As a barometer of the success of No Kings Day III, I give you Lincoln Parish and Ruston, home for the first 30 years of my life.
Donald Trump carried Lincoln Parish in 2024 with 62 percent of the vote, trouncing Kamala Harris by 26 percentage points.
So, it would stand to reason that yesterday’s No Kings Day protest in Ruston would be a huge disappointment to organizers.
Instead, more than 330 people joined 7 million in all 50 states to protest the authoritarian administration of Dementia Don and his cronies.
From one who knows Ruston, getting 300 people out for anything but a Peach Festival parade is an accomplishment akin to filling Tiger Stadium for an LSU football game. I mean, they don’t even come close to filling Aillet Stadium for Tech football; getting them to turnout for a political protest against TACO Don, given the support he received in 2024 approaches pure wonderment. The attendance there is more than significant.
A third No Kings National Day of Protest will be held in 3,000 cities in all 50 states, including nearly a dozen in Louisiana Saturday, according to Indivisible Baton Rouge, which is sponsoring the event in Baton Rouge and in at least three of the other cities where it has active chapters.
NO-KINGS III DAY IS SATURDAY
“Indivisible is a nationwide movement of everyday people organizing in all 50 states to stop the rise of authoritarianism in the United States and to build a real democracy that works for all of us,” a press release by the organization said.
“A core principle of 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.”
There will be several motivational speakers for the Baton Rouge event, including Robert Mann and Quentin Anthony Anderson. There will also be a food drive to benefit needy people in the Baton Rouge area. Needed items include non-perishable food items, coffee, sugar, toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, dish soap, toothpaste, bath soap, and funds for baby diapers and formula, and fresh fruit, vegetables and meats.
“As Trump escalates his attempts to control every aspect of people’s lives and destroy our tradition of free and fair elections, it is on We the People to fight to protect one another and our country,” the release said.
“Generations of Americans have fought to secure fundamental freedom and dignity for all of us. We won’t back down against the chaos, corruption and cruelty that are the hallmarks of this regime.
“That’s why on Saturday, March 28, millions will take to the streets and gather together once again for a National Day of Action to protest the Trump regime’s corruption and attacks on our democracy, rights, healthcare and reproductive freedom to demand: No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings!”
Here is the schedule for rallies in 11 Louisiana cities tomorrow:
Baton Rouge: noon – 3 p.m., AZ Young Park at the intersection of North Third and Lafayette Street/Spanish Town Road.
Alexandria: noon – 2 pm, Alexander Fulton Mini Park, 1015 3rd St.
Covington – Northshore: 1 – 3 pm, St. Tammany Justice Center, 701 N. Columbia St.
Lafayette: 10 am – 2 pm, Prejean Point, 735 Jefferson St.
Lake Charles: 11 am – 2 pm, Lock Park, 1535 Ryan St.
Leesville: 11:30 am – 2 pm, Leesville City Hall, 508 S. 5th St.
Monroe: 2 – 3 pm, Ouachita Parish Courthouse, 301 W. Grand St.
Ruston: 10 – 11 am, Railroad Park, 101 W Park Ave.
Shreveport Metro: 1 – 4 pm, Courthouse, 501 Texas St.
Slidell: 1 – 4 pm, Heritage Park, 1701 Bayou Lane
If organizers are worried about keeping he momentum up for the protests, Donald Trump has accommodated their efforts with his ever-increasing craziness.
If you have concerns about ICE murdering Americans, if you have questions about the imprisonment and deportation of American citizens and non-violent immigrants, if you are opposed to the U.S. becoming bogged down in yet another senseless Mideast war, if you worry about the policies that deny health coverage to Americans, if you fear for your voting rights, if fascism scares you, if you just don’t like authoritarianism in general, then you need to make your presence felt tomorrow.
State Rep. Charles Anthony Owen (R-Rosepine) apparently has seen enough of university and college faculty members taking heat whenever they call attention to violations or other questionable practices.
There is certainly no shortage of examples: KEN LEVY, IVOR VAN HEERDEN and STEVEN HATFIELD at LSU and the pulling of professor FERESHREH AMAMI from her research at Lake Maurepas by Southeastern Louisiana University come to mind immediately.
Those must have been on Owen’s mind when he filed HOUSE BILL 1008 which would prohibit public postsecondary education institutions from retaliating against faculty members who disclose certain alleged violations or who exercise academic freedom of speech.
That could be because Owen holds a Ph.D. from Louisiana Tech. Retired from the military, he also has served as an adjunct faculty member in his own right.
