Louisiana Voice

It’s great to see young people become engaged in the political arena and to tackle issues head-on, upsetting the establishment by challenging the status quo.

I well remember the protests that helped end the Vietnam War, though not without the incredibly high costs paid at Jackson State and Kent State universities or Richard Daley’s thugs disguised as Chicago police bashing heads at the 1968 Democratic Convention.

More recently, there have been the national school walkout led by students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and environmental activist Greta Thunberg who, at the ripe old age of 17, had managed to get under Donald Trump’s skin like no one this side of Adam Schiff.

But occasionally, there are those who, while well-meaning and sincere, let their youth and inexperience get in the way of any real accomplishments so they must resort to embellishing their curriculum vitae.

I recently became engaged in an email exchange with a young African American from South Carolina (who shall remain nameless in this post) and at first, I was really impressed with all he had done—or, perhaps more accurately, said he had done.

But when he rattled off a string of achievements that seemed a tad over the top, I began to have my doubts. Some examples:

• Youngest staffer for a gubernatorial campaign. I was a staffer for Governor Bobby Jindal’s Campaign.
• first black to serve as an aide in the State House of Representatives, Senate, Lt. Governor’s and Governor’s offices in American History. I worked for Todd Rutherford, Glenn McConnell, Mike Rose, Andre Bauer, and Nikki Haley in the SC Statehouse.
• first to report on Supriya Jindal being the first First Lady to complete doctoral degree coursework.
• first black to be a day-to-day staffer for a Republican Presidential Campaign in SC and
• first black director of youth outreach for a Presidential Campaign in American History. I was a director of youth outreach for Rick Perry’s Presidential Campaign.
• first black to be a speechwriter for a Republican Presidential Campaign. I was a speechwriter for Governor Jeb Bush’s Presidential Campaign.
• first African-American to write a speech at the request of a Texas Governor. I wrote one for Greg Abbott.
• first black to write a speech for a Florida Governor and Texas Governor.
• first to report on Michael Strahan being the first HBCU Student-Athlete to host a daytime talk show.
• first to report on Charlie Crist being the first Arab-American Congressman of Florida and Carole Crist being the first Jewish First Lady of Florida.
• first African-American public servant in America to have a comment redacted from a newspaper. His personal thoughts on the protests at the Statehouse in 2011 were redacted from The Daily Gamecock because of his employment as a Constituent Correspondent in Governor Nikki Haley’s Office.
• the first African-American to be offered a law clerkship in the Governor’s Office. He was offered a law clerkship by Governor Nikki Haley’s Office in 2011 after his undergraduate degree conferment.
• first African-American Speechwriter for a Governor of Texas. Cooper worked on a speech with fellow USC Alum Pablo Cueto.
• first African-American to write a speech for a statewide police chief. He wrote one for his godfather Christopher Williamson.
• first to report on Ron Christie being the first African-American to serve in the President and Vice President’s Office.
• first to report on Shaquille O’Neal being the first athlete in major sports to earn a doctoral degree.
• first to report on Juan Williams being the first Black White House Correspondent for the Washington Post.
• first to report on Tim Scott being the first African-American to serve in the United States House and Senate as a member.
• first to report on Governor Mark Sanford being the first SC governor to use social media and the first SC Governor to have an MBA.
• first to report on Governor Charlie Crist being the first Florida Governor to use social media.
• first to report on Henry White being the first African-American Chief of Staff for a Governor and Director of a Budget and Control Board.
• first person to report on President Obama being the first living president to have kids become alums of Harvard University.
• first to report on Ari Fleischer being the first Jewish WH press secretary.

Great achievements, one and all. He uses the pronoun “I” almost as much as Trump. While I doubted the veracity of some of his claims, I became convinced he must suffer delusions of grandeur on Tuesday when I received an email citing one more accomplishment:

“Trump may be the first President to join the NAACP and Urban League after I suggested it to him today.”

Wait. What?

Trump a member of the NAACP? Hardly. Certainly not at someone—anyone—else’s suggestion. I mean, some things just don’t add up and Trump as a member of the NAACP is at the top of the list.

https://www.naacp.org/latest/naacp-releases-report-blasting-president-trumps-judicial-appointments-central-feature-administrations-assault-voting-rights/

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/454333-naacp-calls-for-trump-impeachment

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/401270-naacp-trump-is-a-racist

https://www.naacp.org/latest/impeachment-announcement/

https://www.naacp.org/latest/naacp-commends-house-vote-impeach-president-donald-trump-calls-halt-judicial-nominations/

I asked if he thought Obama may have been a member. Or Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton who called himself America’s “first black president”?

Then, incredibly, he sent me what he thought would pass as proof: a “Membership Purchase Receipt” made out to the young man which said:

“This is to confirm your gifted membership of a (sic) Annual Adult Membership in the 7001-B Washington, D.C. Branch Unit on 2/4/2020 to Donald Trump. (emphasis mine)

“Your total payment is $30.00

“Thank you for joining the legacy dedicated to social justice and equality for all people. We appreciate your support.

