Bible pledges

It's not an original expression by any means but it does seem popular this year. Eddie Rispone made it a thing in one of his early ads this summer when he promised to "get tough on illegal immigration the second my hand comes off the Bible.”  This week John Bel had a riff on it too.

“There is a big difference between me and him,” Edwards said, “but I am supremely confident as I stand before you today that the people of Louisiana know that, they get it and when the hand comes off the Bible on inauguration day, it will be my hand.” He was mocking a commercial by Rispone who promised to get tough “on illegal immigration the second my hand comes off the Bible.”

It's weird what politicians think is funny, or even novel. Bible pledges have been a thing for as long as I can remember. It's what you say instead of, "On Day One..." when your campaign relies on patronizing churchy types.

And I guess that does fit Derrick Shepherd's M.O. well enough. He's always inclined toward that sort of thing. It's no surprise that he would lean on it even harder now in his first run for office since getting out of jail. Shep is in a runoff now with his cousin Byron Lee for the Jefferson Parish Council District 3 seat. He's made "atonement," with a fair amount of religious subtext, a theme in his messaging.

Beyond that there is the, well, the text that appears on the website of his website, 2ndChanceNOLA. Ostensibly the site is about Shep taking up the cause of ex-offenders' rights. In a vacuum, that is quite laudable. In fact, we here at this very blog have cheered Shep's previous efforts at restoring the full civil rights of those who have been convicted of felonies. Although, we can't help but suspect that his motivation in these matters is, to put it nicely, personal, to put it less nicely but more accurately, cynical.

During his days in the state senate, Shepherd was most famous as the author of one of those "baggy pants" bills that were popular at the time among the Cops & Jesus set.  Despite his sudden affected sympathy the victims of the criminal punishment system, Shepherd's website indicates he is in no way reformed on those points.

I owned up to my crime, pleaded guilty and paid my debt to society.

I am pro-criminal justice, pro-police and pro-law and order. Going to prison didn't change the core values I upheld as a citizen, a JAG officer in the military, attorney and state senator. I still believe in the strength, honor and importance of those values as strongly as I believe in God. With everything I brought upon myself, my family, friends and the constituents I represented in the state legislature, I still want to be a contributing member of the community and not sink into the shadows.

So it's not surprising at all to read that Shep would be the latest candidate to deliver a bible pledge. The circumstances of that are pretty interesting too.

Lee has at least one powerful ally on his side. A political action committee funded by River Birch Landfill owners Fred Heebe and Jim Ward has sent out several mailers calling Shepherd untrustworthy and bringing up his past legal troubles, including allegations of domestic violence.

But Shepherd shrugs off the attacks from the New Horizons PAC, saying they were prompted by his vow to make sure River Birch is operating in compliance with state regulations.

"I plan on siccing (the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality) on the River Birch Landfill as soon as my hand comes off that Bible," Shepherd said.

Long time Shep fans will recall that his name did come up in the River Birch bribery case when he and other local officials appeared to work on behalf of the River Birch owners to shut down a rival landfill by, yes, "siccing DEQ on it." It was then alleged that Shepherd turned to the River Birch owners in search of an exchange of favors-for-favors.

No evidence has surfaced to show that Shepherd was working on behalf of River Birch. But at least once, he had a direct interaction with one of the company's owners.

On Dec. 18, 2008, after he was convicted and shortly before he reported to prison, he pulled into Ward's driveway and demanded an audience, according to a letter that River Birch attorney Peter Butler wrote to U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.

Ward invited him into the backyard, where Shepherd said he was "contacting his 'friends' to help him out and asked if Mr. Ward could give him a job," Butler wrote. Shepherd then asked for money.

Ward ended the conversation and brushed off Shepherd.

And now Shep is on the comeback trail and, if the above story is correct,  River Birch would understandably be worried he could end up in a position to seek retribution.

Of course, if Eddie Rispone's hand comes off the bible too next year, it's questionable whether there will be anyone left at DEQ to sic on anybody. So, you know, joke's on Shep.

Shep's law

A couple of years ago Derrick Shepherd performed his one good deed in a long career otherwise characterized by, well, questionable deeds. He successfully challenged a state law suppressing the citizenship rights of ex-convicts.  Unfortunately, the state legislature moved fairly quickly to reinstate that law.  The new version bans former convicts from running for office for "only" five years rather than the fifteen required by the old law.