Regardless, as his bill asserts, “Academic freedom means the right of faculty members to teach, research, publish and express views on matters within their field of expertise without interference, consistent with professional standards and institutional policies.”
The bill says that no postsecondary institution, nor any officer, employee or agent of any institution may retaliate against or harm any faculty member for “disclosing or reporting concerns about any alleged violation of law, regulatory policy or ethical standard or any other alleged act of impropriety related to academic, administrative or operational matters at the institution.”
Included is any such reporting to any “supervisor, institutional official, state or federal agency, legislator, law enforcement officer or the public about waste, fraud, abuse, misconduct or threats to public health, safety or institutional integrity.”
Also protected in Owen’s bill is the exercising of academic freedom, “including but not limited to teaching topics that some may consider controversial, conducting research and publishing findings.”
Owen’s bill was referred to the House Committee on Education of which he is a member.
His bill has merit but enforcement could conceivably be a problem, just as it is with any violation when people in charge are reluctant to investigate and act. And in Louisiana, there’s no shortage of officials perfectly willing to look the other direction.
Louisiana’s two U.S. senators each voted in favor of appointing Markwayne Mullin to be Secretary of Homeland Security to succeed Kristi Noem.
The full Senate voted 55-45 in favor of Diaper Don’s nominee with two Democrats voting in favor and one Republican voting no.
The Dems who supported the appointment were John Fetterman of Pennsylvania (no surprise there) and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico. Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky, as expected, voted no.
As usual, Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy CHECKED THEIR SPINES AT THE DOOR so that they could continue to serve their lord and master (which, by the way, isn’t the citizens of Louisiana).
One observer noted that replacing Noem with Mullin was “like crapping your pants and changing shirts.”
But the fact is, neither Louisiana senator has showed an ounce of independence by voting against a single one of Trump’s nominees—not even Robert F. Kennedy Jr. They continue to align themselves with the bad actors who have followed their deeply-flawed and addled leader into the present crisis of senseless and endless war, inflation and uncertainty.
One would think at some point, one of them would step back and say, “Wait just a doggone minute here. Every one of the appointees we voted to confirm have embarrassed this country in one way or another.” Kristi “Ice Barbie” Noem, Pete Hogsbreath, Pam Bondi, RFK Jr., et al. have given plenty reasons to do just that but to date, nothing seems sufficiently outrageous to cause them to summon the courage needed to stand up to the Clown in Chief..
But no. That would be too much to ask. Kennedy said it best when he said 11 years ago that he’d “rather drink weedkiller” than cross such a fine man as Cankle Ankles.
Cassidy, meanwhile, is increasingly desperate to somehow tie his fortunes to Yam Tits despite Dementia Don’s endorsement of Rep. Julia Letlow.
His licentious obeisance long ago moved past the point of embarrassment.
All this time, he’s been telling us that mail-in voting is bad for the Repugnantcan Party.
And to prove his point, he voted by mail himself in the state legislative race in the Florida House district that encompasses Mar-a-Largo—just to demonstrate what he’s been saying.
Lemme repeat that in case you weren’t paying attention: Donald Trump voted by mail in yesterday’s special legislative election.
It is a district ol’ Cankle Ankles won by 17 points in 2024, and in a district won by the Republican candidate by 19 points, Democratic challenger Emily Gregory won yesterday by 2.4 points.
Now, a 2.4 percentage point win may not seem like a mandate but consider this: In Dementia Don’s home district, she pulled off 20-point swing among Yam Tits’s friends and neighbors from two years ago. That is a mandate by all measures.
The results were just the latest in an early series of elections that indicate folks have had quite enough of the Trumpster Dumpster. In fact, it was the 29th seat (albeit mostly local seats) Democrats have flipped from Repugnantcan control since TACO Don took office.
This was a special election to fill the seat of Repugnantcan Mike Caruso, who, apparently seeing the handwriting on the wall, resigned to become Palm Beach County’s clerk. Maybe he read the tea leaves.
In something of an understatement, Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said, “If Mar-a-Lago is vulnerable, imagine what’s possible this November.”
Yeah. Just imagine, Louisiana, the state that royaly iffed up.
IF Karen Carter Peterson had not gutted the Louisiana Democratic Party…
IF Louisiana Democrats had dumped her from her chairpersonship earlier and begun rebuilding…
IF Louisiana Democrats had come together to find a strong, appealing candidate to run against Bill Cassidy and the field of Trump sycophant wannabes…
Because, God knows the field of Repugnantcan candidates in the upcoming Senate race makes one wonder, as many of us do every election cycle, is this the best Louisiana has to offer?
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