Louisiana Voice

I’m fairly certain this post will bring out the nutcases but let me state unequivocally that I am neither a supporter nor an opponent of Rep. Ilhan Omar but the RAID ON HER HOME  by federal agents on Monday was so transparently politically motivated as to be legitimately frightening to every living American.

If it can happen to a sitting member of Congress, it can damn-well happen to every one of us. Never forget that. The jackbooted secret police in the guise of ICE agents are already in place and the US Department of Justice is led by a modern-day Hermann Goering and the DOJ’s Hilfspolizei is staffed with loyal members of the Sturmabteilung and Schutzstaffel.

If the Republikkkans allow this blatant show of federal power and abuse to stand, then we have truly descended into a full-fledged police state and we all should be fearful. It can happen to any one of us at any time.

History has shown us how appeasement worked for Neville Chamberlain.

We’ve seen masked, unidentified federal thugs shoot people in the street, even run them over in vehicles. We’ve seen children pried from their parents to face deportation alone and frightened with no one to speak for them.

We’ve seen a diapered president suggest that a foreign country annihilate two of our largest cities. That same president has invaded a sovereign nation to our south for no other reason than to seize its petroleum resources. That same president has bombed boats in international waters, killing more than 100 human beings on the unsubstantiated claim that they were drug dealers. Maybe, maybe not. We don’t know. They were never given the chance to defend themselves and no drugs have ever been presented as evidence.

We’ve seen a bloated, egotistical, dementia-addled president fire generals with decades of experience so that they may be replaced with successors with know loyalty to a dictator. Ask yourself why it is so urgent that all those with proven loyalty to our country but not the president personally should be fired. Ask yourself why drones and snipers are needed on Trump’s proposed arch. Ask yourself why he wants voter rolls from every state when the Constitution clearly says that the states themselves are in charge of their own elections.

Ask yourself why he has personally destroyed this country’s economy, bankrupted farmers—only to suddenly strike a deal with Russia for diesel “to help farmers.” Ask yourself why he suddenly declared that Ukraine is somehow responsible for high diesel prices and why he thinks that country needs a new leader.

Ask yourself why he is openly defying court orders so that he can expand a golf course while Americans are struggling to feed their families. Ask yourself why he needs a billion-dollar ballroom (that is not being paid for by private contributions, by the way) while Americans cannot afford gasoline. Ask yourself why he needs a victory arch (which no doubt will bear his name) when Americans cannot bear the burden of rising medical costs.

And while the Nazi Party, Goering and the SS were alluded to earlier, it’s important to recognize the looming presence of the other extreme.

We keep hearing Trump referring to “Dumacrats” as communists (and one of our readers regularly echoes that sentiment by referring to “Dumacommies”) and blasting socialism and communism even as he kisses the asses of Putin, Xi and Kim Jong Un while literally turning his back on longstanding allies.

But again, it’s critical remember history. Some of you, like me, are old enough to remember the Cuban revolution and Castro’s overthrow of Batista in 1959. Castro was hailed as a great reformer and Ed Sullivan even introduced him as an “agrarian reformer.” Castro denied then that he was a communist but we now know better.

Likewise, Pol Pot of Cambodia and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela each denied ties to the communist party only to ultimately emerge as dedicated to the cause. It was advantageous at the time for those dictators to deny, deny, deny.

Fidel, future dictators’ socialist denials went up in smoke.

If you listen closely, you might be able to notice some similarities in denials of communism being tossed around the Beltway by members of Congress, cabinet members and even a certain orange president.

For Americans, it’s far past the time to forget about the NFL and Dancing with the Stars and to start asking serious questions.

Scare tactics? Damn right.

For starters, Media Bias, a web service that evaluates online media for bias, accuracy and credibility, has this to say about The Hayride, Louisiana’s leading conservative news blog:

“Overall, we rate The Hayride as Far-Right biased and Questionable based on the promotion of conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, failed fact checks, a lack of transparency, and poor sourcing. In general, The Hayride holds far-right biased and often promotes conspiracy theories and pseudoscience to advance their editorial positions.”

To support its rating, Media Bias noted the following failed fact checks:

• Donald Trump wrote in “The Art of the Deal” that if you tell people a lie three times, they will believe it. – False
• A photograph depicts the arrival of 10,000 Syrian refugees in New Orleans in November 2015. – False
• Jeffrey Epstein’s private banker dead by ‘suicide,’ model scout MIA – False

The critique went on to say, “During Covid-19, they made false claims, such as claiming that masks harm the healthy. They don’t. They also promoted the false stolen election narrative citing the 2000 Mules Documentary, which has been thoroughly debunked.”

This is not an attempt to pick a fight with The Hayride, but is simply cited as a means to set the table for what must be one of the most far-fetched, hallucination-induced posts—even by Hayride standards—by some guest columnist identified only as Lindman (no first name provided—and I don’t blame him) that I have been able to slog through.