It is disappointing in the extreme to see figures like JP Morrell support a law that extends the capacity of the criminal justice terror state to penalize its victims.  The good news is, because this is a constitutional amendment, it requires passage by a statewide ballot which is why you will have a chance to vote against it this fall. The bad news is it will very likely pass anyway.

Who is minding the store?

You know what they say. Mayors are like starting quarterbacks. If you have two, you really don't have any. Okay they don't actually say that about mayors. But it sort of does apply to the city's current situation as it relates to the legislative session. Who is in charge? Is anybody?

"Bills are running really fast," said state Rep. Helena Moreno, a New Orleans Democrat who will be leaving her seat to become an at-large City Council member on May 7. "It's toward the end of a shortened session where you'll see a lot more action. I think it leads to people not being able to catch a bill. People really have to be on their toes this session and keep monitoring what's happening."

Moreno said the Landrieu administration typically briefs lawmakers about the administration's bill package, and provides them with a list of legislation they're supporting. That didn't happen this year, so legislators have been mostly on their own in filing bills that could affect the city.

This article also says LaToya cancelled a Monday news conference where she was expecting to outline her priorities, assuming she has them.  Also, ha ha, I had forgotten about this.

The mayor-elect had previously announced that state Rep. Neil Abramson would be her point person in the Legislature, raising eyebrows among elected officials who have sparred, sometimes bitterly, with Abramson.

As far as we can tell, Neil's big priority the past few years has been punting all the budget questions to a constitutional convention... as well as, probably, getting himself elected to the state senate, but that's not important right now.  What is important is nobody seems to know who is advising Cantrell's transition team with regard to the legislative agenda.  We're pretty sure it isn't Derrick Shepherd.   Maybe it's the Business Council.

Cantrell has had a far longer transition than Landrieu because of a one-time-only quirk in the election schedule that was approved by voters in 2014.

The $194,000 is only a snapshot of her overall intake; she plans to release at least one more financial report for her “Forward Together New Orleans” transition fund before she takes office May 7.

The transition’s single biggest donor from mid-December to mid-February was the Business Council of New Orleans and the River Region, which gave $50,000.

Update:  Turns out she supports this one bill. Sort of.

New Orleans Mayor-elect LaToya Cantrell came to the House Administration of Criminal Justice committee meeting where both pieces of legislation were considered.  Speaker Pro Tempore Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, spoke in favor of the legislation at the committee hearing.

Cantrell said she backs the legislation, but wants to more review of the details of the project that Harrah's has laid out. She refused to say what portions of the casino's plan may need more scrutiny.

 

Shep is in... a new TV spot

That's a real big flag you got there.



And, hey, nobody here is going to argue with Shep's point.  We've said numerous times that convicted felons should not forfeit their rights to civic participation either as voters or candidates.  This isn't even really about "second chances" as Shepherd puts it in the ad. It's more about the fundamental rights of citizens in a fair society.

None of this means that Shep isn't also being a bit of a cynic.  He's also quite likely lying about this.

Shepherd was asked by FOX 8 News if he is seeking employment in Cantrell’s administration.

“No, I was at that meeting just helping, I was not seeking a position with Latoya Cantrell's administration, I wish her the best, but I do know now that she needs a position in her administration to deal with the formerly incarcerated or people who are seeking second chances,” he said in response.

Admittedly he's a more convincing liar than LaToya is. But he's always been more of a pro in any case. He also says in that Fox8 story that he's planning a "rally" in support of his "second chance" cause.  I hope they find a good caterer.  

Shep is... out?

One of the first things we learned about LaToya Cantrell's mayoral campaign happened on the day of its official launch. During her speech, Cantrell appeared to call for the removal of all traffic cameras in the city.  But when questioned afterward, she and her spokespeople immediately walked that back to only the most recently installed cameras.

The apparent reversal drew even more questions and reporters prompting the candidate to.. reverse herself again.

Cantrell replied, "Based on the feedback from the community, it would only be those cameras that have been recently installed."

She went on to suggest she was skeptical of traffic cameras overall and reiterated her support for a study that would gauge all of their effectiveness. And, if they were found not to increase safety, Cantrell said she would do away with them altogether.

Cantrell spokesman David Winkler-Schmit on Wednesday offered a "further clarification" on the issue, bringing the candidate's position back to the full suspension she pledged in her speech Tuesday night.

The overall impression was that the campaign didn't know what its actual position was. This is a typical but also extremely bad indicator in politics. It suggests that the candidate doesn't actually care about issues in the pure sense that these are real problems affecting people's day to day lives. Rather she merely sees them as obstacles that need to be finessed in order to gain office. In other words, getting elected is an end to itself rather than an honest attempt to change things.