“Warm regards,

“The NAACP”

So, it appears he deliberately misrepresented his role in Trump’s “membership” by saying he “suggested” it to him when in fact, he purchased a gift membership—again, most likely without his knowledge and certainly without his consent.

At least Trump could be proud of such embellishment and self-aggrandizement.

“Something very important, and indeed society changing, may come out of the Ebola epidemic that will be a very good thing: NO SHAKING HANDS!”

—Donald Trump tweet of Oct. 4, 2014. (He implemented that new one-person policy last night as he refused to shake hands with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just before the STOU address.)

“It was the courteous thing to do considering the alternative.”

—Nancy Pelosi, on why she tore her copy of Trump’s speech in half follow his SOTU address. (while she didn’t elaborate, it was pretty obvious her reference to the “alternative” involved her copy of the speech and Trump’s lower digestive tract.)

[As the Republican-majority Senate prepares to acquit Donald Trump without calling any witnesses in his impeachment trial, we thought it might be interesting to check out a few “before and after” quotes by leading Republicans.]

FORMER U.S. REP. PAUL RYAN, 2016:

“If a person wants to be the nominee of the Republican Party, there can be no evasion and no games. They must reject any group or cause that is built on bigotry. This party does not prey on people’s prejudices.”

FLORIDA SEN. MARCO RUBIO, 2016:

“We’re on the verge of having someone take over the conservative movement who is a con artist.”

“I mean this is a guy that’s taken Trump airlines bankrupt. Trump vodka, nobody wanted it. Trump mortgage, was a disaster. Trump university was a fraud.”

“This boiling point that we have now reached has been fed largely by the fact that we have a frontrunner in my party who has fed into language that basically justifies physically assaulting people who disagree with you.”

“I believe Donald Trump as our nominee is going to shatter and fracture the Republican Party and the conservative movement.”

“The most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency.”

“Has spent a career of sticking it to working people.”

RUBIO (when it was apparent Trump would be the nominee):

“I don’t see myself as the guy who’s going to spend the next six months taking shots at him.”

RUBIO (on how he planned to vote on impeachment):

“Just because actions meet a standard of impeachment does not mean it is in the best interest of the country to remove a President from office… I will not vote to remove the President because doing so would inflict extraordinary and potentially irreparable damage to our already divided nation.”

FORMER N.J. GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, 2016:

“It’s not going to happen. It’s the wrong message to send, and it’s not going to be effective. Always beware of the candidate for public office who has the quick and easy answer to a complicated problem.”

“We do not need to endorse that type of activity, nor should we. You do not need to be banning Muslims from the country. That’s, in my view, that’s a ridiculous position and one that won’t even be productive.”

“Showtime is over. We are not electing an entertainer-in-chief. Showmanship is fun, but it is not the kind of leadership that will truly change America.”

CHRISTIE (when it was apparent Trump would be the nominee):

“There is no one who is better prepared to provide America with the strong leadership that it needs both at home and around the world than Donald Trump.”

S.C. SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, 2016:

“The more you know about Donald Trump, the less likely you are to vote for him. The more you know about his business enterprises, the less successful he looks. The more you know about his political giving, the less Republican he looks.”

“You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”

“He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot. He doesn’t represent my party. He doesn’t represent the values that the men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for.”

“I just really believe that the Republican Party has been conned here, and this guy is not a reliable conservative Republican.”

GRAHAM, December 2019:

“I am not going to support witnesses being called for by the president. I am not going to support witnesses being called for by Senator Schumer.”

Mick Mulvaney, November 2016 (now Trump’s Chief of Staff):

“I think he’s a terrible human being.”

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, 2016 (Now Trump’s Secretary of Energy):

“He offers a barking carnival act that can be best described as Trumpism: a toxic mix of demagoguery, mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition if pursued. Trump’s candidacy is a cancer on conservatism, and it must be clearly diagnosed, excised and discarded.”

Perry (when it was apparent Trump would be the nominee):

“He is not a perfect man. But what I do believe is that he loves this country and he will surround himself with capable, experienced people and he will listen to them.”

Former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley (now Trump’s ambassador to the UN):

“During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices.” [He is] “everything a governor doesn’t want in a president.”

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, 2016:

“Utterly amoral.”

“A narcissist at a level that I don’t think this country has ever seen.”

“A serial philanderer.”

“This man is a pathological liar. He doesn’t know the difference between truth and lies. He lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth.”

Cruz (when it was apparent Trump would be the nominee):

“The voters in the primary seem to have made a choice. We’ll see what happens as the months go forward, I think we need to watch and see what the candidates say and do.”

Cruz, December 2019:

“The House Democrats’ impeachment trial has all been one-sided. The Senate will do better and the Senate will allow the president to present his defense.”

“It’s not like you’ve got China on your border.”

–Donald Trump, Nov. 13, 2017, to India Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in discussion of China’s economic and military threat to the region.

“I’ve been around for a long time and it just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans.”

—Donald Trump, CNN interview, 2004 (Disclaimer: This is not the start of a debate or an endorsement of any political party; it is simply a verbatim statement by Trump.)