A friend who works for Color of Change emailed me about this petition that they are sending to Governor PBJ and AG Caldwell (and current US AG Mukasey and incoming US AG Holder):
Dear Governor Jindal and Attorney General Caldwell,
I just learned that in the weeks following Hurricane Katrina, racist vigilantes in Algiers Point attacked, and according to their own accounts, killed Black men seeking refuge from the floodwaters. I'm outraged to hear that New Orleans law enforcement officials have consistently refused to investigate these crimes, and acted to cover up their own complicity in the violence.
Based on evidence recently presented by A.C. Thompson in The Nation, it appears that while at least 11 Black men were shot or shot at, none of the white vigilantes have been brought to justice. And there's damning evidence that police officers allowed a man to die, and then burned his body to cover it up.
Louisiana-style justice has once again failed to protect and serve the state's Black citizens. State officials such as yourselves must act immediately to change this. I urge you to push for the identification of victims of these crimes, prosecution of the perpetrators, full cooperation with any federal inquiries, and aggressive investigations into the role of local law enforcement officials in committing and suppressing the exploration of these crimes.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
While Color of Change purports to be a voice for Black America, I highly recommend that all Americans and Louisianans sign this petition, because anyone's suspicious death deserves to be investigated.
I'd long heard stories about folks taking matters into their own hands during the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I know folks who went home days after Katrina's landfall, armed to the teeth, to protect their property from looters.
As a transplant to Louisiana, I'm sadly familiar with the state of race relations in this beautiful state. Suffice it to say that folks of both races are suspicious of the other race. There are exceptions, but in general, neither side really wants anything to do with the other. And it's sad, because until the working folks of Louisiana realize that they need to pull together, nothing is going to get better. Louisiana will continue to rank near the bottom of lists you really don't want to rank near the bottom of.
But this Nation article simply blows my mind. I mean, did Algiers Point move back to the Jim Crow South in the aftermath of Katrina (or perhaps, did they never even leave?), where white folks could hunt down black men, assault them, shoot them, and in some cases, kill them, and simply get away with it?
The only victims to tell their story thus far were interviewed by the reporter for The Nation:
The sudden eruption of gunfire horrified [Donnell] Herrington's companions--his cousin Marcel Alexander, then 17, and friend Chris Collins, then 18, who are also black. "I looked at Donnell and he had this big old hole in his neck," Alexander recalls. "I tried to help him up, and they started shooting again." Herrington says he was staggering to his feet when a second shotgun blast struck him from behind; the spray of lead pellets also caught Collins and Alexander. The buckshot peppered Alexander's back, arm and buttocks.
Herrington shouted at the other men to run and turned to face his attackers: three armed white males. Herrington says he hadn't even seen the men or their weapons before the shooting began. As Alexander and Collins fled, Herrington ran in the opposite direction, his hand pressed to the bleeding wound on his throat. Behind him, he says, the gunmen yelled, "Get him! Get that nigger!"
Not surprisingly, they were not the only victims:
[Charles] Thomas, the surgeon who treated Herrington, staffed one of the few functioning trauma centers in the area, located just outside the New Orleans city line, not far from Algiers Point, for a full month after the hurricane hit. "We saw a bunch of gunshot wounds," he tells me. "There were a lot of gunshot wounds that went unreported during that time." Though Thomas couldn't get into the specifics of the shooting incidents because of medical privacy laws, he says, "We saw a couple of other shotgun wounds, some handgun shootings and somebody who was shot with a high-velocity missile [an assault-rifle round]." The surgeon remembers handling "five or six nonfatal gunshot wounds" as well as three lethal gunshot cases.
In addition, state death records show that at least four people died in and around Algiers Point, a suspicious number, given that most Katrina fatalities were the result of drowning, and that the community never flooded. Neighborhood residents, black and white, remember seeing corpses lying out in the open that appeared to have been shot.
Here's the response of white folks in the Algiers Point militia:
[Wayne Janak] is equally blunt in Welcome to New Orleans, an hourlong documentary produced by the Danish video team, who captured Janak, beer in hand, gloating about hunting humans. Surrounded by a crowd of sunburned white Algiers Point locals at a barbeque held not long after the hurricane, he smiles and tells the camera, "It was great! It was like pheasant season in South Dakota. If it moved, you shot it." A native of Chicago, Janak also boasts of becoming a true Southerner, saying, "I am no longer a Yankee. I earned my wings." A white woman standing next to him adds, "He understands the N-word now." In this neighborhood, she continues, "we take care of our own."
Janak, who says he'd been armed with two .38s and a shotgun, brags about keeping the bloody shirt worn by a shooting victim as a trophy. When "looters" showed up in the neighborhood, "they left full of buckshot," he brags, adding, "You know what? Algiers Point is not a pussy community."