It looks now as though the Mayor-elect has brought this same moorless ethic with her into the transition.  How else does one explain the tone deaf inclusion of Derrick Shepherd in preliminary meetings with lawmakers and his sudden dismissal the second it became known to Cantrell's team that people might not like that.

However, Saturday's statement was the first time the Cantrell team directly answered a question about whether Shepherd might be in line for a role in the upcoming administration, a rumor that has been spreading in political circles over the past week.

Cantrell’s transition team was asked multiple times over several days about those rumors. The transition was also specifically asked to explain Shepherd’s presence at the meeting and was given multiple opportunities to say that he would not be playing a role in the administration.

In response to those questions, a spokesman for the transition would say only that no hiring decisions had yet been made. He did not directly address Shepherd’s presence at the meeting. Lawmakers, most of whom asked not to be named, have told The New Orleans Advocate that Shepherd was at the meeting and appeared to be there at Cantrell’s invitation.

We're not sure at this point the new administration-to-be cares about anything besides its own image. The fact that they're also so clumsy about managing this one thing they seem to care about is similarly discouraging if not more so.

Shep is... in?

All your favorites are back!

What could be a critically important relationship between the city's newly elected mayor and state lawmakers is off to a rocky start after Mayor-elect LaToya Cantrell showed up at a meeting this week with one of the legislators' former colleagues: ex-con Derrick Shepherd.

Shepherd, a former state senator who served more than a year in federal prison after pleading guilty to money laundering, accompanied Cantrell to a meeting with New Orleans legislators designed to begin building relationships during the five-month transition before she is sworn in.

Now now let's not be to quick to judge. After all, despite his history as a money launderer and domestic abuser, Shep is an "ex" con. Which is why a lot of us were sympathetic to his attempts to get on the ballot for the state House in 2015. Ex offenders ought to have their basic civil rights restored once they've served their sentences. This is not to say, however, that they ought to be elected or appointed to political office. Only that they have a right to be denied those opportunities through the same process as anyone else.

In this case, then, it's up to LaToya to filter such a person out of her sphere of influence. Strange that she would not do that. Wasn't she supposed to be the candidate of draining the swamp and being all "Not For Sale" and whatnot? Wonder what happened.

The Derrick Shepherd Rule

Legislature really going out of its way to make sure voters have fewer choices in Louisiana.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana voters are a step closer to deciding whether convicted felons will have to wait 15 years after serving a criminal sentence before running for elected office.

The House passed a proposed state constitutional amendment Tuesday that would require the 15-year buffer. The amendment gained the two-thirds it needed to move to the Senate for consideration with a 79-19 House vote.

Voters passed a similar amendment, which was adopted in 1998, but the Louisiana Supreme Court voided it recently. The high court said voters approved an amendment that differed from the one passed by state lawmakers.

You might remember that the previous law was voided thanks to a successful challenge by convicted felon and once and aspiring state legislator Derrick Shepherd on very very technical grounds early this year. The new amendment will supposedly patch the constitutional flaw Shepherd found in the original. 

We have to ask, again, though. What would be the point? If people want to vote for or against an ex-offender, it seems to us that ought to be their right.

The Derrick Shepherd bill

The legislature is going through a lot of trouble to keep Shep from running again.

Multiple bills have been filed that would put restrictions on convicted felons who want to run for office.

The state law that barred felons from seeking public office for 15 years after their sentences ended has been thrown out on a technical issue, following a challenge from a former state legislator who served two years in prison on public corruption charges.

Re-establishing that law will require a constitutional amendment and a vote of the people.

Shepherd successfully challenged the current law baring felons from office via a technical complaint having to do with the way it was passed.  But, really, voters should have the option of voting for or against whichever candidate regardless of that person's past.  If you don't want a convicted felon in office, don't vote for the convicted felon. It's that simple. 

Shep is back in!

Well, okay, the election is over now but the saga of Derrick Shepherd's attempt to qualify for office has finally concluded. Turns out, next time, he can run after all.

A law that prevented Derrick Shepherd from running for office with a felony conviction on his record was declared invalid Wednesday (Jan. 27) by the Louisiana Supreme Court. "I'm so happy to be validated," Shepherd said, describing himself as "on cloud nine."

Technically, the court ruled that the law was passed in an invalid fashion due to a discrepancy in the wording of the bill that passed the legislature compared to the ballot measure approved by voters. So the ruling isn't really based on any sort of voting rights principle. 

