PRESIDENT TRUMP AND THE CIVIL WAR!

Monday, February 17^th, 2025

Baton Rouge Louisiana

PRESIDENT TRUMP AND THE CIVIL WAR!

A number of former Presidents are being honored this week, as several new books have been released detailing actions of President Lincoln during the Civil War. President Donald Trump continues to express his opinion on virtually every subject involving America, both past and present. He recently has questioned why the conflict between north and south was even necessary. In a recent interview, Trump asked: “Why was there a Civil War? Why could that one not have worked out?”

Could Lincoln have done more to stop the fighting? Was there a middle ground to buy time for ongoing discussions? It was not like the South’s eventual leaders, from Jefferson Davis to Robert E. Lee were from a foreign land. Davis was a U.S. Senator, and Lincoln asked Lee to take over command of the entire U.S. Military. They were colleagues in government. Couldn’t Lincoln have been more persuasive?

Imagine the public reaction today if either Joe Biden or George Bush stood by and let some six million Americans kill one another in battle. That’s the number of deaths based on today’s comparative population. There would be open revolt and an immediate cry for new leadership. Did Lincoln fail the test then? Oh, he did take action. Lincoln suspended parts of the constitution including habeas corpus, arrested numerous political opponents, and shut down several hundred newspapers.

Was Lincoln obsessed with freeing the slaves? Here are his words in a letter written to New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley on August 22, 1862: “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union.”

So was it a total commitment to keep the Union intact? Not if you believe Lincoln’s words a few years before the Civil War began. “Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government and form a new one that suits them better. 

Professor David Goldfield has written a recent book called “America Aflame, How the Civil War Created a Nation.”  He’s a past guest on my syndicated radio show. Goldfield computes the total monetary cost of the war to around $6.7 billion in 1860s currency. He asserts that if “the government had purchased the freedom of four million slaves and granted a 40 acre farm to each slave family, the total cost would have been $3.1 billion, leaving $3.6 billion for reparations to make up for a century of lost wages. And not a single life would have been lost.”

What about the morality of a President declaring unbridled warfare on his own citizens? One can well argue that saving human lives would have been far more important than keeping the Union together. How can a President responsible for so much bloodshed be thought of as the greatest President in US history? I understand that Lincoln wanted to avoid the Civil War. However, was preserving the Union worth the cost of spilling so much blood on both ends of the battlefield?

Lincoln went on to lead the country in reconstruction and offered exemplary leadership as the nation healed its all too deep wounds. Maybe it was because he was brand new at the job as the war began. But it seems clear that when real leadership was called for in an effort to save hundreds of thousands of his fellow citizens, Abraham Lincoln blinked. Whether you agree with many of his decisions or not, our current President wouldn’t  back down in trying to find some kind of a workable solution.

 The country is, after these 150 years, still reeling from this national tragedy. President Trump was right on in asking why the war was necessary in the first place.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. 

 

 

 

TRUMP, “OLD HICKORY” AND LOUISIANA!

Thursday, February 13^th, 2025

Bato Rouge, Louisiana

TRUMP, “OLD HICKORY” AND LOUISIANA!

If you ever have a chance to walk into President Trump’s new oval office, the first thing you will see is a portrait of former President Andrew Jackson. A different painting of Jackson hung in the same location during the four years of Trump’s first presidency. Simply put, Trump is a big admirer of the America’s 7^th president.  And so should every Louisianian. For good reason. Along with Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson was the key critical component in keeping Louisiana as a vital part of America. In fact, without Jackson, all of us here in the Bayou State might be speaking French as our native language and might be living under a different culture in a different country.

Andrew Jackson was not  a native of the Bayou state. He was America’s seventh president, and was the only president to have been a prisoner of war, having been captured by the British at 17 while serving in the Revolutionary War. He later was Nicknamed “Old Hickory” for his legendary toughness on the battlefield. During his presidential campaign in 1828, his opponents called him a jackass. Jackson was amused and used the image to win the presidency. He founded the Democratic Party and used the jackass as its symbol.