What's been the response of the law enforcement community in New Orleans? Distressing, to say the least:
Under oath [Orleans Parish coroner Frank] Minyard proceeded to say something stunning. The NOPD, he testified, was only investigating three gunshot cases, all of them high-profile--the Danziger Bridge incident, in which police killed two civilians, and the shooting of Danny Brumfield, who was slain by a cop in front of the Convention Center. Minyard's statement buttressed information I'd gotten from NOPD sources who said the force has done little to prosecute people for assaults or murders committed in the wake of the storm.
I contacted the police department repeatedly over many months, providing the NOPD with specific questions about each incident discussed in this story. The department, through spokesman Robert Young, declined to comment on whether officers had investigated any of these crimes and would not discuss any other issues raised by this article.
I don't think we can count on the New Orleans Police Department to do anything about this, to be honest. They've struggling to keep the city safe, and Mayor Nagin just froze their ability to hire more police officers, due to the fiscal crisis the city is currently experiencing.
No, I think this ball is in the new District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's court. He has the power to convene a special grand jury ... for 18 months, and let them investigate. And have them start with the incidents in Algiers Point. Hopefully, those 12 citizens, if such a grand jury is ever created, will prove to the good, upstanding citizens on Algiers Point that the law is blind when it comes to race ...
The witness shows me a home video he recorded shortly after the storm. On the tape, three white Algiers Point men discuss the incident. One says it might be a bad idea to talk candidly about the crime. Another dismisses the notion, claiming, "No jury would convict."
... just to show that fool that nobody is above the law.
A few days ago, it came out that Senator Landrieu will be the Chairwoman of the Senate's Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship in the 111th Congress when the Senate convenes in January.
Senator Landrieu released this statement after the Senate leadership announced her ascendancy to the chair(wo)manship of the committee:
"Bolstered by my seats on other key committees for our state, this assignment provides the seniority to fight even harder for Louisiana's more than 350,000 small businesses.
Small businesses are the backbone of the Louisiana economy. I intend to use my gavel to ensure that they play an active role in our nation's economic recovery, and that the federal government is a supportive and efficient partner in their success. Under the leadership of Senators Kerry and Snowe, we have also made significant progress this year in enacting improvements to the SBA's disaster recovery programs, and I hope to build further on our success."
Today, Senator Landrieu outlined her priorities for the Small Business Committee in a letter to President-elect Obama:
Elevate the Small Business Administration to its previous Cabinet-level rank again
Increase SBA funding to help America's 25.8 million small businesses
Ensure that small businesses are given a fair shot at landing the forthcoming infrastructure contracts
I am looking forward to Senator Landrieu's leadership on the Small Business Committee, as I believe she will fight for the small business owner in the Senate over the next 6 years.
Rolfe McCollister of the Business Report has a fundamental misunderstanding of the Auto Bailout that the Senate Republicans blocked the other day. Let's take a look at his inaccuracies:
No bailout for Big Three
It's a waste of time and money-and simply a Democratic "payback" to the auto unions. But what is President Bush's excuse? He's lost his mind-and the support of conservatives. The Detroit model is broken. The Big Three will just be back again for more, and eventually they will collapse.
In 2007, Toyota reportedly sold 9.366 million units worldwide. GM announced it sold 9.369 million vehicles around the world last year, making the Detroit company the world's best-selling automaker for the 77th consecutive year. So, why will GM go broke by the end of the month without a bailout, while Toyota is on sound financial ground? They are broken and built to fail-and will. [The Big Three remind me of another dinosaur, the public school system, also run-and ruined-by the unions. Notice something similar here? Focus on the customer and the outcomes ... and respond or else.]
Other automakers have changed and are doing just fine. Learn from their success, and save our taxpayer dollars. Enough with the bailouts!
Pray tell, how is the bailout a payback to the UAW, Mr. McCollister? The auto workers, sir, have taken pay cuts over the last two contracts, while the executives of these companies have not seen any cuts in anything at all. They are still getting their perks, like flying in corporate jets to Washington with their hands out, and excessive bonuses over the past 30 years for performance that was, well, not so good.
One of the reasons that the American manufacturing base is "broken and built to fail" has absolutely nothing to do with the unions. The unions made the American manufacturer what the envy of the world. It has EVERYTHING to do with the fact that their overseas competitors don't have the huge costs of pensions and health care to deal with, since those countries have taken on those costs and pay for them with higher individual tax rates.
Why is that Mr. McCollister? Is it because folks of your ilk have used class warfare for the past 30 years to ensure that their workers' wages didn't keep pace with inflation while going hat in hand to Washington and the Louisiana Legislature complaining that business was being hurt by "high taxes?"
By the way, wouldn't having universal health care solve one of the major problems facing the Big 3 right now? They would no longer be responsible for ensuring that their workers had health care, and could save the billions they already spend each year on health care benefits for their workers and push it into Research and Development, and, hopefully, into paying their workers, not their management, more.
Where do you stand on universal health care, Mr. McCollister? My guess, sir is that you would be opposed to universal health care simply because the unions support it! That's right, sir, you're so predictable ... if the unions are for it, you're against it.