Perhaps it should be, though.  If people want to vote for or against a convicted felon, why should they not have the right to do so?  That's an argument for a later time, though. We'll have to make it again should the legislature take the issue up later this year.  But for now, Vote For The Crooks if you've got 'em.

Speaking of which, might we have Derrick Shepherd to kick around in the meantime?  Maybe!

But he also might take a shot at running for federal office, which does not have the same prohibition. He said he's received calls encouraging him to run for U.S. Sen. David Vitter's seat.

"I never thought about running for United States Senate, but hey, it's something to look at," Shepherd said. "When the Supreme Court validates you and tells you 'You're right, you can have a second chance,' maybe the people of Louisiana would agree and allow me to have a second chance, too."

Shep is in again!

Well.. okay not this time. But maybe next time.

Convicted felon Derrick Shepherd’s case against the Louisiana statute that prevented him from running for the state House last month will get its day before the Louisiana Supreme Court on Dec. 8.

Not that it will do him much good: Shepherd was disqualified and had to watch as Rodney Lyons Sr. defeated incumbent Ebony Woodruff for the District 87 seat that Shepherd used to hold.

Shepherd, who served two years in prison after pleading guilty to public corruption charges in 2008, challenged the 1997 constitutional amendment barring convicted felons who served jail time from running for state and local office for 15 years. But he could not get a final ruling on his challenge in time for last month’s election.

Even though Shepherd was disqualified from this election, his case still matters.  There's no reasonable call for limiting the civil rights of ex-offenders.. not to mention limiting voters' choices for such and extended period.  Derrick Shepherd is a terrible person. We should have the option of voting against him. That's democracy.

The amendment that prohibits terrible candidates like Shep from participating should be stricken from the Louisiana constitution. Not only is it an arbitrary check on voting rights, but, as Shepherd's attorney points out, the reason it exists at all, is political pandering based in racism. 

Garrity, also a former legislator, slammed the law as a hypocritical appeal to voters by politicians who have let real issues such as the budget and funding for mental health services and the disabled go unaddressed.

“They don’t have the (guts) to focus on what the real problem is,” he said. “They want to go home and tell lily-white Metairie, ‘I’m tough on crime.’ ”

Imagine

Here is a trend we picked up on a bit during last year's elections.  More and more candidates are spending more and more of their campaign efforts on suing one another.

Disqualification attempts, requests for injunctions against inflammatory ads, not to mention Derrick Shepherd’s repeated — and thus far unsuccessful — efforts to persuade various state judges to strike down the constitutional provision preventing him from running for the Legislature have combined to ensure that if there’s been a lot of newspaper ink spilled about a race, there’s a good chance the story was coming from the courthouse at 200 Derbigny St.

“It does seem like they’re going to the courts more often, particularly on these political ads,” said Ed Chervenak, a political scientist at the University of New Orleans.

“It’s something that’s becoming more and more a part of local politics,” agreed Scott Sternberg, a lawyer who has defended candidates from challenges to their right to run. “We’ve seen more suits (this year) than I can remember seeing.”

The season started with a spate of disqualification attempts right after qualifying in early September.

It's hard to say whether this is really the "new thing" in local politics. The opening of a whole new front in legal expenses could become yet another barrier to participation for all but the most well financed candidates. But time will tell in that regard.

Anyway since the courts as a means of political intimidation, notice what Chervanak says here. 

Like the Roberts-Congemi suit, those claims ended with all sides agreeing to pull the ads in their original forms and declaring victory. In the Senate race, Labruzzo agreed to soften the language of his allegations, some of which were based on claims from a political blog.

Sternberg, whose firm has not handled any of the disputes that wound up in court this year, said he thinks the trend toward more litigation is rooted in a couple of factors. First, there’s more information generally available on the Internet to circulate about opponents and use for rebuttals than there was years ago. Also, he said, the concept of having supported a tax increase is more generally accepted as a particularly poisonous allegation.

“The things that they’re throwing around are really hot-button issues,” he said.

Chervenak said candidates need to be careful about where they get their information. Political blogs “may not be the best sources for the most accurate information, and I think that’s getting them in trouble,” he said.

Sure, sure, it's all the fault of "the blogs" as if every single individual talking about politics on the interenet is doing exactly the same thing. Apparently a campaign isn't responsible for whatever dirt it wants to spread so long as it leaks out through a sympathetic blogger or perhaps even through a fake social media account created by a staffer.  Once it's "out there" on the internet, it's something "the blogs" did.

