Louisiana Voice

A lot of attention is being given to events in Washington, Minneapolis and that’s good. We should be aware of what’s taking place in our government and in law enforcement.

But we would be wise to also keep tabs on events in Louisiana and actions by our state elected officials.

We would do well to begin with Dustin Granger, owner of the Dustin Granger for Louisiana web blog, who recently posed the not-so-rhetorical question: “Why in hell are we giving our sensitive voting data and private Social Security numbers to the Department of Justice?”

That seems to be a fair question to which no one has as yet provided a satisfactory answer.

Granger correctly pointed out that other states had refused to provide the data but Louisiana literally over itself in complying, a step Granger describes as reckless.

Think this is an overreaction or a case of paranoia? Well, let’s turn our attention to the state of Maine where ICE is beginning to make its presence felt. There are reports of a STATE CORRECTIONS OFFICER being detained by ICE agents who terrified the officer’s pregnant wife and left the officer’s vehicle idling in the street.

In another report, ICE agents approached an elderly woman who had driven closest to the officers. They first spoke with her and then proceeded to FIRE PROJECTILES at her vehicle. The projectiles, assumed to be paintballs, were fired at other cars in a Home Depot parking log and in another instance, ICE agents began photographing a woman who was driving near them. Asked why they were taking photos of her, an agent replied, “We’re compiling a data base. You’re now a domestic terrorist.”

Okay, Maine and Minneapolis are a long way from Louisiana but if you think for one moment it can’t—wone—happen here, you’re deluding yourself into a false sense of security.

This country is under siege, folks, and our governor is fiddling as we burn.

Even as a new just-released reveals Louisiana ranks DEAD-LAST in the health of its citizens but first in the U.S. for chlamydia (a sexually-transmitted infection: I didn’t know, either) and second in Gonorrhea, (Interestingly, 9 of the 10 lowest-ranking states in those health rankings were red states while 9 of the 10 healthiest states were blue states) our governor has busied himself writing an opinion piece for NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE extolling the virtues of dog-killer Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security at the same time others are demanding her resignation or impeachment.

Jeff Landry has also found ample time to serve as Cankle Ankles Trump’s special envoy to Greenland (whatever that’s supposed to mean) even though the Louisiana Constitution clearly says he is forbidden to hold another position concurrent to his term as governor. Meanwhile, Landry’s tough-on-crime reforms are resulting in  UNPRECIDENTED COST INCREASES because prisoners are remaining in jail longer as a result of the governor’s stricter parole policies.

In Squeaky Toy Landry’s first year as governor and supposedly under his stellar leadership, the Louisiana legislature in May 2024, passed the Community Air Monitoring Reliability Act (CAMRA) which PROHIBITED local groups from lodging allegations of air quality violations through the use of their commercial sensors. Violations were subjected to a fine of up to $33,000 per day.

This appeared to be an especially egregious action to stymie local citizen participation in the monitoring of air quality around Louisiana’s hundreds of petro-chemical plants, particularly those along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. After all, what citizens group can afford fines of $33,000 per day when the only real concern is the ability to breathe freely?

It’s anybody’s guess as to how much campaign money was poured into legislators’ coffers by the petro-chemical interests in the months leading up to the passage of that law that all but gives the plants carte blanche to spew noxious fumes without fear of punishment.