UPDATE: TPM flagged this, as did Oyster and Atrios, but if you believe that Vitter's gonna comment on the fact that the Bush Administration is allowing the CEO's and top management to still receive their over the top bonuses, I've got some prime beachfront property in Leeville, LA I wanna sell ya.
Last week, our junior Senator, David Vitter, or as Danger Blond referred to him, clASS act, got up on the floor of the United States Senate, and called the plan for the auto bailout "ass-backwards."
While I find it disconcerting myself to have to bail out the management of the American car manufacturers, who have buried their head in the sand for the last 30 years (and taken home MILLIONS in compensation), I find it incredible that Senator Vitter is so blase about the fact that thousands of Americans will be out of work if we allow the auto companies to fail. And it's not just the workers for GM or Chrysler that will lose jobs, it's the sales people of the car dealers across the nation, the folks who take care of the lawns at those dealers, the auto parts industry, and on and on. It will cascade into another Great Depression.
Yet, Senator Vitter and his Republican allies in the Senate are adamant that before they bail out the auto industry that the UAW, the union that represents the auto workers, take pay cuts, cuts in benefits and cuts in pension benefits before they would agree to a bailout the auto companies. Need proof? Here ya go:
"This is the Democrats' first opportunity to pay off organized labor after the election," read an e-mail circulated Wednesday among Senate Republicans. "This is a precursor to card check and other items. Republicans should stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor, instead of taking their first blow from it."
These class-warfare lovin' Republican Senators frequently cite the fact that American automakers pay their workers the $75 an hour compared to the $40 an hour Honda and Toyota pay their workers in the "right to work" South. The $75 an hour is a flat-out lie. The UAW tells us, that after the wage and benefit concessions in the 2005 and 2007 contracts, their workers' pay ranges from $14 an hour for new hires to $33 an hour for the skilled labor.
One of the many reasons why the American auto companies are struggling is that people aren't buying their gas guzzlers anymore, but also because we have an antiquated health care and pension system that puts the onus on the employer to ensure that their workers have health care and a pension. That needs to change, and it is what the Republicans are gearing up to fight in the coming year.
Perhaps the UAW's Shreveport Local 2166 President Morgan Johnson is on to something with respect to Vitter:
"I don't know what Sen. Vitter has against GM or the United Auto Workers or the entire domestic auto industry; whatever it is, whatever he thinks we've done, it's time for him to forgive us, just like Sen. Vitter has asked the citizens of Louisiana to forgive him. Otherwise, it would appear, he'd rather pay a prostitute than pay auto workers."
Is it a coincidence that I don't recall Senator Vitter asking the bankers to agree to pay cuts in return for the $700 billion bailout a couple of months ago?
This evening, after doing some Christmas card writing with my wife, I came home to find an email in my inbox informing me about a diary on the Big Orange blog. This diary is part of a series called KINship, with the KIN standing for Kossacks in Need. These diaries are the result of liberal bloggers from across the nation taking to heart the fact that we are our brother and sister's keepers. They have a link up to donate money to help the folks highlighted in the KINship diaries.
The one that I've copied below deals with a Louisiana family. Lord knows that a lot of us are struggling. But if there are any lawyers or psychologists willing to help these folks out, let me know, and I'll get your information to the family. Here's the diary:
Now, I wish to highlight a very unique situation where funds are far less important (albeit necessary) than professional expertise and personal connections.
Tina* and Barry* (names changed to protect their identities) have been married about 28 years. Twenty-Six years ago, they had a daughter, Karen* and two years later, they had Katie*. Karen and Katie were both born with severe medical problems. They have a rare Leukodystrophy disorder that is listed under the types of Leukodystrophy disorders under the United Leukodystrophy Foundation.
Karen (age 26) and Katie (age 24) will never be able to live on their own. They both must use metal hand crutches and wheelchairs to get around; their skin is thick, dry and scaly. Doctors have told their parents that their own lives will be shortened by 25 years just by breathing in the dead skin that falls daily around the house. In the United Kingdom, Tina was told, people come into these patients homes DAILY with Haz-Mat suits and vacuum the dead skin. (There is a type of tub that would help their skin, but it costs a few thousand dollars and Medicaid has refused to pay for it). Karen is mildly mentally handicapped but Katie is severely mentally handicapped. Doctors are unable to estimate an approximate mental/emotional age on her because of her behavior. She throws temper tantrums, as well as hits herself in the head, etc. and is uncontrollable at times.
In addition to the disorder that their daughters share, Tina and Barry share severe pain and disabilities, and are selling their house in order to pay off all of the living and medical expenses that have accumulated. Tina suffers from anxiety and depression disorders, and has been told that she needs to seek psychiatric treatment - unfortunately, the psychiatrists provided by Medicaid won't see her until nearly February.
