estate.

You really want to see how dirty politics can be? Check this out. Back on March 2016, there was this U.S. Senator from Florida named Marco Rubio. In a campaign PRESS RELEASE, he called Trump University “an absolute scam” and offered “facts about pending litigation.”

In August 2013, the Florida Attorney General’s office announced it was contemplating joining a New York lawsuit against Trump University which had been the subject of numerous fraud complaints. About this same time, Bondi, who was running for state attorney general, solicitated a campaign contribution from Trump.

In September 2013, The Donald J. Trump Foundation sent a $25,000 check to a political action committee supporting Bondi. Political contributions by a tax-exempt charitable foundation such as the Donald J. Trump Foundation, by the way, just happen to be a violation of the law.

In October 2013, Bondi’s office announced it would take no action against Trump University.

In 2016, news reports surfaced about details of the donation and the subsequent decision not to investigate. The IRS fined Trump $2500 over the illegal contribution and he personally reimbursed the foundation.

In November 2016, Trump settled the fraud lawsuits (there were at least three) related to Trump University for $25 million. (Remember, Bondi had decided – after that $25,000 donation – not to pursue an investigation. Coincidence?)

In 2017, the Florida Ethics Commission reviewed complaints against Bondi but ruled that while the situation “may raise suspicions,” there was insufficient evidence that she personally violated any state laws (boys and girls, can you say “quid pro quo”?).

So now, Rubio is Trump’s Secretary of State and Barbi Doll Bondi is the U.S. Attorney General, refusing to answer a single direct question from senators.

This, folks, is the nation we’ve become. If the republic survives, it will not be because of Trump, but despite him.

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It has come down to this: the only way to combat the cruelty and lawlessness of Donald Trump is to build a united resistance to stand up and say, “You cannot do this,” whether its deploying troops against American cities, cutting medical benefits for the poor and elderly or eliminating things like medical research, grants to educational institutions cutting off aid to food banks and other services vital to the wellbeing of citizens of this country.

One small way to help in that resistance is to help news outlets like LouisianaVoice who attempt to get the truth out to readers, truth that the mainstream media has abandoned in favor of corporate gain over principle. We are small, but we DO NOT SELL OUT to tyrants! CBS, ABC, Fox, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, certain universities and a half-dozen law firms have long since forgotten what it means to place the spotlight’s glare on political corruption – because they have become part of that corruption.

Please help us to continue to deliver the sometimes ugly facts about our elected officials like John N. Kennedy, Bill Cassidy, Mike Johnson, et al, who have forgotten whom they represent. Go to: https://louisianavoice.com/ and scroll down until you find the YELLOW DONATE BUTTON in the right-hand column. Click on that button to make a one-time contribution by credit card.

Thank you for supporting the truth all these years.

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