Louisiana Voice

When they spring up in the Dakotas, Montana and Idaho, Pedo-POTUS should be worried…

ICE has an interesting assignment, thanks to the paranoia of one Pedo-POTUS Frump.

The agency is employing iris scanners, facial-recognition apps, phone-hacking software and cellphone location data to track undocumented immigrants – and Antifa.

Wait. What?

First of all, what does and Antifa look like? Where are their headquarters? Do they have membership dues? If so, do they have a bank for deposits and withdrawals? What does their stationery letterhead look like? Does it carry a logo?

In other words, ICE, describe an Antifa for me. I’m curious to know what an anti-fascist looks like. From my history books that I’m pretty sure the Repugnantcan Party will re-write, an Antifa looks pretty much like weary GIs hunkered down as they combat the onslaught of Germany and Italy in World War II. I’m pretty certain they look like the guys who liberated the German killing camps where 6 million Jews were executed.

God help us. We’re apparently being overrun by zealots who oppose fascism. So if TACO Don and his modern-day Brownshirts are so hell-bent on ferreting out Antifa, then that must, by necessity, mean that El Presidente and his storm troopers are Fascists.

I mean, Antifa, broken down, is “anti-fa(scist),” so if you’re anti-antifa then you are, by definition Fascist.

I am overwhelmed at the very concept of such a mentality and I’m equally jaw-dropped at trying to understand how a non-existent entity can be labeled (by one man – Trump) as a terrorist organization.

I have an idea. Let’s declare MAGA a terrorist organization and let’s sic the authorities on that organization. Except it isn’t a real organization. Nor does Maga have a defined headquarters of operation, but that’s okay, we’ll still go after ‘em. Hmm, they also don’t seem to have a bank account, so no asset seizures. Membership dues? Not that I know of.

But that’s of no concern. We’ll just overlook those technicalities and make an arbitrary decision that they’re all a bunch of terrorists because they have the nerve to wear red baseball caps.

Makes every bit as much sense as chasing a ghost called Antifa.

Good God, what has this country become?

The most distasteful part of keeping this blog going is coming to you to ask for your financial support.

I’ve been advised to install a subscription pay wall but I don’t want to do that; I want my stories to be available to anyone who wishes to invest the time to read them.

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Our fundraiser continues through the end of October and we are now in the 17th day but there’s been no shutdown at LouisianaVoice.

Thank you for your support and consideration.

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.

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?