They really need an attorney willing to fight for Barry's disability; they also need medical treatment for their neck and back injuries; Tina needs psychiatric care and support - she is barely functioning anymore. They are living on the SSI checks Karen and Katie receive each month. They need emotional support to know that people actually care and they need financial support until he can FINALLY get approved for Disability.
I know I am asking for a lot for them, but they are just emotionally, physically, financially and spiritually overwhelmed. If you have any suggestions, please, let me know. Is it possible for them to be "adopted" by other members willing to help them through this hard time? Everyone is going through difficult times right now, but their story is one that you would not believe could happen in America.
This family lives in Louisiana. Their needs are as follows:
An attorney to fight for Barry's disability (SSD refuses to release Barry's records to their Senator, who has offered to help. She says she's never seen them do that before). He has been told he needs to return to work by 2010, or he'll lose all benefits.
GOOD psychiatric treatment for Tina, preferably sooner rather than later.
Medical treatment for Tina and Barry.
Emotional support - and I'd like your opinions here. How can we lend them some emotional support here? Ideas?
Financial support - if you wish to donate and wish the money ONLY go to this family, please send kinshipplanning@gmail.com an email letting us know the amount of your donation and the email it came from, and we'll ensure it gets directly to them.
Mover and Shaker support - do you know ANYONE that might be able to help this family out, politically or professionally? If so, please email us.
"Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the earth. I said then and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free."
-Eugene Debs
If any of y'all have any answers to this, just send me an email. The link is in the far right column, right above MEDIA.
For the first time in over two decades, there was a competitive general election for this Congressional seat, thanks to the retirement of out-going Republican Rep. Jim McCrery. The Democratic candidate in this race, Paul Carmouche, traded on the goodwill his service in Caddo Parish as their District Attorney for the past three decades to make it a competitive race.
One of the smart things done by his campaign was to highlight his law and order credentials, and remind folks that he's been the District Attorney for most of their lives. Not a week went by during his campaign that my inbox did not have an email announcing an endorsement from one of Louisiana's District Attorneys or Sheriffs.
However, it baffles me that so many Louisiana Democrats feel the need to run a "Republican-lite" campaign. If voters are given a choice between a Republican-lite candidate and a Republican, they'll choose the Republican every single time. Yet, Mr. Carmouche felt the need to run such a campaign.
Most of the literature, as well as two of the three ads from his campaign that I know of, have some variation of "Louisiana values" mentioned, usually pro-life and pro-gun. Those are fine values to hold. But when you're running as a Democrat, even here in Louisiana, you want to ensure that Democrats get out and vote.
Most Democrats I know in this state want to hear about how you're going to help bridge the ever-increasing income gap between the rich and the rest of us. They want to hear about your ideas to keep their children in Louisiana once they finish high school and/or college. They want to hear about your ideas to improve education.
I have no doubt that Mr. Carmouche told voters these things in person. But he can only meet so many voters. These things NEED to be mentioned on the air, whether it's radio or television. These things need to be mentioned in mailers to voters. And I didn't see that.
But what really galls me about this race is a mailer sent out before the general election:
Take a look at the upper right corner ... pro-family = traditonal marriage? Seriously?!
What really bothers me, and many others, is why the Democratic State Central Committee (DSCC) allowed their mail permit to be used for this mailer. After the palm card debacle in 2004 that didn't include State Senator Don Cravins Sr's name, which led to the black community largely staying home in the December run-off between State Senator Willie Landry Mount and eventual winner Charles Boustany, one would think that the DSCC would be much, much more careful as to what they were paying for, or what their name was going on. Apparently not.
Gay marriage was NOT an issue in this campaign. And yet, for some reason, it's in the mailer sent out on behalf of the Carmouche campaign. When contacted by LGBT groups in Louisiana and Shreveport about the mailer, Mr. Carmouche refused to meet with them, or even return their phone calls.
Why I am making such a big deal out of this? Well, for one, who cares if two men or two women choose to spend their lives together? And if they do, they deserve the same rights that heterosexual couples enjoy ... like inheriting Social Security payments, visiting their loved one in the hospital, and some 1300 other rights that are automatically granted to heterosexual couples once they say "I do." They deserve it not only because it's the right thing to do, but also because the Constitution states that all are equal in the eyes of the law. Gay couples sure ain't equal to heterosexual couples under the laws of this nation.
On top of that, when in the world did being in favor of marriage between a man and a woman equal being "pro-family?" Families come in many forms ... some by blood, and some by choice. I know people who consider their friends to be more of a family to them than their blood relations. And while I'm on the topic, what is so pro-family about disowning a child because they are gay?
Back to the election in LA-04, there's an LGBT group called PACE up in Shreveport. They have over 200+ members. And I'm certain that there are more LGBT folks than that in LA-04. After they got that mailer, do you think they were enthusiastic about voting for Mr. Carmouche? I think not.
