Louisiana Voice

New Orleans attorney Clancy Dubos and John Stanton, writing for Gambit, have dubbed Jeff Landry as the “ CLOWNFISH”  in obvious comparison to another power-hungry Louisiana governor, Huey P. “Kingfish” Long.

Obviously, it is not a complimentary comparison but neither should we be dismissive of the label or of Landry’s ambition to become the most powerful Louisiana governor since Huey and possibly the most powerful governor in America.

We have already seen (in the story below) how he wants to

• Take control of PUBLIC DEFENSE SYSTEM;
• Slam the door on the our right to examine public records;
• Appoint all 11 members of the already weakened State Ethics Board. Wonder if the board’s vote to penalize Landry for failure to disclose trips aboard a donor’s plane?
• Take full control of appointing nearly all of the members of the state Civil Service Commission (sure, that’s smart: have an “independent” civil service board totally beholden to the governor. What could possibly go wrong?)
• Appoint all Supreme Court justices (I’m ambivalent about this one. Elected justices can be tied too closely to high-dollar law firms and lawyers who contribute to their campaigns).
• Shove through a new State Constitution in a mind-boggling two- or three-weeks’ time (granted, the current constitution is bloated and could use a re-boot – but in two weeks’ time with no public comment allowed? C’mon!)
• Obtain more control over higher education and its governing boards;
• Remove JOB REQUIREMENTS for industrial tax breaks (in fact, he has already issued an executive order doing just that, cratering to the interests of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry rather than placing the emphasis where it belongs – on employment and
• While we weren’t watching, quietly pushed for passage of HOUSE BILL 974 by Rep. Josh Carlson (R-Lafayette). The bill passed the House with 65 votes. Thirty-eight members had the cojones – and intelligence – to vote no.

What that bill will do, pending Senate concurrence, will remove the requirement that library directors be state-certified.

Oh, you still have to be state-certified to be a flower arranger but libraries? Why, if this bill becomes law, anyone off the street may be hired to run our libraries.

Let me re-phrase that: Any self-righteous, judgmental, Bible-thumping evangelical may – and will – be hired to decide what the public can and cannot read. Many parishes have already started down that slippery slope toward censorship. This will put them into the express lane.

These people are not our friends and what they are attempting is nothing but a series of brazen moves toward grabbing ever more control by the zealots who have chosen to blindly follow the equivalent of a side show barker who hawks the “giant Russian rat” that turns out to be a common Louisiana nutria. (I drew this comparison from a carnival in Livingston Parish several years back that pulled that exact ruse. At least it only cost me a quarter and the comparison is valid.)

Update: I received a response to the public records request I made to Jeff Landry. That’s the one in which I asked for all correspondence between Landry and Sen. Heather Cloud. Here is that response from Landry’s Deputy Executive Council Jeffrey Wale:

From: Gov PublicRecords <GovPublicRecords@la.gov>
Sent: Friday, May 3, 2024 3:07 PM
To: Tom Aswell
Subject: RE: RESPONSE REQUESTED FOR PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST

Mr. Aswell,

After a diligent search of our office’s records, and to the best of my information and belief, our office has no records responsive to your request.

This completes our response to you, and our office will close our file in this matter. 

Thank you.

Jeffrey Wale

Not that I actually expected compliance, but I since came across this PROPOSED BILL from 2023. Sen. Heather Cloud filed this bill last year (as Landry was ramping up his gubernatorial campaign) in reaction to the public library hysteria and this year filed SB 482 which would severely restrict, if not outright abolish, the public’s right to view public records.

Again, both bills were filed by Cloud. Landry was and remains a staunch proponent of both measures.

And we are to believe the two have never communicated by text or email?

Connect the dots here and draw your own conclusions.

The Advocate-Times Picayune on Sunday trumpeted the results of a poll the publication said reflected strong backing for Jeff Landry’s political agenda.

The story said Landry received a 56 percent overall favorable rating in the poll, conducted by New Orleans pollster Ron Faucheux on behalf of the newspaper but in reality, there was little chance for it to show a different result; it may as well have been commissioned by Landry or the Louisiana Republican Party.

