Louisiana Voice

Special report by Jamie Segura

The most recent meeting of the St. Tammany Parish Democratic Parish Executive Committee (DPEC) was contentious to say the least.  Within just a few minutes of DPEC Chair Peter Lewis opening the meeting it quickly devolved into shouting and finger pointing.

Lewis, started the meeting by introducing Sargent-at-Arms Landon Washington and admonishing DPEC members that he would conduct the meeting.  Immediately, DPEC members voiced opposition to Lewis’s plans for the meeting.

The agenda was limited to only what Lewis wanted to discuss.  No New Business.  No Old Business.  He immediately accused DPEC members of being against him and acting nefariously behind his back at the quickly called Town Hall  on April 17.  The Town Hall was organized by some DPEC members when Lewis canceled the regularly scheduled DPEC meeting without notice. 

Grievances were aired by DPEC members which were ultimately published in a local blog.

During the meeting on May 22, held in the Covington City Council Chambers (Lewis is a City Councilman), Lewis tried to hold tight fisted control of the meeting cutting off anyone who might want to speak.  He carefully orchestrated a report by Vice Chair Gayle Green which he and she labeled an “investigation.”  That investigation was their attempt to respond to all objections brought forth at the April meeting.

Several DPEC members, led by David Shapiro, District 5 representative, quickly rose to voice objections.  Shapiro was followed by several DPEC members also rising. 

And that’s when the real ruckus started.  Lewis admonished them and directed the Sargent-at-Arms to remove Shapiro from the meeting. Those also standing in objection too Lewis were Jeremy Thompson, District 1, Sarah Cook, At-Large member, Ruby Porter, District 6, and Allison Mathas, District 4.  Many attendees in the gallery also yelled opposition to Lewis’s handling of the meeting.

Once Gayle Green finished reading her report on her investigation, which was read suspiciously like she had never read it before that night, it was former treasurer Marie Wade’s turn to address the allegations of the April meeting.  Wade accused Thompson of be deceitful and lying about his actions regarding the social media platforms of the DPEC. 

Wade read from emails between she and current treasurer Erin Riecke Rowan.  Wade referenced the emails as though they were in chronological order since the day Rowan been designated as treasurer.  With shouts of “you’re failing us” numerous members of the gallery began throwing their arms up in the air in frustration.

“There are rules we have to follow,” Thompson.  “He doesn’t get to make them.  That’s not how this works.”

“We are here for this one reason.  Disruption.  Disrespect and disregard for the person elected to run this DPEC,” Lewis responded.  “I was elected to run this DPEC,” said Lewis, who also happens to be a Covington City Councilman. 

Despite members actually raising their hand like they were in elementary school, Lewis refused to allow anyone else to speak. 

Former DPEC and current Democratic State Central Committee member Joan Simon was outraged.  She stood trying to be recognized.

Again, Lewis refused.  Then he pulled out a prepared statement and began reading.

The meeting devolved and with several of those in attendance shouting out concerns and opposition, David Shapiro was escorted out.  When people asked if they were going to be allowed to speak Lewis shouted them down.

A short time later, with the Sargent-at-Arms standing by his side, Lewis called for the Covington Police Department to come to the Council Chambers.  When the police arrived Lewis directed them to “clear my chambers.” 

“I need them to all get out,” said Lewis.  People in the gallery objected to being thrown out without even a motion to adjourn.  The police said that due to a disturbance in the chambers everyone had to get out.

“Seventy-seven years old and I have never seen such nonsense in a public meeting,” said enraged and frustrated Simon.

Jeremy Thompson, Second Vice Chair, has called another DPEC meeting for June 3 at a local restaurant to discuss changes to the DPEC By-laws. 

A reader sent the following. It was written by his brother’s stepdaughter and her words says what so many of us think and know but are unable to put into the proper words:

Any one thing he’s done should be enough to have people screaming nonstop in the streets, but there is just so very, very many things it’s all getting lost. The fact that the politicians and leaders who are supposed to support, protect, and answer to us are either standing back or helping it happen is sowing even more confusion.

It doesn’t help that nearly every source that brings us news or what’s really happening also bashes people who supported Trump continuously. We have all, sometime in our life, gotten conned. They were conned with help from billionaires, news networks, social media platforms, and even by their trust in religious leaders, who overwhelmingly supported Trump’s anti-abortion platform and thus Trump himself, by phones and computers that showed them only articles of the kind they liked. They were conned in part because a large number of them believed our government itself needed reform, just as a large portion of us do. Make no mistake, they were systematically brainwashed by trusted media sources and trusted people for years. Pretty much the first principles they were convinced of was “trust no one else”, “fake news”, “make America great again”.

