CenLamar | Est. 2006

Currently the frontrunner for Louisiana governor, David Vitter– U.S. Senator, Rhodes Scholar, stalwart Republican conservative, and lifelong champion of the religious right– first thought about running for governor thirteen years ago. He had recently been elected to his second term in the U.S. House of Representatives, and because Gov. Mike Foster was term-limited, the race was wide open. Vitter, on paper at least, was imminently qualified, even if he was generally disliked by his Republican colleagues: A razor-sharp, highly educated lawyer who had built a reputation as a no-nonsense, anti-corruption, pro-family values conservative who seemed to care more about accumulating…

The President of the National Association of Secretaries of State, Tom Schedler of Louisiana, purportedly believes that proposals in favor of automatic voter registration, which are currently being debuted in Oregon, amount to nothing more than a manipulative way of ensuring an illegal attempt among African-American Democrats to engage in widespread, politically-motivated intimidation and voter fraud. Of course, Secretary Schedler is not telling the truth and, as such, he appears willing and perfectly content with basing his re-election campaign on bigoted, shameful, and racist tropes about African-American enfranchisement. Last week, Schedler republished, initially without attribution, a story by a thoroughly…

One year ago this month, Lafayette, Louisiana was named the “happiest city in the nation,” according to a study published by The Wall Street Journal and based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, all of the top five happiest cities were in Louisiana; my hometown of Alexandria ranked fifth. At first glance, it is easy to be skeptical, even cynical, about the study. Louisiana ranks at the bottom on so many other lists: educational performance, access to health care, public corruption, and childhood obesity, among other things. How could we possibly be so happy? “Ignorance…