It's 2015. We really should understand better that the internet is just a tool and not the cause of the unreliable things that some people use it to say.  A guy lied to me once. Let's stop paying attention to the English language. The blog you're reading right now gets all of its information from what it reads in the newspaper. Maybe that's even worse.

In the context of political campaigns spawning frivolous lawsuits left and right, though, everybody needs a scapegoat when the lawyer gun is pointed at them.  We saw this play out a little over the weekend when Gambit ran with and then quickly backed off of a story about David Vitter's hookers when "new inconsistencies came to light."

But having read Jason Berry's original post, Gambit's gleeful flogging of it, and Gambit's subsequent retraction, I'm having difficulty identifying the inconsistencies which would not have "come to light" to Clancy Dubos well before he ran with it . Especially considering he and most of New Orleans had been aware of this "bombshell" waiting to drop for many months now.

Even I knew something like this was coming. And, remember, all I know about anything is what I read in the papers. An insider professional publisher like Clancy would have had ample time to review and contextualize the relevant information before running it up the flagpole.  So what happened here?

I've spent some time this season cautioning people about the wisdom or lack thereof of harping too much on David Vitter's hookers during the primary.  In the first place, it's mostly sleaze for the sake of sleaze.  This makes it an attractive story for self-promoting tabloid TV journalists like our friend Derek Myers here. But it doesn't do much to inform voters about how their choice in the upcoming election will affect the future of the state.

In the second place, it's bad strategy.  By that I mean it's bad strategy for anyone interested in electing John Bel Edwards rather than one of the three Republicans.  This goes a bit beyond the scope of this post so I'll elaborate later. But suffice to say for now, a Governor Edwards would be a significantly different result from any of the other three possibilities which are more similar to each other than any is to him.

Still, not everyone wants John Bel to be Governor. Gambit has endorsed Jay Dardenne, for example. Whenever Berry has said anything at all about a preference, he's professed agnosticism.  However, many other political types who I keep track of on the internet do prefer Edwards. And these people have been far too enthusiastic about going after Vitter all month. I don't understand this.

If you are interested in electing Edwards, choosing to attack Vitter on this point at this time is a bad idea. It's not difficult to see why. Ever since mid-September, most of the major polls released indicate that Edwards can beat Vitter in a runoff. This doesn't mean it would be a cinch.  But what they all show him ahead. One of them puts him over 50%, in fact.  When asked, neither Angelle nor Dardenne supporters even say they prefer Edwards to Vitter as a "second choice" candidate.  But Edwards matches up poorly in a runoff scenario vs either of the other Republicans. He has a chance to beat Vitter. He can't beat the others.

In any case, Edwards will definitely be in the runoff regardless, so what we're looking at this Saturday in the Governor's race is basically a Republican primary. The choices are two Republicans who will probably win the runoff or one Republican who might lose.  Anyone dropping any "bombshells" this week has to be aware of this. If you are a publication, like Gambit who is already pushing Jay Dardenne, this is your moment to jump in and help spread the frag pattern.  No time to sit around worrying about "inconsistencies."

One of the largest PACs active this year has been something called  "GumboPAC."  It is managed by former state Democratic Party chair Trey Ourso. (I'm pretty sure he is an Ourso of THE Oursos but will need confirmation from someone.) In any case, he's an established player in establishment Louisiana Democratic Party politics. (Read: oil people and their money.)  But GumboPAC isn't backing John Bel Edwards. Instead, it has adopted the slogan and mission statement "Anybody But Vitter." You may have seen their big purple billboards along the nearest highway. 

We first read about GumboPAC when Clancy Dubos giddily announced its existence in the pages of Gambit back in May. Clancy didn't bother to tell us anything about the people running the PAC.. although he almost certainly knew.  Instead he preferred to amplify GumboPAC's call for us to "imagine" things about Vitter.

If Vitter thought he could run for governor without having to face that scandal again — and those same questions — he clearly was wrong. He was able to dodge them in the immediate aftermath of the scandal (by hiding) and again in his 2010 Senate re-election campaign, when he deflected voters' attention by running an anti-Obama campaign. That was easy when his main opponent was a Democrat, but this time he also faces two major GOP rivals. It won't be so easy to blame everything on Obama this go-round.

Or will it?

Vitter campaign spokesman Luke Bolar told The Advocate that the Gumbo PAC campaign is "more politics as usual from liberal Obama Democrats and their allies."

It will be interesting to see if that old deflection works again. At some point, Vitter will have to answer for his "serious sin." After all, it wasn't Barack Obama who was dialing up hookers from Capitol Hill — while preaching "family values" back home.

