Louisiana Voice

I just finished an interesting book entitled Falling Up: How a Redneck Helped Invent Political Consulting, by Raymond D. Strother (LSU Press).

Though the book was published in 2003 and I was late in discovering its existence when I found it on a friend’s bookshelf and borrowed it, the book’s subject matter is perhaps more relevant today even then when it was written.

I almost worked for Strother once, though I’m certain he doesn’t remember it.

It was back in either late 1978 or early 1979 when the governor’s race was heating up. For the first time in eight years, Edwin Edwards wouldn’t be a factor; he was term-limited, so as is the norm for Louisiana, the candidates were lining up to become his successor.

I had just left a job at the old Shreveport Journal where I found I wasn’t a fit for the Journal or for Shreveport. I had left the Baton Rouge State-Times in 1976 to return to my first paper, the Ruston Daily Leader as managing editor and when publisher Tom Kelly ran afoul of the Leader’s ownership in Panama City, Florida and was unceremoniously fired despite all he had done for the paper, I left as well for a less-than-satisfactory tour at the Journal.

So, as the governor’s race was heating up, I was looking for a job when the late Wiley Hilburn, then head of the Louisiana Tech Department of Journalism came to me to say that Strother had a spot for me as Paul Hardy’s press secretary for his gubernatorial campaign.

Even that early on, I knew Hardy would never be governor. I didn’t have the foresight to realize that in political consulting, there are always other campaigns in which to work. The work is almost self-perpetuating, but I didn’t understand that basic political truism, so I declined Stother’s offer.

It turns out after reading Strother’s book that I’d made a good decision. I would never have fit in the high-rolling, rollicking world of big-time politics. In fact, that point was driven home on pages 122 and 123 of his book. In those two pages, he described how the days of Bob Dole, John Stennis, Sam Nunn, Patrick Monynihan “and a host of others from both parties (emphasis mine) represented a dying generation of comradeship and decorum in the Senate.

“They have been replaced in large part,” Strother continues, “by petty partisans who care more about their party than about the institution of the Senate or even about their country (emphasis mine). I always…wonder how American voters allowed giants to be replaced by midgets.”

Strother also laments the morphing of political consultants like Karl Rove into policy wonks. He recalled how Sen. Lloyd Bentsen had a firm rule for political consultants: “You make the campaign commercials and I’ll draft the legislation.”

Strother takes Louisiana Democratic political operative James Carville (at one time one of his employees, by the way) to task for his violation of the Bentsen rule. In 2001, Zell Miller was elected to the Senate from Georgia on a promise to vote the interests of Georgia and not blindly follow party dogma. “He said it and he meant it,” Strother writes. But when Carville denounced Zell over his independence and publicly demanded that his own thousand-dollar contribution to Miller’s campaign be refunded, Strother says bluntly that Carville was out of line, especially when Zell pointed out that he’d paid Carville’s firm more than $300,000 in fees when he worked on Zell’s gubernatorial campaign several years earlier and wondered if Carville would be repaying that money.

“James Carville is a brilliant campaign consultant, one of the best in the country, but he shouldn’t be running the Senate.”

Strother’s is an insightful but somewhat depressing book that gives us a behind-the-curtain peek at the inner machinations of political campaigns, the decision-making process that has evolved from the savvy observations of consultants who have fought in the political gutters to today’s committees of pinstripe suits with Ivy League degrees but no feel for the average working American.

Written as it was nearly two decades ago, it also may have been an unwitting omen of what today is an unquestionably sorry state of political compromise and diplomacy that has given us the likes of Ted Cruz, Ron DeSantis, Ron Johnson, Josh Hawley, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Clay Higgins, Steve Scalise, Greg Abbott, Andrew Cuomo, Gavin Newsom, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Robert Brady, Anthony Weiner, et al.

The book may be 18 years old, but it’s as relevant today as the day it was written.

I’m sometimes amused at the critical comments that show up at the ends of some of my posts. It seems that some critics prefer to spend more time hurling insults than in trying to contribute meaningful dialogue.

There are exceptions. One, who identifies herself as Zoe, disagrees with me virtually 100 percent of the time. But at least she attempts to back up her position with her own research, flawed though some of it has turned out to be. Also, Zoe has never personally insulted me and for that, I am appreciative.

