La La Land

Friday’s Blogs from the Bog

by Nick Pittman

The ethics of endorsements and Facebook likes, plus what's new in Syrian refugees.

Ethics Much?

The Hayride and Louisiana Voice - on opposite ends of the political spectrum - both point out a bit of weirdness about the Louisiana State Troopers Association endorsement of John Bel Edwards. Turns out that it was a rare, if not unprecedented, move done without member input and not at all allowed under the organization's guidelines. On the Hayride – which is anti-Edwards – the move is drawing conspiracy theories, particularly that Edwards warned them of consequences if they did not. Louisiana Voice – which is anti-Vitter – takes it a step further, noting public servants can't even "like" candidates on Facebook, which it points out the disclosure division director of the state's Board of Ethics has done in regards to Vitter. The general feeling is that State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson influenced the head of the organization in order for Edmonson to keep his job. <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"ï¼ï¼³ 明朝"; mso-font-charset:78; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ï¼ï¼³ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ï¼ï¼³ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --So, if you base your voting on the endorsement of state troopers (totally a great policy) you might want to think twice.

Requiem for a Raisin

This week, various outlets reacted to the announcement that Bobby Jindal was coming home to govern Louisiana for the last couple months of his term. Much of it wasn't pleasant. Some of it was realllly nasty. This piece looks at what should have been Indian-Americans' Obama moment but was not. It says that was partly thanks to the name change, partly to the religion, partly due to the hyphenated Americans comments.This Atlantic piece looks at his failed candidacy, instead focusing on it as a whole instead of just his race. But, it too claims it comes down to identity problems - Jindal's lack of one and the changing of his identify being a problem. This Salon piece is less polite, asking why it took so long for him to quit and bringing up dubious things he should be remembered for: like a turning a $865 million surplus into a $1.6 billion deficit . But, the least kind is this Concourse piece - which is loaded with NSFW language, even in the title. It starts out: "Bobby Jindal will no longer pursue the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. He also will not pursue Alpha Centauri, or growing a second head out of his left shoulder, or the Elder Wand. Dogs will not shoot lasers from their eyes. The sun will not be a showerhead that sprays grapefruit juice. Many things will not happen; we might as well list all of them, if the end of Bobby Jindal’s 2016 campaign is news." Don't miss Gambit's collection of Twitter reactions to Jindal's campaign drop-out, er, suspension. There's a nice Michael Bolton reference to be found.

Syrian Refugee Crisis: Day 7

Robert Mann calls out Vitter for his warpath on refugees while failing to question his wife about it: she is general counsel for the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, which is hosting the whooping 14 Syrian refugees in our state. Speaking of the Catholics and the Syrians: here's a piece form The Advertiser that, well, I don't know. It says the local agency is under no obligation to take refugees. But will you? Readers need to know to sleep tonight! Me, I am not scared, no. Anonymous is on the case.

Har

Reminiscent of the Suspect Device/Snake Oil Days.