But even more galling is the fact that Mr. Carmouche refused to meet with LGBT groups that asked for a meeting, and even refused to return phone calls to them! How much time does a phone call take? A simple phone call could have won this election for Mr. Carmouche. What makes me say that?
Well, the good news is that convicted Senator Ted Stevens has been voted out of office. Unfortunately, we here in Louisiana will likely not have that opportunity if and when Congressman Jefferson is convicted sometime next spring.
But that's besides the point of this post. And the hat tip goes to CenLamar:
As Majority Leader, [Hale] Boggs often campaigned for others. On October 16, 1972, he was aboard a twin engine Cessna 310 with Representative Nick Begich of Alaska, who was facing a possible tight race in the November 1972 general election against the Republican candidate Don Young, when it disappeared during a flight from Anchorage to Juneau. The only others on board were Begich's aide, Russell Brown, and the pilot, Don Jonz;[2] the four were heading to a campaign fundraiser for Begich. (Begich won the 1972 election posthumously with 56 percent to Young's 44 percent, though Young would win the special election to replace Begich and has won every election to the seat since then.)
In the largest search ever mounted by the U.S. military,[citation needed] Coast Guard, Navy, and Air Force planes searched for the party. On November 24, 1972, after 39 days, the search was abandoned. Neither the wreckage of the plane nor the pilot's and passengers' remains were ever found. The accident prompted Congress to pass a law mandating Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELT's) in all U.S. civil aircraft.
Both Boggs and Begich were re-elected that November. House Resolution 1 of January 3, 1973 officially recognized Boggs's presumed death and opened the way for a special election.
The connection? Mark Begich is Nick Begich's son. And Hale Boggs, is, as CenLamar also points out, the father of Cokie Roberts.
"[Bingaman] has pushed several proposals to expand oil exploration in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. But, he says, the outer continental shelf, where offshore drilling takes place, is owned by the federal government, not the states - and channeling profits from drilling there to coastal states depletes the federal Treasury of money meant to benefit all the states."
Mr. Bingaman would do well to tour the Louisiana coast and learn the sordid history of why Louisiana didn't receive a dime in oil royalties for drilling off the coast of Louisiana period until Senator Landrieu pushed it through the Senate this past year:
Interestingly, this issue traces back to a greedy, short-sighted, racist power-broker from Plaquemines, Judge Perez. He pushed "all in" in a game of poker with Harry Truman and lost the pot:
Leander Perez is best known in Louisiana history as the bullying segregationist and powerful boss of Plaquemines Parish, who built a political and financial empire.
But when current Louisiana politicians talk about Perez, it is his stubborn refusal more than 50 years ago to cut a deal with the Truman administration over sharing offshore oil and gas royalties that dominates the conversation.
Two generations of Louisiana lawmakers have tried, so far unsuccessfully, to claim a share of the billions of dollars in revenue that Perez passed up.
None of this maneuvering would be necessary had Perez not scuttled an offer in 1949 by President Truman to settle a long-running dispute over control of the resource-rich waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Truman offered the state 100 percent of the royalties paid by oil and gas companies up to 3 miles from shore and 37.5 percent for anything farther out.
Perez, whose power stretched far beyond Plaquemines Parish, insisted Louisiana hold out for 100 percent of it all, the 3-mile limit and beyond.
Truman withdrew the offer, and the state has since received only a narrow slice of the estimated $155 billion in royalties paid to the federal treasury.
That coastline was decimated by the oil and gas industry in order to provide the rest of the country with cheap oil and gas. Why should Louisiana bear the entire cost of providing the country with cheap oil and gas? It's time for the rest of the country to reimburse Louisiana ... and rebuild our coastline.
Senator Bingaman has told anyone who will listen that he doesn't want the job. Let's keep it that way, as President-elect Obama can find someone who is not opposed to helping Louisiana pay for rebuilding her coastline. If he appoints Senator Bingaman, one must question the seriousness of his promise to help Louisiana rebuild and reclaim our coastline.
I mentioned in an open thread a few days ago that Louisiana is facing a projected $1.3 billion shortfall in its budget. The blame for this lies with our elected officials, both Democratic and Republican. For the past six years, the business community, (never one to look out for anyone but themselves), called for tax cut after tax cut. And, because the Legislature is afraid of being called anti-business, they acquiesced. But that's not the whole story ... they also increased spending instead of saving enough for the lean times, which is projected to occur in the next fiscal year.
Such a shortfall poses a significant problem, as much of the budget is constitutionally mandated, with the incredible exception of education and health care spending, which is discretionary.
This means that the Legislature cannot cut the budgets of anything without revising the State Constitution, which means, short of calling for a new Constitutional Convention to write yet another State Constitution, the Legislature will have to put any such constitutional changes to the voters.
All this means is that Governor PBJ will face the first true test of his term as Governor. Does he be pragmatic, and call for a tax raise; or, does he act like a Republican ideologue, and slash education and health care spending?
As frequent commentator and contributor Matt D said to me the other day:
"I love the GOP, man. Sometimes, you just gotta give it to them.
