Liberty and Justice for All!

Steve Scalise and Tim Burns are going to face each other in an April runoff for the Republican nomination while Gilda Reed gets two months to bring her message to the voters.

When it comes to the issues, there is not much difference between the two gay hating embryo lovers. Both irresponsibly support keeping the Bush tax cuts. Both would sell out the American worker by reauthorizing NAFTA. Both would shield telecoms who violate the law.

The only real difference I can see is that Tim Burns may support the troops more than Steve Scalise. See, Burns would vote to support a bill that would mandate rest periods for the troops, which would prevent our President from overworking our brave men and women in uniform. Scalise sees such a protection for our troops as micromanaging military operations. Protecting our troops is not micromanaging them. However, I am sure that Burns and Scalise agree on most other issues with the military. And the way that this administration has abused their authority and abused the men and women who so bravely serve our country is disgusting and pathetic. We need a representative in Congress who will fight for our troops, not the misguided policy of the Bush Administration. We need a representative in Congress who will stand up and fight for the working men and women in America, not one who will open up unfair “free trade” treaties with countries that do not have equitable labor laws. We need a Congressional representative who will not blindly support cells in a petri dish over finding modern cures for those people who are sick and need the help that comes from scientific advancements. In short, We Need Reed!

I proudly endorse Gilda Reed for LA01. If the rest of LA01 was smart, it would realize that extremist conservative Republicans like Burns and Scalise will not get anything done for LA01 in a Congress controlled by Democrats. It would also realize that the Republican party is NOT the party that supports the troops, all it does is blindly support the failed Iraq policy of this failed administration. I call on the rest of the New Orleans Blogosphere to unite behind Gilda and help propel her to an election that will make history. Gilda Reed not only needs our help, but she deserves it as well. Let’s buck the political trend and make a difference in LA01 this time.

On my lunch break I called into the Spud show on WWL. Clancy Dubos was on discussing the LA01 race and I decided to call in and add my $0.02. This is when I came up for my new term for the socially conservative springboard from which the three Republican candidates for this election are coming from. From Steve Scalise and his push to ban gay marriages (and gay civil unions) in our state, to Tim Burns plastering his name all over the radio as having a 100% pro-life record, to Ben Morris and his website where he also discusses how he loves “family values” and wants to defend our Judeo-Christian heritage (as if Ben Morris really respected Jews when he supported the lone picture of Jesus in the Slidell courthouse), all of these candidates are basically trying to stand up and proclaim who loves embryos and hates homosexuals more.

So I call in and ask when the LA01 voters are going to stop voting against their best interests. Sure, the three Republican candidates are showing that they are gay hating embryo lovers. However, the family values track has not shown a very good record in LA01. First you have Bob Livingston (who is backing Steve Scalise), whose family values included having an affair. Then you have David “Vitty-Cent” Vitter, whose family values included sins with prostitutes while married. Then you have PBJ, who ran for governor on an ethics package and is now has an ethics investigation no less than 1 month into his term. Finally, all three Republican candidates for Congress won their respective 2007 elections and will not be able to perform their jobs to their best ability because they will be focused on their new campaigns. So again, you have three candidates who are worried about their own gains and ignore the needs of their constituents. It also seems to me that collecting a paycheck for a job you are not doing is not very ethical or fiscally conservative. I guess that point is lost on the voters who happen to be GHEL as well.

Of course, Clancy’s response was pretty much a comment on how Democrats also do the same thing so I should be careful what I wish for. Well, I wish that all politicians (Democrat and Republican) follow the same set of rules and that includes committing to complete the term you are elected to and if you cannot, resign immediately. I hold Democrats to the same standards that I do Republicans.

There is also the issue that Louisiana tends to “zig” when the rest of the country “zags” politically. I brought up the idea that perhaps with a Democratic Congress and a Democratic President that it might benefit Louisiana to have more Democratic representatives. Again, Clancy said that I should be careful what I wish for because when the country went to the right and elected Bush and a Republican Congress, we elected Blanco and Landrieu. And if Clancy was trying to point out Louisiana’s folly in those choices at the time, well, perhaps it is time to learn from past folly and now that America is “zigging”, perhaps we should continue to “zig”  as well! That would require us to reelect Mary Landrieu later this year and to perhaps replace the obstructionist Republicans with Democrats who can get the job done for Louisiana.