In today’s (Oct. 12) post, Lindman laments the politics of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and heaps shame on it for not awarding the Peace Prize to the person “who did the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, the reduction of standing armies, and the promotion of peace congresses.”

Any guesses as to whom he is referring with that sweeping description? No? Well, let me clarify further, courtesy of Lindman, who goes on to say:

“President Donald Trump settled eight wars and came close to ending or settling two more. He secured the return of every Israeli hostage—including the final 28, both living and dead—along with hundreds of others from countries across the world. He captured the violent dictator who had run Venezuela. He stopped the Islamic Republic of Iran, the number one state sponsor of terror, from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Those are measurable outcomes. Families were reunited. Fighting stopped. A brutal regime lost its leader. A nuclear threshold was pushed back. Leadership produced those results.”

But why should I continue to quote Lindman? You can read the entire mishmash by going here:

LINDMAN: Leadership Delivers Peace. The Nobel Committee Prefers Politics.

It’s almost as if he ripped a page from The Borowitz Report.

Trump Seeks to Avoid Losing in Texas by Returning it to Mexico.

It would be ridiculous enough if this was the only such story in The Hayride. But it isn’t.

Just last week, on Oct. 7, in fact, there was another post—this one about a SNAFU by a member of the Livingston Parish Council in providing a candidate for district attorney copies of checks paid to a Hammond law firm which served as legal counsel to the parish council.

ROBICHEAUX: Something Smells in the Livingston Parish District Attorney’s Office

Without going into a lot of detail, the gist of the story was tsk-tsking the Moody Law Firm for serving as paid legal counsel for the parish while simultaneously its attorneys were serving as assistant district attorneys.

While that may well be a questionable practice, it’s important to note The Hayride conveniently overlooked a similar practice by its favorite governor during the time he served as Louisiana Attorney General and which continues with his successor.

Current Attorney General Liz Murrill was the top assistant to Jeff Landry during Landry’s tenure as AG and during that time and continuing today, Murrill’s husband, John Murrill, was—and is—a partner in the firm of Taylor Porter, which has contracts with the AG’s office.

The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that it was okay for Taylor Porter to represent the state and the AG’s office in capital cases. The firm’s representation of the state would not seem very different from the Moody firm representing Livingston Parish.

Somehow, The Hayride missed that similarity.

Louisiana has once again caught the eye of The Guardian, an international news organization—but as usual, not in a good way.

Christopher Paul, a Republican, is the only remaining candidate for police chief of the village of Elizabeth in Allen Parish after his opponent was forced to drop out of the race by his employer.

Paul is apparently destined to become the village’s next police chief despite on major blemish on his record.

He is presently out on bond following his arrest on charges of raping two 13-year-old girls in 2005 and 2006.

Man accused of child rape set to become police chief in small Louisiana town | Louisiana | The Guardian

The Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office has confirmed Paul is eligible to hold office unless he is subsequently convicted of a felony. If he is convicted, it would prevent him from taking office when the new chief’s term begins on Jan. 1.

Paul, 46, officially qualified to run on Aug. 6 and was arrested a month later, on Sept. 8, by the Allen Parish Sheriff’s Office. He is presently out on $60,000 bail.

His former opponent, Zachary LaCaze, is a civilian employee at Fort Polk. He said he called a federal hotline for Hatch Act questions prior to qualifying and was told he could run for the job provided he did not declare a party affiliation but subsequently learned other candidates must also be no party. Paul is running as a Republican.

“As much as I love being a police officer and as much as I wanted to be your chief of police, I have a responsibility to my family. My full-time job is what provides for my wife and son, and I cannot take that away from them, So, as much as it hurts me, I have to step away from this election.” LaCaze said. He added about Paul’s winning by default, “I have a lot of concerns if it happens, but it’s out of my hands.”

Another British publication, the DAILY MAIL, noted that Paul’s uncontested candidacy has sparked outrage on social media. “Nobody in Elizabeth wants to become chief?” asked one writer. “Whoever runs against this guy would probably win.”

Another wrote, “You cannot tell me that there is absolutely no one else to take this job! These people don’t make any sense. Why put this individual in that position and when he goes to prison for RAPE they will have to fill the position with someone else.”

“He should withdraw from the race,” said a third user. “He knows he’s not wanted in Elizabeth.”

One other writer was even more blunt. “Idiot should drop out,” he wrote.

Elizabeth Mayor Mandy Leo Green pointed out correctly, “Charges are allegations, not a conviction. The candidate in question has been arrested and charged, but has not been convicted of any crime. Under the law, anyone accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This is an important part of our justice system.”

Meanwhile, the village council has approved a Dec. 12 special election on a proposition to make the police chief position one by appointment rather than by election though it remains unclear when that would take effect if approved by voters.

Paul has declined to comment on his arrest but indicated he has no intentions to withdraw despite a call for him to step down by the Youth Peace & Justice Foundation, a national nonprofit organization established to prevent violence against children.