I don’t think there were many people who realized just how isolated and dependent on only Trump supporting news they were. I know I assumed that many of them, most of them were hearing/reading the same news stories I was and were just ignoring the parts they didn’t like but the truth I’m coming to realize is that the news they got was almost completely different from what I read. Also, even if they tried to check by computer/phone search, due to algorithms and cookies, they almost always received articles of the type and from the sources they read frequently, that they trusted. Which just backed up their beliefs, because how many of us would believe an ordinary friend/family member over well trusted official news media?

They, or a lot of them anyway, aren’t idiots (any more than we are), they were systematically betrayed. Calling them stupid isn’t just wrong – it puts them in a corner, backs to the wall, trying desperately to defend themselves from us… usually by defending the world-view they’ve been convinced of. Most of them are NOT horrible people, any more than most of us are, but they’ve been CONNED by horrible people. They are just as desperate to fix things as we are, they’ve just been convinced that Trump will do so.

Just maybe, the next time you talk to one, leave Trump out of it, phrase it more about the things that are happening and the fallout from that.

A conversation such as libraries is a good thing, a right of the American public that gives anyone of us enjoyment and education. Something we deserve, that we’ve paid for, that’s being put at huge risk by pulled funding.

Show them articles that speak of what’s going on without blaming THEM. In the end we should be blaming the conmen who betrayed them, who betrayed us, who are betraying everything good about America.

o0o

To those thoughtful words, I would add that on June 14, there will be a series of “No Kings Day” rallies throughout this great and wonderful nation that was founded on the premise that we shall not be ruled by a king. Several of these rallies will be held across Louisiana. Yeah, I know the middle of June is going to be hot and humid but we need to get off our collective derrieres and let this tyrant in our house know that he’s not entitled to throw himself a $92 million birthday parade as long as there one homeless person, one hungry mouth, one sick person going without medical care or one disable veteran unable to get help. Find out where the nearest rally to you will be and ATTEND, make some noise.

It’s noteworthy, too, to mention that a Washington Post story on Tuesday that deep personnel cuts at Veterans Affairs is crippling employee morale. Wonder what it’s doing to the morale of veterans in need of help?

Even more telling, the stories says, and this is a direct quote, “Many Democrats have already seized on President Donald Trump’s VA cuts as damaging to veterans, and some Republicans worry about the political risks of firings and other reductions at the agency.”

And there we have it. Republicans are concerned about the “political risks.”

Funny, but that sounds like something I’ve been screaming about for years now. They are more concerned about political fallout than they are about the welfare of those who have fought their wars over oil and who now need our help.

Please let that sink in. We have four Republican members of the House, including the Speaker himself, who voted for a bill that allows this reality star to literally ignore a court order. And we have two Republican senators who, I’m willing to bet my retirement check, will vote likewise on the bill.

Just. Let. That. Sink. In.

Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” is big all right but its beauty lies only in the eyes of America’s wealthiest while yanking life-sustaining benefits from the very ones who voted en masse to reinstall Tub-A-Lardo in the Oval Office.

Click HERE to see just how the bill is so heavily-weighted in favor of the rich and to the detriment of lower income Americans.

Bringing it closer to home, the cuts to Medicaid will be a direct hit to Louisiana.

Cancer alley? Fuggetaboutit. Cuts to CANCER RESEARCH will affect cancer research and eliminate hundreds of jobs in the process. Universities likewise will feel the pinch of reduced grant funding for research.

The most sinister provision of the “big, beautiful bill,” hidden deep into the document is one that would limit the ability of courts – including the U.S. Supreme Court – from having any ENFORCEMENT TEETH. That would allow Trump to ignore court orders with impunity and would gut the very premise of the system of checks and balances that was established by the founding fathers 250 years ago.

Worse, it would completely remove what little guardrails still exist to prevent Trump from becoming what he so desires: a dictator with unquestionable authority.

The bill, which now goes to the Senate, barely passed the House by a single vote, 215-214.

Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” is big all right but its beauty lies only in the eyes of America’s wealthiest while yanking life-sustaining benefits from the very ones who voted en masse to reinstall Tub-A-Lardo in the Oval Office.

The bill, which now goes to the Senate, barely passed the House by a single vote, 215-214.

Guess who among the six Louisiana representatives voted for the bill. A hint: EVERY SINGLE REPUBLICAN. Steve KKK Scalise, Clay “Cajun John Wayne” Higgins, Mike “I have a porn app on my phone” Johnson and Julia “I’m running for the Senate” Letlow.