But what Andrew Jackson did for Louisiana was incredible. In the war of 1812, New Orleans was under siege by the British. Major General Andrew Jackson rushed to New Orleans and gathered a rag tag army made up of a motley group of local citizens, frontiersmen, slaves, Indians and even pirates.  He was eager to fight the British, telling his wife: “I owe to Britain a debt of retaliatory vengeance, and should our forces meet I trust I shall pay the debt.”

Louisiana should regularly thank its lucky stars for Jackson’s tenacity to get his revenge. He soundly beat the British at the Battle for New Orleans, became an American hero, and saved Louisiana from becoming a permanent British protectorate.

If ever there were any two individuals who should be regularly honored and commemorated in Louisiana history, there should be doubt that the two should be Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. And for many years, the Louisiana Democratic Party did honor both American heroes by hosting an annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner as a yearly fundraiser. Democrats held similar events across the country.

But no more in Louisiana. Party officials have decided it is no longer “politically correct” to honor these two American icons. You see, they were slave owners. It made no difference that the first seven American presidents also owned slaves, as did most of the nation’s founding fathers. The democratic leadership apparently wants to judge these past heroes based on present-day values, and continue a warped effort to re write Louisiana and American history.

The new Louisiana fundraising dinner is now called the “True Blue Gala.” I suppose we will see a resolution at the dinner calling for the re-naming of Jefferson and Jackson parishes, Thomas Jefferson High School in Gretna, the town of Jackson, La., Jefferson Island in Iberia Parish; the list goes on and on.

The Louisiana Democratic Party has become more and more irrelevant in the Bayou State. And Jackson’s symbol for the Democrat Party would seem to have a different connotation today. The real jackasses are those democratic ingrates who try to rewrite history and belittle past leaders who served and saved our nation, particularly in Louisiana. Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson deserve a lot better.

President Jackson l once said: “I was born for the storm for the calm did not suit me.” When it comes to being a controversial leader, both Jackson and Trump have a lot in common. That’s why our new President honors Jackson as being his most admired leader.  So thank you “Old Hickory.” Louisiana owes you a great debt of gratitude.

 

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE RETURN OF DUCK DYNASTY!

Thursday February 6^th, 2025

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

THE RETURN OF DUCK DYNASTY!

 

Have you heard the news? This is big. Really big. In just a matter of weeks, Duck Dynasty will return to TV on the A&E network. It doesn’t seem too long ago that America was consumed with the saga of head Duck Phil Robertson and the pros and cons of his right to rants and raves about homophobia and his experiences with neighboring African Americans, who, according to Phil, were happy as a lark in Red Neck country when he was growing up.

Now don’t take this as a knock on being a red neck. I point to mine with pride. I’m from Ferriday, Louisiana, home of Jerry Lee Lewis, country music star Mickey Gilley and Reverend Jimmy Swaggart, among other notables. Ferriday is a stone’s throw, metaphorically speaking, from West Monroe in Northeast Louisiana where Phil and all the Dynasty family hang out.

I bought my first duck call, a Duck Commander, from Phil back in 1975 when I really took to duck hunting. I had a good-sized slough in the front forty of an old plantation site I had restored on Lake Concordia just across the Mississippi River from Natchez. In winter, ducks coming down the Mississippi River flyway flocked to that slough, and they were there for the taking. That is, if you knew how to bring them in with a duck call.

Ole’ Phil had opened up his shop in a dilapidated shed, where he spent 25 years making duck calls from Louisiana cedar trees. And make no mistake — his duck calls were the best. If you knew how to twill your tongue as you blew into the cigar shaped wood instrument, all the while saying “hut”, “quit” or “ut,” you could guide a variety of ducks head right towards your decoys. Phil’s duck calls were a significant factor in making me a pretty darn good duck hunter.

And don’t be misled. Phil ain’t no dummy. He turned down a chance to play professional football for the Washington Redskins, and holds a master’s degree in education. And look at him today. With or without the A&E Network, his Duck Commander Company has been turning big profits. Have you checked out the Duck Dynasty products under patriarch Phil’s label at a Walmart, Target, Kmart or any number of other stores nationwide?

