Louisiana has a horrible reputation. Without further adieu, here is a list of the top eight people responsible for a large portion of our collective black eyes.
8. John Cooksey – A former United States Congressman from Monroe, Cooksey ended his political career quickly when he offered his opinion on ethnic profiling not long after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune: “If I see someone come in, and he’s got a diaper on his head and a fan belt wrapped around the diaper on his head, that guy needs to be pulled over and checked.” You would think after the time Cooksey spent on the House Committee on International Relations, he would have learned making such an offensive comment does not help international relations.
7. Jimmy Swaggert – This television evangelist broadcasted from Baton Rouge to more than 100 nations in the 1980s and was considered the leading televangelist in the U.S., according to BBC News. After Swaggert heavily criticized his rival Jim Bakker for his adulterous affair with a fellow minister, Swaggert’s own un-Christian lifestyle was revealed when pictures were released showing Swaggert taking a prostitute to a Louisiana motel, according to BBC. Swaggert made a tearful confession in front of his congregation on Feb. 21, 1988, and resigned from his position. But he has since returned to his ministry and still preaches from his headquarters on Bluebonnet Boulevard.
6. William Jefferson – Jefferson, a U.S. Congressman from New Orleans, is the “first sitting congressman to face charges under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,” according to ABC News. Jefferson was indicted in June on charges including money-laundering, racketeering and soliciting bribes, according to CNN. In addition, several media outlets reported Jefferson allegedly asked National Guardsmen to bring him to his Uptown New Orleans residence five days after Katrina to rescue some of his belongings. The expedition originally was supposed to only give Jefferson a tour of his district, according to military sources. Considering many of Jefferson’s constituents were in mortal peril on their rooftops, I doubt his belongings were that important.
5. Ray Nagin – After Hurricane Katrina, I was a Nagin supporter, especially when I listened to his infamous interview on WWL radio criticizing Gov. Kathleen Blanco and President George Bush for playing the blame game while the city lay in chaos. He lost my support, however, when he said on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 2006 that New Orleans “should be a chocolate New Orleans.” Nagin’s comments would have been inexcusable at any time, but they were especially offensive because of the post-Katrina timing. New Orleans does not need racial divisions created by its own mayor; on the contrary, residents need to be encouraged to work together in rebuilding the city.
4. David Vitter – Vitter, a U.S. Senator from Metairie who repeatedly proclaimed the importance of “upholding the sanctity of marriage,” recently had to admit to his adulterous past after his phone number was found on the list of an alleged madam in Washington, D.C. Sen. Vitter, you are hypocrisy at its finest.
3. Kimberly Williamson Butler – This New Orleans clerk of court announced her candidacy in the post-Katrina mayoral race on the steps of the federal courthouse in New Orleans on March 3, 2006. Interestingly, Butler was at the courthouse to surrender after an arrest warrant was issued for her on a charge contempt of court. Butler said, “I don’t think I’m the right person for clerk of court. I think I’m the right person for mayor.” Yes, Ms. Butler, you are the right person to lead the city through recovery after you refused to allow federal officials to turn over control of city records they salvaged after the evidence room of the courthouse flooded in Katrina’s waters. You are the right person for mayor after the criminal system had to release accused murders and rapists because the evidence that could have convicted them was destroyed because of your actions. You really proved yourself to be right for the job when, according to the U.K.’s Telegraph, you compared yourself to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela upon your release from jail. Clearly, you know how to run the city with integrity.
2. David Duke – I do not know what is worse: Duke’s past as a Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, his statement at a Holocaust conference in Iran last December where, according to FOX News, he claimed gas chambers were not used to kill Jews, or the fact that 32 percent of Louisianians voted for him in the 1991 gubernatorial election. The Southern Poverty Law Center calls Duke “America’s best-known white supremacist” – how wonderful.
1. Britney Spears – Spears was cute when she was dancing around in a Catholic schoolgirl uniform singing “Hit Me Baby, One More Time.” Louisiana did not mind claiming her then as one of our own; in fact, many people were proud of it. But now that Spears has been in and out of rehab, shaved her head, displayed less than desirable parenting skills, not to mention her private parts, to the world, I do not think Spears is the “pride of Louisiana” anymore. Seriously, Britney, when people say K-Fed is a better parent than you, it is time to reevaluate your life.
—-Contact Laura Bratcher at [email protected]