I can’t say the same for others whose comments are just laced with sarcasm, rarely offering any facts to back up their claims. One who pops up from time to time in the comments section identifies himself only as “L.” His actual last name is Frost and I suspect he’s also he one who jumps onto the reviews of my books to describe them as trash, nonsense, a waste of money, etc.

He may well be correct in his assessment of my literary talent, but I wish he would at least read the book before attacking it. To simply offer negative comments without even picking up the book is artistic prostitution in its very worst form.

I will say this for L, though. The guy is a regular Bob Hope. He’s so hilarious, he really should go on tour.

Another called me a “socialist democrat” for my post about vaccines and masks. I’m not sure how he makes the stretch from my wanting to take steps to prevent my contracting COVID to being a socialist – especially when he obviously can’t even define the meaning of the term.

My favorite, though, was from a reader who reminded me that a vaccine was an “experimental gene therapy using mRNA” still in early trials and not yet approved by the FDA. Somehow, he worked Garth Brooks into his comments, which kind of lost me.

But now I’m here to admit the error of my ways and to express my contrition with just one word:

Ivermectin.

Yes, that’s correct. Forget all those half-baked COVID vaccinations. Throw out those useless masks. Get yourself some good old cattle dewormer. That’ll do the trick. Hell, an authority no less reputable than Dr. Paul Marik of Eastern Virginia Medical School says it’s all the rage, preferable even to dexamethasone that came so highly recommended by Donald Trump, though probably not as effective as bleach or ultra-violet lights shoved up your derriere.

I had no idea ivermectin had so many uses, though after watching me dance at a club once, a veterinarian called me aside and said I looked like I needed deworming.

Dr. James Ford, a pulmonary and critical care physician at a Baton Rouge hospital said there was a real risk of overdosing which could result in neurological problems, seizures or even death. “Ivermectin isn’t the problem,” he said. COVID is the problem. If people are focusing on eating dewormer instead of getting the vaccine that could save their life, that’s a new problem.”

Well, obviously Dr. Ford doesn’t understand so, I will try to enlighten him. First, Donald Trump said COVID was just the flu, that it affected only about 15 people and would “magically disappear” even though he told writer Bob Woodward that he knew it was a pandemic long before anyone ever attached that description to the virus.

When that didn’t happen, he instituted Operation Warp Speed to develop a vaccine, albeit pretty late in the game when he finally got around to it.

Now, Trump wants to take all the credit for development of the vaccine but stops short of recommending that his devotees take it or wear masks.

One of our readers commented that he wanted no part of the vaccine until it was approved by the FDA.

Yet, that same FDA specifically notes that ivermectin has not been approved for treating or preventing COVID and that taking large doses of the drug “is dangerous and can cause serious harm. The FDA also says, “Never use medications intended for animals on yourself. Ivermectin preparations for animals are very different from those approved for humans.”

The agency also released the following INFORMATION on ivermectin:

“The FDA has not reviewed data to support use of ivermectin in COVID-19 patients to treat or to prevent COVID-19; however, some initial research is underway. Taking a drug for an unapproved use can be very dangerous. This is true of ivermectin, too.

“There’s a lot of misinformation around, and you may have heard that it’s okay to take large doses of ivermectin. That is wrong. 

“Even the levels of ivermectin for approved uses can interact with other medications, like blood-thinners. You can also overdose on ivermectin, which can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hypotension (low blood pressure), allergic reactions (itching and hives), dizziness, ataxia (problems with balance), seizures, coma and even death.”

Vaccine doubters, mostly Republicans, invoke the “my body, my choice” rallying cry that they usurped from pro-choice women. Seems the Republicans are all about dictating what a woman can do with her body but don’t want anyone telling them they need to wear masks or get vaccinated – or better yet, both – in order to protect themselves and those around them.

And they don’t seem to have a problem of exposing millions of school children by forbidding school boards in Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas from mandating masks.

And in so doing, they point to the inexact science of the vaccines while farm supply stores in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas are running out of dewormer.

Yeah, that makes sense.

One of Livingston Parish’s most sacred religious shrines has been shut down for a cleaning and sanitizing because of the recent spike in COVID cases in the parish.