I happened to have been one of the 800 Louisiana voters who received a call and participated in the poll and from the way the questions were structured, only an anarchist could possibly have taken issue with Landry’s agenda.

It was a classic “push-poll,” where the questions are couched in such a way as to elicit the desired response and for The Advocate-Times Picayune to promote the results as news is, simply put, lazy reporting.

Ron Faucheux is, by all accounts, a reputable, non-partisan political consultant but this poll was less than credible – not because I happen to disagree with many of Landry’s positions (I do) but because the questions afforded me no opportunity to say how I really felt about certain issues.

For example: yes, education in Louisiana is a problem but allowing parental participation is playing with fire. A single complaint from a parent can wreak havoc on what books a child may read or what history he or she may be taught. That’s not improving education; it’s instilling mass confusion for teachers and principals.

Crime, too, is a huge problem but gutting the budgets of public defenders is certainly not the solution. Nor does it address the problem by making it more difficult for the wrongfully convicted to have their cases re-heard. And there have already been some 100 individuals who have been exonerated after serving decades at Angola for crimes they never committed, thanks to over-zealous prosecutors willing to sell their souls for a quick conviction.

There were others, but every single question (except for my religion, which I refused to reveal), was a multiple-choice question that made me to be either a full-throated dedicated Landry supporter or a bomb-thrower. I’m neither.

But I don’t think the pollster recorded any of my responses after I insisted on expounding on my answers.

Well, I’m back. Yes, I know I’ve retired – twice. First because of failing eyesight and most recently because at 80, I’m just tired of chasing leads, some of which turn out, most of which ultimately don’t

There can be any number of reasons that might explain my decision to return to the keyboard.

There’s the analogy of the old fire station horse who still tries to answer the call or the over-the-hill boxer who responds to the bell. Or maybe it’s just the senility that allows me to forget that I’m supposed to be sitting in the sun room drooling with a lap blanket and shoulder shawl draped over my frail body.

There are those (maybe most) who would choose the latter. But the truth is, the level of corruption in Louisiana is such that it’s virtually impossible to walk away if you have a scintilla of love for this state. And if the first months are any indication, the next few years under Jeff Landry will be a challenge that will make the Jindal years pale by comparison.

So it is that I have opted to keep pounding away at those who would put personal gain before the interests of the state and her citizens.

Which brings me to the unpleasant task of renewing our twice-a-year fund raisers in order to keep the lights on.

Heretofore, we held fundraisers in April and October but since April is gone, we are coming to you with hat in hand during the month of May. I humbly ask that you support our efforts in any amount you’re comfortable with – $5, $10, or whatever. I’ll be traveling the state (believe it or not, south Louisiana doesn’t hold franchise rights to corruption; there’re stories that need exposure way up in north Louisiana. I also anticipate a few roadblocks to future requests for public records which will necessitate legal action, all of which take money.

Anyone contributing $50 or more will receive his choice of one of my (signed) books. Here are your choices of non-fiction:

Louisiana’s Rogue Sheriffs: A Culture of Corruption

America’s Rogue Sheriffs: A Culture of Corruption (each state is profiled)

Murder on the Teche: A True Story of Money and a Flawed Investigation

For fiction, there are these:

It’s All Theirs (a story about one man’s fight against the IRS)

Bordello on the Bayou (a high-end prostitute is murdered in Baton Rouge)

Vieux Carré Vengeance (a ghost story set in New Orleans)

If you order a book, be sure to provide a mailing address.

So, please, as the preacher said in the movie Oh, God, please “dig DEEP into your pockets to support this min’-istry.” Seriously, click on the yellow DONATE button to the upper right to contribute by credit card or you may send a check to me, Tom Aswell, at 107 North College West, Denham Springs, LA. 70726.

As usual, I deeply appreciate all the support I’ve received in the past.

Maybe Dick Cheney would like to invite Kristi Noem to go bird hunting.