As you would expect, there’s a large variety of hats and T-shirts carrying the Duck Dynasty label. But don’t forget the Duck Dynasty body pillows, watches, fleece throws, fleece jackets, camo jackets, pants and shirts — the list goes on and on. When Phil and the Dynasty where at its peak a few years back, Bloomberg News reported that the Duck Dynasty empire amounted to some $500 million and is growing.

Duck dynasty went off the air a few years back when patriarch Phil got too rowdy with his language on the TV show. But as profits took at dip at A&E, they have now decided to give the Duck team a second shot. This is not their first rodeo and they know what they are doing. They echoed the Godfather’s tactics saying it’s strictly business. “We have our standards,” they lamented, “and if Phil ‘crossed the line’ in the past,” well everyone deserves a second chance.

Louisiana state officials were stunned when Duck Dynasty was taken off the air. “How could they?” demanded then Governor Bobby Jindal, who accused A&E of violating Robertson’s freedom of speech and his religious liberty. 

The new show’s producers will certainly ask for tax breaks from the Louisiana state film and television incentive program. So do we need more tax dollars flowing to the Dynasty gang? 

And will Phil’s past transgressions hurt the new series?  Heck no?  In fact, look for A&E to publicly keep a lid on Phil. They no doubt will hope that the past controversy will create a huge windfall of publicity for A&E and the Dynasty. Millions who never heard of Duck Dynasty could tune in to see what the fuss was all about.

 If a new culture war will be part of the show, it should not surprise us. After all, isn’t that what Duck Dynasty is all about? Make some loud quacks and get a variety of ducks (viewers) to glide right to where you want them – then laugh all the way to the bank.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EARNING BIG BUCKS IN STATE GOVERNMENT!

Monday, January 27^th, 2025

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 

EARNING BIG BUCKS IN STATE GOVERNMENT!

 

How do you put a dollar value on the worth of a public official? Attorneys working full time for the state are often paid more than $400,000 a year. So how do you justify such large increases? The governor has a whole slew of people making $200,000 or more. How about this idea? Shouldn’t receiving such large salaries be based on results?

 

LSU football coach Brian Kelly will pocket some ten million dollars this year, making him one of the highest-paid football coaches in the nation. But his enormous salary package is not based on results. It’s the old adage that you should get what you pay for, and with Kelly, the results so far have been underwhelming.

 

Some state officials say they have to work seven days a week. But a lot of people work that hard. Should time and work be the only criteria in paying public employees? Why not pay the Governor and other public officials based on a scale of how well they perform and what results they achieve?

 

It seems like someone is always giving the re-assurance that comes from the bogus public versus private sector comparisons. Fortune 500 CEOs make on average $10 million.  Some would argue that paying the Governor of Louisiana $130,000 a year to oversee a $30 billion enterprise is a real bargain! But what about results?

 

 I would surmise that most voters in Louisiana would think it’s a good idea to pay elected officials based on performance. But how do you do it? When you talk about results, it is certainly easier to define it in the private sector. Results are measured in the stock price of a publicly traded company or by profit in any other company. The more the company makes, the more its managers can earn.

 

But can you create an accountability and production index in government? I think you can. This would be a challenge for key economists at Louisiana universities. Develop a formula that would give a “performance index.” Sounds difficult, but why not give it a try?

 

I suggest starting with the “misery index” we’ve heard so much about. This so-called misery index, you may recall, is the sum of the Louisiana unemployment rate added to the state’s inflation rate. Go ahead and pay Gov. Jeff Landry and his brain trust the big bucks. The Governor should make $1 million a year. But this amount would be adjusted by the misery index. Right now, the index is a relatively low 8%, soLandry’s salary would be close to what he now makes: $130,000. Remember you divide the whole number, not the percentage. 

 

We should build into the formula increases in high school math performance, elementary student test results, reduction in the state’s troubling pollution levels, and maybe the number of new movies that are shot in Louisiana each year. Leave out the LSU national football ratings, but include the student athlete graduation rates.