Meanwhile, the Gumbo PAC video suggests there is much more to come. It concludes, "Just imagine the things you haven't heard about ... yet."

Just imagine what those things might be! 

Later on in the campaign, we noticed that GumboPAC had donated $5,000 to a PAC supporting Jay Dardenne's campaign... saying it was for "research."  I have no idea what that means, exactly. But since GumboPAC and Clancy like it when we use our imaginations, it might be fun to ask just how much it cost to buy Wendy Ellis out of her "exclusivity contract" with Hustler. I know, I know, that's wildly speculative. But "just imagine!" Anyway, one week after this transaction was reported, Gambit endorsed Dardenne.

Again, I'm not responsible for where your imagination might take you. I'm just throwing it "out there."  It was okay to imagine things back in May because some people in a super PAC (who Clancy chose not to name for some reason) put it in an ad. And it was OK to stoke the imaginative fires once again during the final week of the campaign when Gambit helped Jason throw his "bombshell" revelation that Wendy Ellis was willing to say things on the record.

On the other hand, there is that problem of elevated litigiousness among candidates these days.  Luckily, as with their reporting on GumboPAC, Gambit figured out a way to have it both ways.

First, they ran the story making sure to praise and credit "independent investigative blogger Jason Brad Berry" with having put it together. Next, retract the story the very next day in a "Shocked SHOCKED" fashion and then leave Jason out to dry implying all of this is because, as Chevernak says, "political blogs may not be the best sources of information."

Well we'll see about that.  Like we said earlier, most political blogs (like say this one here) do not claim or attempt to be primary sources of information.  But Jason has a pretty decent track record of digging up things a lot of media pros aren't willing to touch without at least some plausible insurance against reprisal.

But, as I've said before, nobody really cares about David Vitter and his hookers.  On the other hand, a lot of people care about who gets to be the next Governor of Louisiana. And how those interests motivate those people's decisions to "imagine" what might be fit to publish and when is the real reason to watch any of this.

Shep is back out!

If I'm reading this correctly, it looks like Derrick Shepherd is disqualified from this election, but his challenge to the law that disqualified him may still be upheld.

Like Enright, the appeals court panel did not take up the substance of Shepherd’s argument against the law, though he has another case that is expected to be appealed to the state Supreme Court.

Shepherd won that case at the state level when Baton Rouge Judge Wilson Fields ruled on Tuesday that the law barring felons from running was unconstitutional. The state has said it will appeal that ruling directly to the state Supreme Court.

Shep is in! (sort of)

At least, for now he can run.

Derrick Shepherd’s hopes of running for his old state House seat on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish were temporarily bolstered Tuesday by a Baton Rouge judge who struck down a 1997 constitutional amendment that forbids convicted felons from running for public office until 15 years after finishing their prison term.

That ruling now heads straight to the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Even if you don't like Shepherd (and there are plenty reasons not to) you should still have the right to vote against him. The law may end up standing, eventually. But it is a stupid law.   Why didn't Edwin Edwards try this?

Derrick Shepherd has some good points

Have to admit his campaign push to restore citizenship rights to ex-offenders is not a bad cause.

Shepherd, a former state senator and representative whose 2008 felony conviction and two-year prison term for money laundering seem to prevent him from running for the District 87 seat, was still upbeat despite 24th Judicial District Judge Stephen Enright’s morning ruling to disqualify him.

“I’m optimistic. That’s the best word for it,” Shepherd said, with his appeal and a separate constitutional challenge to the law that prohibits him from running both slated for decisions next week.

“I respect his ruling; I just think he’s incorrect, and I look forward to them hearing the merits of the constitutional argument,” Shepherd said. “I just want to tell everybody who’s praying for me that the fight isn’t over yet.”

Assuming he defies the odds, early indications are that Shepherd’s campaign will focus on a story of redemption and that, rather than run from his admission that he took $140,000 from the sale of fake bonds, he’ll embrace it as a mistake he’s determined to atone for.

Because I like democracy, I'm pretty much with him... right up to the part where he thinks he ought to be elected to something. Then, not so much. 

All your favorites are back!

Lost in the excitement of a new football season, we neglected to note some of the more exciting candidates who qualified to run last week. Most notably, John Labruzzo, once famous for proposing that the state sterilize poor people, has decided he should go back to Baton Rouge and.. at least see about getting them drug tested.