Is the education system doing well? Cut their funding, we're probably overspending.
is the education system doing poorly? Cut their funding, and they'll use market-based solutions to improve it themselves."
You can substitute any of the services that government provides for education system, with the exception of infrastructure spending, and the military, and it'll work. That's how easy it is to be Republican.
Of course, in the real world, their solutions don't always work. And education funding and health care funding are the two "discretionary" items we can least afford to cut right now. But I bet you won't be hearing that from the statewide media over the next few months, nor will you hear how the tax cuts enacted for the last six years are contributing to the problem.
Well, a mere 3 days after the 2008 elections, the bell has already been rung on the 2010 Senate election here in Louisiana. Sinator Vitter is getting ready for his re-election campaign, raising money, and pressing the flesh upstate. And someone out there is looking for his Republican opponent:
Reply to: job-909956144@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-11-07, 4:02PM CST
Seeking a female candidate to challenge David Vitter in the Republican primary for the United States Senate in 2010. Candidate must be over thirty years old and a registered Republican in the state of Louisiana. Beyond this, we are looking for a candidate with a history in some aspect of the adult entertainment industry who has taken the benefit of that experience both monetarily and otherwise and translated it into success in their later career.
Candidate will have the benefit of an experienced campaign staff including finance and media teams. Reasonable compensation as allowed by federal campaign finance rules will be offered. This is a serious offer for a serious candidate who cares about the direction of her state and community and who is willing to accept the serious commitment of a state wide political campaign.
Please forward a resume or CV with contact information along with a 200 word description telling us who you are and why you think you are the ideal candidate to challenge David Vitter.
Location: Louisiana
Compensation: Reasonable under FEC regulations
OK to highlight this job opening for persons with disabilities
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
I gotta tell ya, I think whomever put this little doozy up on Craigslist is serious. Candidates are allowed to accept a "reasonable" salary from their campaign donations, according to FEC regulations. The fact that the poster knew this means they are serious.
I would LOVE to know who put this up. And I wonder if any women associated with the adult entertainment industry would kick this one out of bed? Or would they consider it?
If you add up the totals of both Cazayoux and Jackson, that means that the majority of the voters in LA-06 voted for a pro-union candidate. A majority voted against Mr. Cassidy.
There were two things at play here - the belief that a Democrat needs to emphasize their conservative credentials in order to win, which I discussed here; and the fact that Michael Jackson was bought and paid for by L. Lane Grigsby, the owner of Cajun Contractors, an anti-union construction corporation. I wonder what Mr. Jackson gains being paid off by Mr. Grigsby to spoil the election. Some have suggested that the Federal Election Commission needs to delve into the full extent of their financial relationship, since Mr. Grigsby has already made illegal donations to Mr. Cassidy, and the fact that there is no disclaimer on ANY of Mr. Jackson's election paraphernalia:
This is the image plastered on billboards all over North Baton Rouge:
And this is the image on the few lawn signs they had printed up:
Do any of y'all see the union label on these signs? I don't. Do any of y'all see the disclaimer required by federal election law that states it must detail who paid for the signs? I don't.
Mr. Jackson is a lawyer. I'm sure as a candidate, he took the time to read federal election law as to what was required of him as a candidate. The fact that he didn't put a disclaimer up there leads me to believe that there is a pattern of disregarding the law on his part. Mr. Grigsby broke the law by donating more than is legally allowed to Mr. Cassidy. And we know that Mr. Grigsby has donated nearly half of the money raised by Mr. Jackson in this campaign. Were there more donations that we don't know about?
All of that aside, I am saddened by the decisions made by Michael Jackson in this election. While I understand his frustration about losing the special election primary run-off in April, as someone who is progressive, how he runs a campaign fueled in large part by money from a wealthy, anti-union, Republican donor who is diametrically opposed to most of what he stands for is beyond me.
I don't buy the idea floated by other progressives that this election was the best opportunity for a progressive candidate to win election to Congress. I also don't buy the idea floated by some black commentators that this was the best opportunity for a black politician to win election to Congress from this district.
The conventional "wisdom" propping up this belief were the ideas that the white "conservative" Democrat and the white Republican would split the white vote down the middle, and so long as the "independent" black candidate took 90% of the black vote in a general election plus the liberal white vote, the black candidate would win.