Line up, march in lockstep to the Kool-Aid dispenser. That’s the mantra of the four Louisiana Republicans.

Voters would do well to remember that for the 2026 mid-terms. These are not people who have the interests of Louisianans at heart.

These are people whose first – and only – priority is to get themselves reelected.

These are egomaniacs bent on doing whatever it takes to stay in office, including undermining the interests of their constituents.

They are there to serve – themselves. Period.

And you can bet that when the Senate votes on this bill, Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Neely Kennedy will fall right in line and vote for it. They will not, under any circumstances, cross the boss, der Führer.

Fiscal responsibility? That’s been the theme of the Republican Party for years. Yet, this big, beautiful bill would raise the nation’s debt ceiling by $4 trillion (with a T). That’s on top of the $8 trillion increase during his first term. Fiscal responsibility? That’s a myth with the Republicans.

I would suggest you go online and read the bill. But the thing is 1,000 pages. No one is going to take the time to read all that – and they really don’t want you to.. In fact, I’d bet there are precious few members of Congress who have actually read it. They don’t need to – if Trump wants them to vote for it, that’s all that matters. Repeat: That’s all that matters.

Here’s something else to think about when your benefits are cut, when your health insurance companies start denying claims, when Trump’s tariffs kick in and housing, cars, computers, fruit, clothing and other imported consumer products increase in price but your salary does not, just think about whom you voted for.

When you see a $252,000 tax cut for the richest Americans, you can take comfort in the knowledge that the poorest among us will realize a tax reduction of $70. Middle-income Americans will realize tax breaks ranging from $2,000 to $4,000. Nice, but a far cry from $252,000 for the richest or even $61,000 for the top 1 percent. And that $70 tax break? It’ll be more than offset by thousands of dollars in increased medical costs that will no longer be covered.

And when all that happens – and it surely will if this bill passes – you won’t have Joe Biden to blame.

(Editor’s note: an earlier version of this post had it in triplicate because of technical problems with WordPress. I apologize for the confusion.)

Sigh. It seems our esteemed legislators just can’t overcome their baseless fears and conspiracy theories At the same time, they have no trouble EXPOSING those who file ethics complaints to retaliation. The FULL HOUSE passed HB 160, the so-called ethics reform bill by Rep. Kellee Hennessy-Dickerson Sigh. It seems our esteemed legislators just can’t overcome their baseless fears and conspiracy theories At the same time, they have no trouble EXPOSING those who file ethics complaints to retaliation. The FULL HOUSE passed HB 160, the so-called ethics reform bill by Rep. Kellee Hennessy-Dickerson

(R-Denham Springs) by an overwhelming VOTE OF 88-7 (there were 10 members who apparently had more important matters than to go on record either way on the bill.)

Sen. Michael “Bib Mike” Fesi

(R-Houma), author of SENATE BILL 46, claims that sulfur dioxide is among the chemicals that are being sprayed into the atmosphere (as an expert witness, perhaps he should call on U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, she of the theory of Democrat-controlled weather and Jewish laser beam firestarter nonsense).

Lawmakers seem to have given not a fleeting thought to the toxicity of the emissions of sulfur dioxide emitted by the burning of fossil fuels by power plants and industrial facilities. But senators certainly jumped on the chance to pass this slapstick parody of a bill by a 27-12 VOTE. It has been reported out by the Legislative Bureau and now goes to the House for consideration.

But then, so many of the legislators are in the petro-chemical industry’s pocket. It’s completely understandable; our elected officials long ago made the state’s economy reliant upon the petro-chemical plants scattered along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans to the sacrifice of economic diversity (oops, that’s one of the words we’re supposed to banish from our vocabulary).

You’d think that long-range economic plans for the state would feature the inclusion (Dang! Another one. Strike that word, too) of other stimuli for economic equality (Crap! I gotta stop doing that!) for its citizens.

Then, to go along with SB 46, we have Rep. Kim Coates

(R- Ponchatoula) and her HOUSE BILL 608, which would create the “Louisiana Atmospheric Protection Act,” which theoretically at least, would “Prohibit weather modification activities.” Again, sigh. I suppose these types of bills are necessary for entertainment value over the long 85-day legislative session.

Perhaps the blog service LOUISIANA ILLUMINATOR summed it up best with its headline describing the two bills as “fueled by ‘magic’ and conspiracy theories.”

These two bills rank right up there with another of Big Mike’s CONSPIRACY THEORIES contained in SB 2, which raises the old “chemtrail” theory about the contrails of jet airplanes.

