Now we’re going to see up close and personal just how dedicated Jeff Landry is to his Repugnantcan philosophy which generally boils down to smaller guvmint and fewer services – along with all those voting rights, LGBQ rights, women’s rights and overall civil rights curtailments and/or outright abolitions, of course.

You see, the state has just been awarded $124.3 in (gasp) federal funding from the Federal (jeez, there’s that word again) Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Flood Mitigation Assistance Program.

Holy federal welfare, Batman! Aren’t we supposed to be reducing the scope of federal government and concentrating more on states’ rights – and even cutting state services? How’re we gonna square that up with our fellow Repugnantcans like Rhonda Santis, Marco Rubio, Greg Abbott, et al?

Worst of all (read: this is hard to swallow), the announcement of the award was made not by Garret Graves of Steve Scalise, but a Democrat (oh, the humanity!), U.S. Rep. Troy Carter of Louisiana’s 2^nd Congressional District.

Worst of all, the National Flood Insurance Reform Act was signed into law by a Democrat, Bill Clinton, in 1994. Lord, what further political catastrophe awaits us?

Here is the complete text of Carter’s announcement:

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today, Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D-LA) announced $124,319,367 in funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Flood Mitigation Assistance Program to support 13 projects throughout LA-02. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which Congressman Carter helped craft and voted for, greatly increased funding for the Flood Mitigation Assistance Program.

“The Flood Mitigation Assistance Program has been a game-changer for Louisiana, providing critical funding to help communities build resilience against devastating flood disasters,” said Rep. Carter. “With nearly $125 million allocated for 13 projects in my district, including efforts to elevate 132 flood-prone homes in St. John the Baptist Parish, the program is making significant strides in protecting both lives and property. By focusing on disadvantaged communities and targeting localized flood risks, the FMA is not only reducing future flood damage, but also ensuring that vulnerable Louisianians can continue to live where we call home.”

Background

LA-02 will receive nearly $125 million in funding for 13 projects, including:

The Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) grant program is a competitive program that provides funding to states, federally recognized Tribal governments, U.S. territories, and local governments. Since the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994 was signed into law, FMA funds have been used for projects that reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings insured by the National Flood Insurance Program.

Flood Mitigation Assistance competitive selections focus on reducing or eliminating the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings and structures insured by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Learn more about Louisiana’s projects here.

We have every confidence that Landry will stick to his rightwing guns and reject such wasteful expenditures as flood control for six parishes and two of the state’s largest cities. To do otherwise would be … (wait for it) … hypocritical.

In a departure from our usual format, LouisianaVoice is proud to provide the link to another blogger’s post in an effort to convey his message to as many people as possible.

Robert Mann formerly held the Manship Chair in Journalism at LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communications. Prior to that, he was a spokesman for Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Sens. John Breaux and Russell Long.

He retired from LSU upon the election of Jeff Landry as governor. Landry, while serving as the state’s attorney general, attempted to have Mann fired for his criticism of Landry – a favorite ploy of would-be autocrats. He had no doubts that Landry would double down in his efforts to terminate his employment so, Mann simply beat him to the punch.

But he didn’t retire from writing. Instead, he revived his blog, Something Like the Truth and continues to hold politicians accountable.

The post below is vividly illustrative of how Landry prioritizes politics over public service by his appointing of grossly unqualified people in positions of power – so that they carry out his every political whim.

Mann correctly assesses the sum of Misti S. Cordell’s qualifications as being a graduate of Louisiana Tech University in the field of human resource management, whatever that is supposed to imply in the way of her qualifications – and ability – to administer the Louisiana Board of Regents, the governing board for Louisiana’s colleges and universities.

Here is the link to Mann’s post:

Jeff Landry appoints anti-vax election denier to head Louisiana Board of Regents

If further evidence that Sen. John “Kornpone” Kennedy is a total embarrassment to this state, a buffoon, and a total ass, we got it this past week with his over-the-top questioning of MAYA BERRY, director of the Arab American Institute.

Not that this damn fool didn’t try earlier to establish himself as an unrepentant bigot when he called Pres. Biden’s nominee for bank regulator Saule Omarova a communist. It was pure McCarthyism at its worst and nothing more than cheap grandstanding.

Together, they represent the worst “if-you-ain’t-like-me-you-must-be-a-subversive,” most racist, most misogynist, most venomous rants I’ve ever been embarrassed to hear from any elected official since….well, since Joe McCarthy. He’s already gone after women with mouth a-blazing. Who’s next on his hit list, Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans?

Perhaps “Kornpone” and “Foghorn Leghorn” are misnomers for him. A better name, judging from his facial expression in this photo, should be “Goofy.”

