Louisiana Voice

It’s October and that means the kickoff of our semi-annual fundraiser.

I don’t have a medbed to offer you to cure every illness known to man, including amputations, like Donald Trump.

And I can’t reduce prescription drug prices by 1500 percent.

I don’t rail against socialism while accepting government incentive checks or social security payments.

I didn’t bring about a government shutdown in a defiant effort to deny health care to millions of Americans.

I haven’t dressed down 800 military generals and admirals on the meaning of war ethos.

And I haven’t made billions of dollars by using the Oval Office to hawk merchandise to my MAGAT followers.

In fact, the only thing I can offer is a light to shine into the darkened corners of federal, state and local government to keep you informed about just what our elected and appointed officials are up to.

For example, how many of you were aware that members of Congress continue to get their paychecks during the shutdown while federal employs, including military, must work without being paid?

Who knew that Livingston Parish Librarian Amanda Jones had been honored by Time magazine as one of 100 influential Americans?

To continue to illuminate the dark corners of government takes time – and money. Accordingly, I humbly come to you to ask for your continued support of this news service.

Please click on the yellow DONATE button (above right) to make a one-time contribution via credit card. (Unlike Trump’s fundraisers, there is no hidden stunt to make your contribution a recurring withdrawal. That’s dishonest. This fundraising effort is conducted only twice a year, in October and April.

I sincerely appreciate your help in the past and respectfully ask for your continued support.

Senator Bill Cassidy claims the shutdown will harm Americans needing the National Flood Insurance Program. True enough, but the lame-duck senator overlooks other effects that he conveniently neglects to mention – because it doesn’t fit into Donald Trump’s game plan.

“If Democrats would stop trying to please the fringe of their party and start focusing on the real, immediate needs of the American people—like keeping the government open, maintaining flood insurance, and protecting access to rural health care—we could solve this today,” Cassidy said.

Well, senator when you put 22 million Americans at risk of losing healthcare or of seeing their premiums skyrocket, you’re hardly talking about a “fringe” element.

As a physician, you, of all people, should understand that – if you weren’t so determined to curry the favor of a psychopath and if you were not such a coward yourself.

Or maybe you’re buying into Trump’s absurd AI post of Lara Trump hawking a non-existent “MEDBED CARD” that will supposedly give Americans access to regrowing missing limbs, reversing aging and healing any illness, thanks to technology developed by the U.S. military – with possible help from alien technology.

If that’s not sufficient evidence of a president who has entered the hazy, addled world of a dangerously-clouded and disoriented mind, I’m at a loss at what it would take.

Amanda Jones

The Livingston Parish school librarian/author who took on the parish council, its hand-picked library board of control and those who would censor literature has added yet another award, this one national, to her impressive curriculum vitae.

Amanda Jones, with 25 years of work as a school librarian, has been named as one of Time100 Next, a recognition of influential people considered to be emerging leaders who are helping to shape the future of business, entertainment, sports, politics, health, science and activism.

She burst into prominence as a mere audience member during heated discussions about censoring libraries in Livingston Parish. An effort by outside agitators brought about the dissolution of the existing library board, replaced by members of the parish council’s own choice and which has since been sued by Attorney General Liz Murrill for violating the state’s open meeting laws.

Jones stood up against backlash from a loud element, people who probably never set foot inside a library but who wanted to be in on any protests by radical right-wingers who were convinced that drag queens were somehow more dangerous to kids than the criminals who traffic them.

Her struggles against the outside influencers pushed her to write a book, That Librarian, that was promoted by Oprah Winfrey and which was recently optioned for a film. It was a National Independent and USA Today bestseller upon its release in hardcover and has been released in paperback.

Jones was also featured in the documentary The Librarians, by Oscar-nominated director Kim Snyder. The executive producer of the documentary was Sarah Jessica Parker. Even before the local library controversy, Jones was named the 2020 and 2021 Louisiana School Librarian of the Year. She also co-founded Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship.

The Washington Independent Review of Books said, “Amanda Jones is a badass because she’s holding down the fort while the fort is under attack. She advocates for social justice and the democratic right to exchange ideas and information. Even though she has endured intense hate campaigns for defending basic principles of freedom, she stands tall and persists … That Librarian is a revelation. But it’s more than an exposé about hate and its effects on principled people. It’s also a gripping memoir… In Amanda Jones, the American public has a bold truth-teller who has given us something important in That Librarian.”

When contacted by LouisianaVoice, Jones said, “I’m Honored to be named to the Time 100 Next list. I refuse to back down from bullies and will always speak out for intellectual freedom and the future of our libraries.Libraries are the heart of democracy—they protect access to knowledge, ideas, and community for all. This recognition is not just about me—it’s the result of the courage and commitment of so many in Louisiana. I dedicate this honor to every resident fighting for their libraries and for the freedom to read. Together, we are stronger.”

Here’s a little hint of how much Congress really cares for those who do the actual work and how they make certain to care for their own welfare:

Hundreds of thousands of federal employees, including members of the military, would go without pay or face potential layoffs during a government shutdown set to begin tomorrow.

If funding lapses, federal employees in critical positions would be required to remain on the job while others would be forced to stay home. Both groups would have their paychecks delayed during a shutdown. Most federal contractors might not get paid at all.

But lawmakers will continue to draw a paycheck even if they haven’t reached a deal to fund the government.

Let’s climb into the ol’ time machine and dial it back to 2023. More specifically, let’s look in on the gubernatorial campaign that year.

That was the campaign in which two-term Attorney General Jeff Landry, the chief law enforcement officer in the state looked around and said there was too much crime which he said was holding Louisiana back. Accordingly, he promised to “make our state safe again.”

He campaigned vigorously against what he described as “soft on crime” policies of the John Bel Edwards administration.

It apparently worked because he was elected easily and in February 2024, he called a special session dedicated exclusively to crime. He signed into law more than 20 bills designed to fight crime by:

• Eliminating parole for most new convictions,
• Removing incentives for good behavior while incarcerated,
• Lowering the age to allow 17-year-olds to be prosecuted and sentenced as adults,
• Expanding execution methods.

He even deployed state police to New Orleans to fight crime in that city.

Apparently not of that worked.

Fast forward to yesterday:

Apparently, none of Landry’s reforms worked. In an apparent admission of abject failure, he has requested The Don to deploy 1,000 National Guard troops to Louisiana cities to augment law enforcement.

This despite a downward trend in the New Orleans crime rate because there is always Baton Rouge and Shreveport, he must have reasoned.

Of course, as governor, Landry could have deployed the guard himself but by making his request to the Pentagon and Trump, he gets the feds to pick up the tab – unlike when he dispatched guardsmen to the Texas border to help defend against the hordes of illegals, probably because we don’t have a common border with Mexico and Landry was jealous.

But will any deployment end up like it did in Washington, D.C., with national guardsmen being sent out on trash and litter patrol?

Maybe Landry will don an orange vest and pick up a little trash himself.