Such thinking assumes that black voters are sheep, and will only vote for the black candidate. Black voters are Democrats, y'all. The vast majority of them vote for the Democrat in a general election, not the black candidate. This election should prove that, as Don pulled a majority of the black vote from majority African-American precincts in EBR Parish:
Candidate
African American Votes
% of African American Vote
Bill Cassidy (R)
1,503
4.91%
Don Cazayoux (D)
19,955
65.20%
Michael Jackson (Lane Grigsby)
9,147
29.89%
I've actually had a few discussions with folks via email and in person that voted for Michael Jackson, and they all say that it wasn't unreasonable to assume that Michael Jackson could win he took 90% of the black vote like he did in April. The problem with that analysis is that it conveniently forgets that Mr. Jackson got 90% of the black vote in a Democratic Party primary. Either way, black folks would win ... they would get their concerns listened to by whomever got out of the Democratic primary. In a general election, when black voters make up far less that 50% of the vote, getting 90% of the black vote simply ain't enough to win in a 3 way race. If Mr. Jackson were the Democrat, perhaps, but he wasn't. He ran as an Independent who was paid off by L. Lane Grigsby to tilt the race to Bill Cassidy.
There is one more thing these folks forgot ... when there is a Republican candidate in the race, to assume that a majority of black Democrats will vote for the Independent black candidate is
fallacy, especially when the white Democratic candidate is almost certain to get the endorsement of the party's first black Presidential nominee. Why these folks thought that there was a snowball's chance in hell that a majority of black folks were going to disregard the endorsement of Barack Obama is also beyond me. Further, please tell me the last time an Independent candidate won in a 3 way election in this state.
Another person I have discussed this with brought up the salient point that it makes no sense to keep pushing DINO's like Mary Landrieu and Don Cazayoux when I am for progressive policies, and they are not.
In a general election, when the choice is between a Republican, a Democrat, and an Independent candidate (who can't win), the most progressive candidate will ALWAYS be the Democrat. I don't care how smart Bill Cassidy is. He votes the way the fundamentalist wing of the Republican Party tells him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have a 100% rating from the Louisiana Family Forum. And in the United State Congress, where the Republican Party exercises a vise-like grip on their Members' votes, Mr. Cassidy will not be free to exercise his "reasonableness." He will be forced to vote the way the Republican leadership wants him to, just so he can get their support for re-election. And he has done just that in the Legislature, with respect to his votes for the Louisiana Family Forum.
Mr. Jackson's egomaniacal candidacy sent Mr. Cassidy to Washington. His shameless selling out of the working families in this district is absolutely despicable. The losers in this are not Don Cazayoux, who will be fine; nor Mr. Jackson, who will also be fine; but the black voters of Baton Rouge. They have done without adequate representation for all but 6 months of the last 15 years.
They can thank Mr. Jackson for the lack of representation for the next two.
I write today with mixed feelings about this campaign season. While I am elated that this nation has seen fit to send Barack Obama to the White House, I am not surprised that Louisiana did not put her 9 Electoral Votes in Mr. Obama's column. I am however, looking into buying a "Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Obama" bumper sticker for my car when I go out of state in it.
I am elated that Senator Mary Landrieu won her campaign relatively easily. Did you notice that you can drop Orleans Parish from the totals, and she STILL would have won? This means that no Democrat running a state-wide campaign from here on out should even think about not running a state-wide field operation. That field operation, which contacted many Democrats for the first time in years(!), gave Senator Landrieu her impressive margin.
I am not surprised that Jim Harlan lost in LA-01. It's unfortunate, but the results of this election show that there is much, much, much more work to be done. I don't anticipate seeing a Democrat elected in that district for some time to come.
I am incredibly upset about the result in LA-06. I'll have more to write on this one later, but suffice it to say that I hope someone out there sees fit to give Mr. Cassidy hell for the next two years by starting a blog marking his every move for the next two years, to make it a little easier for any Democrat that decides to run against Mr. Cassidy in two years in terms of opposition research. Here's one such example of a fine blog tracking a Republican Member of Congress.
I am disappointed in the result in LA-07. But I am optimistic about State Senator Don Cravins, Jr. I think he has a future in the Democratic Party of this state since he's only 38, and the fact that he started the campaign LATE. Hopefully, if he decides to run again, he'll start the fundraising process in January, and continue to meet with voters throughout the 7th District during the two years.
One of the things that stands out to me about this election season is that the candidates that tried to out-Republican the real Republicans in their races LOST. Mr. Harlan, Mr. Cazayoux, Mr. Cravins, Jr ... all ran ads emphasizing their pro-life, pro-gun views. That's all good and fine ONCE.
In LA-01, all of Mr. Harlan's ads mentioned that he was pro-life and pro-gun.
In LA-06, quite a few of Mr. Cazayoux's ads mentioned his conservative views. This is NOT a completely conservative district. Yes, the voters are culturally conservative, but they will vote for a pro-union Democrat. A majority of them did on Tuesday.
In LA-07, Mr. Cravins ran four ads - 2 focusing on him ... one on his conservative views, and the other on how he's a church-going man.
The Republican playbook is to smear Democrats on the cultural issues. There is nothing we can do about that. They're going to do it even when it is obvious that the Democratic candidate has the same views on the cultural issues as the Republican does! Focus on why you're a Democrat. Remind people that there are other issues to consider ... like the economy, health care, the environment, and on and on. And do it not only on the stump, where few voters see you, but also on television.