The Walmart Supercenter on Range Avenue closed at 2 p.m. today and will be closed through Thursday but is scheduled for re-opening on Friday so as to keep from traumatizing as few Denham Springs residents as possible.

In the meantime, for those who feel a spiritual need for regeneration of the soul, there are Walmart supercenters five miles to the east in Walker and a couple miles up Range Avenue in Watson. And in case there are any stragglers or sheep otherwise gone astray, there is another Walmart just across the Amite River in nearby Central.

“As an essential element of the Livingston Parish spiritual experience, we understand the role we play in providing emotional strength to our customers members during these trying times,” a statement from the company worship center said.

A third-party faith-healer will lay hands on the store edifice on Thursday in an effort to exorcise all COVID evil spirits.

Worshipers should be able to return to their normal rituals on Friday.

The quacks were out in force at today’s meeting of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) and the spineless board didn’t have the courage to enforce a mask mandate. Consequently, an overwhelming number of those in attendance were maskless, brainless, and grossly irresponsible.

Not that they give a damn about the rest of us. Hell, they don’t even care about themselves. They’re probably still waiting for the Trump reinstatement that they thought was going to take place last Friday.

But apparently, their numbers were enough to frighten the gutless BESE into hiding behind an illegal executive session during which the decision was very likely made to drop any attempt at voting on a mask mandate for schools – a certain victory for Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis chew toys like Jeff Landry.

As an illustration of just how off-plumb these people are, one of them responded to my post yesterday about members of the House Committee on Health and Welfare not wearing masks by calling me a “socialist democrat.”

I doubt seriously that individual knows what a socialist democrat is – for that matter, the difference between a socialist and a communist. One would first need to know what each one was before he could distinguish any difference, but here’s a clue for the clueless:

• If you like fire and police protection, you probably have socialist leanings;
• If you want your garbage picked up and your streets repaired, you’re something of a socialist;
• If you have a retirement plan, then you must be a socialist;
• If you have life or health insurance, the programs are based on a form of socialism;
• If you are receiving Social Security or Medicare benefits or if you’re anticipating them in the future…well, you get the picture.

But back to the BESE meeting today. The attendees, all of whom probably have had immunization for measles, smallpox, polio, flu and other viruses, somehow object to the experimental COVID vaccinations. Hell, all immunizations were initially experimental (I betcha John Wayne had all his immunizations and what could possibly be more patriotically American than John Wayne, who won World War II in the movies but never served a day in the military?)

There was an announcement made that masks should be worn and the audience laughed and laughed. I hope they can still laugh when they’re on that ventilator.

Yeah, I know, the vaccines aren’t foolproof. Neither are parachutes, but if I’m going to have to jump out of an airplane, I sure as hell want one on. I’ll take my chances on it working as opposed to screaming, “My body, my choice!” all the way down. (And didn’t they co-op that expression from women who are pro-choice? How macho!)

Masks? Oh, I know that I can be wearing a mask and if an unmasked, infected person sneezes in my general direction, droplets of germs, virus, and cooties can enter through my eyes. But consider this: If you’re naked and someone pees on you, you get wet. If you’re wearing pants and someone pees on you, you’re partially protected. But if you’re both wearing pants and the other person pees, he only gets himself wet. That’s how it works. Got it?

The board went into a lengthy executive session at one point.

Once back in open session, the meeting erupted into screaming bedlam when attendees were again asked to mask up. The scene became so chaotic that the online streaming of the meeting was cut – another form of executive session, I suppose, but it seems to me we have a right to watch all of the meeting and not just what the censors want us to see.

Meanwhile, BESE and a gaggle of so-called freedom advocates who more closely resemble Manchurian Candidates merrily gamble with children’s lives and BESE makes a mockery of the governor’s MASK MANDATE. When all was said and done, the board didn’t even have the courage to call for a vote on a mask mandate for schools – a decision doubtless made in that illegal executive session.

I’m sure pseudo-attorney general Jeff Landry is peeing in his pants as he plots his 2023 run for governor.

But before you get too far into your campaign Jeffie boy, I have a couple of questions for you – and for all the self-appointed experts who think they know better than the scientists about what works and what doesn’t:

What is your solution to a virus that has killed nearly 700,000 Americans?

What precautions would you recommend?

I’ll wait for your answers.