Those who choose to remember may recall that once upon a time Kennedy was a liberal Democrat. That was back when he endorsed John Kerry over George W. Bush in 2004. He even tried but couldn’t get himself elected to the Senate first as a Democrat in 2004 and as a Repugnantcan in 2008. But, reading the blood-red handwriting the Louisiana wall in 2016, the third time was the charm.

He latched onto Donald Trump’s coattails, declared he’d rather drink weed killer than sacrifice his “principles,” he ran as a converted conservative Republican and got himself elected. Wasn’t it Reagan himself, the “great communicator,” who said there virtually no difference between prostitution and politics? And boy, does Kennedy ever bear that out in spades.

To see that verbal assault on Omarova, go HERE: And oh, whatever you do, don’t forget to check out the comments at the end of the story. They’re priceless.

Senator Foghorn, you need to “hide your head in a bag” (your words, not mine).

(Full disclosure: Kennedy, that paragon of virtue, in 2016 contributed $250 to LouisianaVoice in response to one of our fundraisers. But his check was from his campaign fund account, which is highly unethical, if not outright illegal. His check was promptly returned – despite what happened to Jim Leslie in a similar scenario.)

So, Louisiana State Police (LSP) Superintendent Robert Hodges is angry. Pissed. Irate. Furious.

At me.

Because of a post-op doctor’s appointment today, I was unable to attend the meeting of the Louisiana State Police Commission. (The commission is supposed to meet monthly, by the way, but today’s meeting was the first since May. No explanation has ever given why the commission skipped three consecutive meetings.)

Be that as it may, Col. Hodges reportedly had his skivvies in a knot over a recent story by LouisianaVoice about the appointment of a retired state trooper to a WAE (When Actually Employed, or a part-time appointment) position while she was residing in Greece. A subsequent story also revealed that two other WAEs were living in Mississippi and Alabama, respectively.

Hodges went on a tear in attacking bloggers who have never walked a mile in LSP’s boots, bloggers “with nothing better to do than to sit around” and (apparently) take pot shots at those out there trying to do their jobs.

Well, Col. Hodges, you’re certainly entitled to your opinion but let’s look at a few facts:

Without LouisianaVoice’s diligence and persistence, there would have been no story about:

• The attempt by then-Superintendent Mike Edmonson to pad his retirement by about a hundred grand a year via a blatantly illegal legislative amendment by a friendly legislator (State Sen. Neil Riser, R-Columbia) that actually passed the legislature but which was subsequently overturned following our story.
• The practice of a state trooper to participate in sexual relations in his patrol car while on duty (and even got his vehicle stuck in the mud after one such tryst).
• A state trooper who accompanied an underage (20 years old) woman illegally into a casino in Vicksburg after being told she could dine in the restaurant but could not enter the gaming area of the casino. The trooper, who was fined $500 by the Mississippi Gaming Commission after unsuccessfully getting Mississippi authorities to “work something out” because he was a Louisiana state trooper, was subsequently promoted to commander of Troop F of Monroe.
• That infamous trip in a state vehicle by four state troopers to an event honoring Edmonson in San Diego – with a side trip to the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam. One of the participants in that little road trip later retired and was hired as Baton Rouge Chief of Police. It was after news of that trip was published that Edmonson retired.
• Troop L’s practice (on instructions of its troop commander) to troopers to write as many DWI tickets as possible so that troopers, who reached a certain minimum could get a day off. “It doesn’t matter if they (the motorists) haven’t been drinking – the DA will dismiss the charges but you’ll still get credit for issuing the ticket,” troopers were told.
• The altercation between a state trooper and a New Orleans attorney over the attorney’s inadvertently parking too close to the hunting spot of the trooper and his brother. The attorney filed a complaint that the trooper had threatened him physically.
• The State Troopers Association’s contributing to political campaigns in strict violation of state civil service rules. The executive director of the association subsequently retired following publication of our story.
• And most egregious of all, we might never have known the facts about the killing of Ronald Greene or the beatings of two other Black men by Troop F troopers. At that, it took more than a year for details – and a video that made liars of LSP – to surface. The statement at the time by a retired state trooper that LSP was “circling the wagons” was eerily accurate, stat-at-home bloggers notwithstanding. That same blogger (LouisianaVoice) also just happened to inform readers that a legislative committee formed to investigate Greene’s killing quietly went away without ever doing any real substantial investigative work – just as we had predicted earlier.

I have a couple dozen more such stories about the rot within LSP, the so-called “shining light on the hill” of law enforcement for Louisiana but to try and list any more would just be flogging a dead horse. Besides, the examples I’ve provided give a pretty good insight to how LSP, an out-of-control agency, considered itself above reproach and immune to ethical standards.

So, Col. Hodges, in the words of one of my tough-but-fair former supervisors, you can “get mad or get glad.” I really don’t give a damn.