The results in our congressional elections affirm Howard Dean's message of 2004: If voters are given a choice between a Republican and Republican-lite, they'll choose the real Republican every single time.
A couple of observations ... LA-01 needs to be redrawn before we can consider it being competitive.
LA-07 ... Cravins did a great job for a first time candidate that started LATE. If he decides to run in 2010, he's got to start in January with the fundraising, and make sure he has $1 million to drop, if not more.
LA-06 ... Congratulations, Mr. Cassidy. You can thank Michael Jackson and L. Lane Grigsby for your victory. If you add Jackson and Cazayoux's total, you get 11,623 votes more than Cassidy, and I'm sure that 90% of Jackson's total would have gone to Cazayoux.
This morning, I decided to open a poll, and check in on polling locations for the Cazayoux campaign. The polling locations I was given were along Plank Rd., a majority African American area in Baton Rouge. The polling locations I was given were a mix ... 2 were quiet, and the lines moved swiftly all morning, each having over 150 voters by 10 AM.
The other two locations - the old North Highland polling location and a school off of N. 17th Street - were packed with over 200 people waiting in line at both locations when I arrived there shortly after 6 AM. Both locations have 2 precincts ... and a precinct has roughly 600 to 700 voters on the rolls in Louisiana.
I didn't notice any shenanigans going on ... and I spoke with Elections Commissioners and voters at all locations. The worst thing I saw was a young female voter being asked to sign an affidavit affirming that she still lived at the address she was registered at, since the address on her Driver's License didn't match her registration address. She was allowed to vote on the machine, however, so it just gave her some anxiety.
I've heard from another Election Protection volunteer that some folks are being turned away from the polls - about 20 - at Glen Oaks High in Baton Rouge. The thing that is depressing about it is that they are NOT being offered the opportunity to cast a provisional ballot by the Elections Commissioner at that location. This is obviously against the law. I hope that said Elections Commissioner at that location is NEVER allowed to work another election, PERIOD. One of those turned away stated that he had voted in the last three elections at Glen Oaks High, so I am curious as to why he is no longer on the voting rolls. The campaign is working on correcting the situation for the rest of the day ... I hope it is rectified so NO ONE else has to deal with that.
I received an email from David Gereighty, a former candidate in LA-01 in 2006, about shenanigans in Jefferson Parish:
Unfortunately, I witnessed a voter denied the right to vote in Jefferson Parish this morning. I explained the proper procedure to the poll worker who refused to abide by easily understood state law regarding provisional ballots.
I then reported this to Jefferson Parish election officials who verbally instructed the poll worker on proper procedure. Unfortunately, by this time the voter had left the polling location, precinct 31 in Jefferson Parish.
This is a failure of the Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court, Jon Gegenheimer, to properly execute his job. I am going to formally demand the removal of the poll workers of precinct 31 for any future elections and a written procedure from Jon Gegenheimer on the proper training and assessment of all Jefferson Parish poll workers.
Jefferson Parish is one of the most Republican districts in the state, if not the nation, so I am NOT surprised at this at all.
I early voted, thank God. What are your election experiences like, Louisiana? Put 'em in the comments!
He was eating cake while the citizens of New Orleans were drowning. Talk about being tone-deaf.
Such actions like this one display qualities one should NOT want in a President. When one of the nation's major cities is drowning, public displays like this by our nation's leaders are despicable. Both men in the photo ought to be ashamed.
In Cassidy's most recent FEC report, Lane Grigsby, the owner of Cajun Contractors that is attempting single-handedly to unseat Rep. Don Cazayoux by supporting both Republican Bill Cassidy and Independent Michael Jackson, has, along with his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and his CFO's wife, illegally contributed $8,700 to Republican hopeful Bill Cassidy. Don't believe me ... read the law (pdf alert):
§ 441a. Limitations, contributions, and expenditures
(a) Dollar limits on contributions.
(1) Except as provided in subsection (i) and section 315A (2 U.S.C. § 441a-1), no person shall make contributions-
1(A) to any candidate and his authorized political committees with respect to any election for Federal office which, in the aggregate, exceed $2,300*
I don't have a problem with several individual family members maxing out ... that's fine. If several individual family members give more than they are allowed to give, that's illegal. That's a broken law. And it is CLEAR that the Cassidy campaign and Lane Grigsby, his family and a friend have broken the law:
I knew that Republican hopeful Bill Cassidy was determined to be a Congressman, but I didn't realize that he'd be willing to break the law to do it, as federal election law states that one can only donate $2,300 per election.
It's also nice to see L. Lane Grigsby be so vigilant about following the law in this regard. After all, he's the guy pushing money towards Independent candidate Michael Jackson and Republican Bill Cassidy. There are rumors flying that L. Lane is the one paying for the Jackson billboards all over Baton Rouge, since there is no disclaimer as to who has paid for them, as required by federal election law.
He was eating cake while the citizens of New Orleans were drowning. Talk about being tone-deaf. 