"People kept asking me, 'Can you repeal Common core on the council? Can you do drug testing of welfare recipients on the council?'" LaBruzzo said. "They kept (telling) me, 'You need to go back to Baton Rouge.'"

Other legislative priorities, he said, would be to impose a two-child cap for welfare recipients, increase penalties for violent criminal offenders and convey state landmark status on all New Orleans monuments.

Glad to see, also, that the Jefferson Parish resident cares so much about New Orleans Confederate history.  (Labruzzo once represented roughly the same legislative district that elected David Duke.)

Meanwhile, our friend Derrick Shepherd, is rested and ready, although not technically eligible to run after having spent time in jail for money laundering. 

Derrick Shepherd, who resigned his state senate seat in 2008 before pleading guilty to money laundering charges, is attempting a comeback with a run for his former state House seat.

Shepherd’s run for the House District 87 seat is barred by a state law that prevents convicted felons from running state office. But the former lawmaker, who served two years in federal prison, said in a press release he plans to challenge that prohibition as unconstitutional.

“My campaign will offer hope to many citizens who have made a mistake that they too can receive a second chance in life,” Shepherd said.

EWE: "Dammit, why didn't I think of that!"  

Dollar Bill planning to pull a Lieberman?

Clancy Dubos takes a skeptical look at the rumor that Bill Jefferson will withdraw from the Democratic primary and run for reelection as an Independent in the general election.

The rumor is likely based on the way Jefferson artfully played both sides of the political and racial fence in his 2006 campaign against Karen Carter. Jefferson head-spinningly managed to paint Carter as "too white" and just as strangely "too socially liberal" for Orleans Parish black voters while using Harry Lee as a surrogate to attack her as "too black" for Jefferson Parish voters based on her comments in Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke critical of the Gretna Police for turning hurricane evacuees away at gunpoint. Clancy, in fact, revisits one of the central mysteries of that 2006 campaign in this week's Gambit cover story.

Amazingly, Jefferson skated on that issue. Not once was he asked if he felt the Gretna cops were within their rights to turn back the refugees, but he clearly loved seeing Sheriff Lee lambaste Carter Peterson for her comments. Lee, no stranger to racial politics, did everything he could to help Jefferson win. "Stay home," he told his constituents, most of them white. Many did, and Jefferson won with 55 percent of the vote.

But this is a new election season and that means there are a new set of questions to not be asked. For example, can we expect the new Jefferson Parish favorite, Byron Lee, to be asked about his ties and apparently similar proclivities to his cousin Derrick Shepherd? Shepherd, of course, ran for this seat in 2006 but currently finds himself, like Jefferson, under federal indictment in a case that as it turns out may also involve..... Bill Jefferson. For some reason, being involved in multiple Federal indictments is no obstacle to Dollar Bill's continuing to stand for reelection but that's what makes this interesting. It's also why this is such fertile territory for exotic rumors.

In any event, Clancy is probably right to discount a Dollar Bill Indie run.... for now anyway. Jefferson's base is no longer as solid as it once was. He's sure to be squeezed on the Orleans side by the presence of former ally Cedric Richmond. And with Lee in the race, he has very little room to make up ground in Jefferson Parish. But the crowded field still makes the congressman a strong candidate in the Democratic primary. But if Jefferson somehow fails to make the cut there... then maybe we'll talk about the Lieberman option. It's unlikely... but my what fun!

Update: In the comments, Clancy Dubos points out that according to Louisiana election law, Bill Jefferson closed the "Independent" option by qualifying to run in the Democratic primary. So I guess that's that. It only makes this election a very small degree less fun to watch, though.

Racing form

Well after Big Brown dominated the field at Pimlico Saturday there shouldn't be too much mystery about who the favorite is to win the Belmont. On the other hand the stakes in the upcoming race for Bill Jefferson's seat are becoming all the more intriguing. Two years ago, the embattled Congressman was reelected in one of the more dismally fascinating elections in local history. In this week's Gambit Scuttlebutt Allen Johnson provides us with some early handicapping. I've taken the liberty of highlighting the most telling indicator in red.

