Day: May 19, 2011

Tonight on Eyewitness News…..

Remember Jefferson Parish Constable Antoine “Tony” Thomassie? He was one of Aaron Broussard’s political hacks that is front and center in the payroll fraud portion of the Jefferson Parish political corruption scandal. Folks the chirpin’ birdie is telling me tonight on Channel 4 Tony is front and center in an investigative report that will feature “strippers, selling badges and drinking on duty”. I for one can’t wait to tune in at 10:00 tonight!

A reminder that just because I’ve not been blogging on Jefferson Parish political corruption of late that the news cycle is quiet. There is stuff going on I just can’t blog about it. One thing I will disclose is that Chereen Gegenheimer is back as a council aid to working in Mike Thomas’ office. The revolving door, ain’t it grand!

Update:

The WWL TV report is now online and is embedded below the fold: Continue reading “Tonight on Eyewitness News…..”

BREAKING: More Mississippi lawyers added to the Louisiana Crime Camera Scandal. A Mark St Pierre-Chocolate guy NOLA fleecing update.

Hey Hammerman you keep the names coming dude. From this morning’s proceedings in USA v St Pierre:

Even before the prosecution got to cross-examine Drake, the Mississippi lawyer said he was advising St. Pierre and Meffert with the understanding that Meffert wasn’t using the credit card anymore.

But Nagin’s tech director was in fact still using it, and continued to until he left City Hall in July 2006.

In fact, in August 2006, Drake said he got into a debate with St. Pierre’s Louisiana counsel, Kent Lambert of the Baker Donelson firm, about whether St. Pierre ever told Lambert about the credit card. Continue reading “BREAKING: More Mississippi lawyers added to the Louisiana Crime Camera Scandal. A Mark St Pierre-Chocolate guy NOLA fleecing update.”

Time Magazine asks "Sex, Lies, Arrogance: What Makes Powerful Men Behave So Badly?"

At least Arnie manned up as it is becoming increasingly clear he married into the right family:

I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family. There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry.

I ask that the media respect my wife and children through this extremely difficult time,” the statement concluded. “While I deserve your attention and criticism, my family does not.

This I think everyone can respect.

Time Magazine has an extensive article on Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Arnie that is well worth reading, especially for those interested in the dynamics of what makes powerful men behave so badly around women.

sop

Lightening in a bottle: A Slabbed happy moment.

Folks I stopped trying to predict which of our posts will catch the fancy of an internet serach engine long ago but it occasionally happens and we get meaningful traffic on what I term “throw away posts”. Well I’ve been peeking at stats for several days now and we’re becoming a choice destination for the search string Miss Piggy and quite frankly that makes my day.

sop

There is a common criminal masquerading as Sheriff in Plaquemines Parish.

The folks in Plaquemines Parish Louisiana have a special talent for electing crooked miscreants to office and indeed we have featured the infamous Billy Nungesser Jr. on these pages several times for being a lying, thieving sack of shit but little did we know Sheriff Jiff Hingle was giving lessons on how to loot campaign cash and bill expenses multiple places.

Lee Zurik did an investigation of Hingle and his campaign finances for Fox 8 and the results shook even this most jaded observer as the thieving was barely hidden and very brazen.

sop

Kathleen Koch's Rising from Katrina wins award

Kathie Koch’s Rising from Katrina: How My Mississippi Hometown Lost It All and Found What Mattered recently won a gold medal for best regional nonfiction in the 2011 Independent Publisher Book Awards. (H/T Sun Herald)

Kathie is a friend to this blog and her book is well worth reading. Congratulations Kathie, the honor is well deserved.

sop

Jim Brown

Thursday, May 19th, 2011
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

MAJORITY OF VOTERS VOTERS ARE IRRELEVANT

IN COMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

The jockeying for the 2012 republican presidential nomination is rapidly picking up speed, with candidates coming and going almost daily. Arkansas’s former Gov. Mike Huckabee and Donald Trump, both the leaders in most recent polls, are both out of the race. New Jersey Gov, Chris Christy is reconsidering his earlier demurrer. In Louisiana, we have former Gov. Buddy Roemer playing Don Quixote, while current Gov. Bobby Jindal, who protests that he is not in the running, secretly struggles with the role of Hamlet. Since some 45 percent of voters now say they’re dissatisfied with the GOP candidates who have declared, look for more new republican faces to appear in the weeks to come.

This is certainly one of the most important elections in modern history.  But if you live in strong red states or blue states, your vote is looked on as irrelevant to the process.  Your say on who will win American Idol has more influence than who will be the next president of the United States.

The South as a whole has been written off as one big “red state,” which means, for all practical purposes, the vote of a citizen there does not count.  The same can be said of the majority of states in the U.S. You might as well write in “none of the above” or leave a hanging chad.  Why?  Look no further than the Electoral College.  We are  about to elect our country’s and the world’s most powerful leader, but the system we have in place causes us to abdicate our right to have our vote count. Continue reading “Jim Brown”