A padded room and soft-lead pencils for more bill-writing might be in order about now but bizarre as the two bills are, at least we can’t say they aren’t trying to do something about climate change. Now, if only there was some way to get these people to look at the real reasons and not attack the problem with some cockamamie Marvel comic book plot.

Sigh.

Jeff Landry and his Repugnantcan allies in the state legislature so wanted to be first to jump on the Robert Kennedy Jr. bandwagon but alas, the best they can hope for now is third. Utah and Florida, it seems got in under the wire despite the best efforts of Landry et al. But that didn’t deter efforts to resurrect a political hot potato that dates back to at least the Eisenhower years.

There’s no denying that the mass hysteria that grips the Repugnantcan Party (and the MAGA MOVEMENT) is very much akin to the adulation and hysteria bestowed upon first Elvis and later the Beatles by raving, screaming teeny-boppers. A custodian who worked one Beatles performance revealed that the squealing girls literally saturated the floor of the concert hall when their bladders gave way in unison to the appearance of the Fab Four onstage. He said the screaming was such that the group could have sung a laundry list and no one would have known any better.

Such is the mental state of many so-called adults, male and female, in the MAGA CULT and among the Louisiana congressional delegation and the state legislature.

Thus, we have the issue du jour: fluoridation of water. Because Robert Kennedy says so, apparently.

SENATE BILL 2 (couldn’t wait to get it filled, could they?) by Repugnantcan Sens. Michael Fesi of Houma, Heather Cloud of Turkey Creek and Patrick McMath of Covington would “prohibit the fluoridation of any public water systems” unless 15 percent [or more] of registered voters in the precincts served by the water system sign a petition” and voters subsequently approve fluoridation, according to the bill’s DIGEST, a brief synopsis that generally accompanies each bill filed to boil down the language to layman’s terms.

The bill has already passed a Senate vote by a 24-10 margin. Click HERE to see how your senator voted and to see who the five were who took a walk when the vote came up. It now goes over to the House where it will be heard by the Committee on Health and Welfare.

Try as they might, Landry, et al just couldn’t make it to the front of the line in order to gain Donald Trump’s blessings. Oh, they’ll get the obligatory pat on the head from Tub-A-Lardo, but Utah (May 7) and Florda (May 15), bless Rhonda Santis’s heart, got there first.

Utah wins the sweepstakes with its fluoridation-prohibition law actually having taken effect on May 7. Rhonda signed the Florida bill on May 15, but their law doesn’t go into effect until July 1. SB-2, should it ultimately pass both chambers and be signed into law by Landry (and there’s little reason to believe the cult won’t follow through on the banning of this latest assault on the mental health of Amurikens, wouldn’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2026.

Besides Louisiana, OTHER STATES currently considering prohibitions of this dastardly affront to our well-being include Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska and South Carolina. (Wait. What? Massachusetts?)

Charles and David Koch should be so proud for their dad, Freed Koch, was a founding member of THE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY which first began the DRUMBEAT AGAINST FLUORIDATION more than half-a-century ago. Charles filled with the same ardor as his dad, would later join the Birchers himself. And now, Robert Kennedy is echoing the Birchers and the dialogue of one of the greatest nuclear WAR PARODIES ever filmed, Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. (Who can forget Slim Pickens, as Maj. “King” Kong, riding that bomb down in the final scene? And how many know that the film was the film debut of the great James Earl Jones?)

The bottom line of all this Repugnantcan insanity is that the groundwork was laid by the John Birch Society which, though it failed in its efforts to elect Barry Goldwater in 1964, did go on to CREATE such Repugnantcan architects as Karl Rove, Lee Atwater, LEWIS POWELL (who wrote ATTACK ON AMERICAN FREE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM, the forerunner to Project 2025, in 1971), Ronald Reagan and, of course, Donald Trump.

So, as you can see, if you opened all the links I provided, the events we see taking place before our astonished eyes are not by chance. They are a carefully-orchestrated being performed by a bunch of misfits who got their supporting roles through their fealty to the main character, a reality show actor named Trump. The millions of panting, devoted followers with their red caps and T-shirts emblazoned with slogans are but bit players – extras – with no real role other than to froth at the mouth, chant and applaud on cue.

And to take up the latest issue whenever it comes up, be it abortion, immigration, law and order, tariffs, vaccinations, fluoridation or cybercurrency. It really doesn’t matter how you feel personally of even if you don’t have a position – you’re now expected to take up the cause with all the fervor expected of a devoted cult member.

That’s why a fluoridation ban for Louisiana is a done deal – never mind that it’s proven to help prevent tooth decay That’s a non-starter to these people.