No Shortage of Opponents

By: Allen Johnson

Indicted Congressman Bill Jefferson is not expected to go on trial for bribery until after qualifying opens July 9 for the federal party primaries on Sept. 6 — but friends and foes alike are eyeing his seat. The friends include state Reps. Cedric Richmond and Juan Lafonta. Richmond has served in the state House since 1999; Lafonta, since 2005. State Rep. Karen Carter-Peterson, who lost a runoff to Jefferson in 2006, will host a $1,200-per-person “congressional fundraiser” at 6 p.m. next Thursday (May 29) at Morton’s Steakhouse in New Orleans, says Carter publicist Cheron Brylski. Other Jefferson opponents include Jefferson Parish Councilman Byron L. Lee and former WDSU-TV morning anchor Helena Moreno. Lee has hired the PR firm of Katz & Columbus, while veteran media consultant Jim Carvin and his daughter, Karen Carvin, will manage Lee’s campaign. Moreno also has assembled a campaign team, says media consultant Greg Buisson. That team includes pollster Ed Renwick as well as campaign coordinators Craig Mitchell and Bill Allerton. As a journalist, Moreno registered as an Independent, but she will run as a Democrat in the party primary, Buisson says. She will make an official announcement in July, while Lee has not yet pegged an announcement date. Meanwhile, a publicist for indicted state Sen. Derrick Shepherd of Marrero dismissed rumors that Shepherd will run for the seat again; Shepherd finished third in the 2006 race.

For more on this crucial indicator, see Oyster's accumulated observations. The betting window is open.

Update: Oyster follows up with much more on Derrick Shepherd's cousin Byron Lee here.

What the fuck are these assholes running for?

Jim Letten and Jim Bernazzani are apparently auditioning for a role in the next K-Ville... or maybe they want to be Fox News anchors or something. Watch their menacing, steely-eyed, super-cop poses as they make their opening statements at yesterday's press conference announcing the indictment of Derrick Shepherd. Who is impressed by this utterly unprofessional, macho grandstanding? Just because Clancy Dubos wets himself over displays of melodramatic Dragonslaying, doesn't meant the rest of us need to see it for anything other than the Spitzeresque political opportunism that it is.

We've already got PBJ around to run for Vice President demagogue against the "old corrupt crowd." Meanwhile, Letten and Bernazzani can spare us the "crusading cop" speech, until they've actually announced their candidacies and just do your their freaking jobs.

Heat turning up?

Yeah I know. Interesting things floating about town today. But I don't know anything these folks can't already tell you so I'm just watching right now.

Now would be a good time to start re-reading those AZ and Moldy City back files though.

Update: I might remind the giddy kids, however, of the following,

1. The current US Dept of Justice is not exactly the White Knight these days. (Never has been, really... despite what the T-P might tell you about Dragons)



2. This ain't exactly our first rodeo.
   
   
   
   And we're all so much better off since the previous ones, aren't we?

Eye on the ball

For the record, I don't care for Derrick Shepherd because he is a conservative panderer and useless legislator with an unseemly obsession over baggy pants. The fact that he is also a criminal, while not particularly surprising, is really beside the point.

But removing Shepherd from office via federal investigation rather than electoral action will not result in more progressive representation for that district. This is the folly of focusing on "corruption" instead of issues in politics. Politics is about advancing one or another policy agenda through the authority of an electoral mandate. It's kind of the point of democratic government. So while it's nice to know that a criminal could be brought to justice, it's still an external issue to actual governance.

Time and again, self-styled "reformers" conflate removing corruption with political action. Removing corruption is laudable but if it is the sole basis of a candidate's platform, it tends to serve as a distraction from the interests such a candidate might actually represent once he/she takes power.

For example, newly knighted Dragon Slayer Bobby Jindal ran a campaign based on the premise that Louisiana's main obstacle is not health care, not flood protection, not jobs, but "corruption." In his acceptance speech, Jindal promised his first act as Governor will be to convene a special legislative session in order to pass a nebulous "ethics reform package" whatever that could mean.

Meanwhile, Jindal named some of the wonderful people who will join him at the Round Table at the dawn of the new age. Here are some of your new administrators:

• Chief of Staff: Home schooling product, Christian weirdo, and "respecter of the authority structure" Timmy Teepell.



• Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy: Big Oil lobbyist Stephen Waguespack.



• Transition Chairman: Conservative Baton Rouge Business Report publisher and Buddy Roemer co-flake from way back, Rolfe Mc Collister Jr.

Wow what an awesome team of "reformers"! But as long as these guys keep the dragons away, everything will be smooth as... peanut butter, right?

Update: Today's T-P cartoon (not yet online)at least demonstrates that paper's ownership of their own party line fantasy.

Upperdate: Cartoon is online now and it is, yup, Jindal "Slaying the Dragon"



If anyone has access to T-P archives from 1987 I'm dying to know if a similarly themed cartoon ran after Roemer's election. I'd be willing to lay money on it.