 

Finally, I would factor in consumer confidence. Are the voters getting tangible results? Are they happy with the performance of their top public officials? If you own shares of stock, and have little confidence in your company investment, you simply sell the stock. The average Joe ought to be able to put in his two cents worth as to the value he’s getting out of Louisiana government. Get his opinion through a statewide poll, and factor the results in to the performance Index.

 

So to public officials working in Louisiana, I say make your case and ask for the salary level you think you are worth. But just like in the private sector, be prepared to defend the bottom line. The proof of course is in the pudding. Be accountable for the results that take place. And if you succeed, reap the benefits.

 

In ancient Rome, there was a tradition when major projects were built. Whenever a Roman engineer constructed an arch, as the capstone was hoisted into place, the engineer assumed accountability for his work in the most profound way possible. He stood under the arch.

 

Pay these pied pipers of change and economic growth the big bucks they say they are worth. But keep them directly under the arch of performance. And let voters know there will be a day of reckoning if this promise of change and results plummet to the ground.

 

Peace and Justice

 

Jim Brown

 

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. 

 

 

READING IN UNCERTAIN TIMES!

READING IN UNCERTAIN TIMES!

Our new president has just taken Office, and one of his priorities is to seek out the possibility of buying Greenland.  It’s closest neighbor is Iceland,  so maybe Trump can get a lagniappe deal for both countries.  And both countries have something in common that you set an example for the United States.  There is 100% literacy and some 10% of the population have actually written books.  With such frigid weather, most Greenlanders and Icelanders opt to read regularly all year long.  If you’re a book publisher like me, and want to sell a lot of books, that's great news and a fitting example for our country.  And particularly with this wave of cold weather we here in the Bayou State are experiencing now, if you are stuck inside, what better way to pass time by reading a book. 

 I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t carrying around something to read.  The luck of the draw gave me parents who surrounded my siblings and me with books, storytelling, poems, and lengthy letters when we were away from home.  I was immersed in words, and books gave me a special outlet to deal with aspirations, doubts, and a wide range of emotions. I had notes and rhymes taped to my class notepads. Early on it was Dr. Seuss:

The more that you read

the more things you will know

the more that you learn

the more places you will go.

 As I grew older, I would shudder at the thought of waiting somewhere and not having something to read. Today, I would not even consider making an appointment for medical treatment, renew a driver’s license, arrive at an airport, even wait for a table at a restaurant without a book or newspaper in my hip pocket. Maybe that’s why I love baseball so much.  There is a lot of down time between innings and even between batters when I can sneak in a page or two. I get itchy if I’m waiting anywhere for more than three or four minutes. Why didn’t I bring along something to read?

A few years back, Baton Rouge had a very minor league baseball team, the River Bats that played at Goldsby Field, a small baseball arena close to the present Louisiana governor’s mansion.  I had season tickets on the first-row right behind home plate, and the average attendance was generally around seventy-five to a hundred fans.  Supplied with a large box of popcorn, a cold beer, and an arm full of newspapers I had saved up, I relished several hours of reading and light entertainment.

I’ve had front row LSU basketball season tickets for over forty five years. The local paper printed a picture of me reading a novel during one such game, and shortly after I received a call from LSU Coach Dale Brown.  He’s an old friend, but he implored me to be more diplomatic in pulling out reading material while the game is going on.

Am I judgmental? Absolutely.  Maybe I don’t judge a book by its cover, but I never hesitate to judge a person by what current book if any, they are reading. A bibliophile snob?  I certainly am.  But please don’t tell that to any of my numerous non-reading friends. I try to be diplomatic, and would rather not, well, make them angry.

I rarely discard any of my book collection, much to my wife’s chagrin. Oh, I’ll give a book to a friend if they ask me for a recommendation for something to read.  I intentionally keep a few extra copies of a favored novel just for that purpose.

Books offer both a barrier and a response to calamity in our lives.  So with freezing weather keeping most of us in doors, why not curl up with a good book, and keep a diary.  Who knows?  You might end up on the book best seller lists.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. 

A BAD WEEK FOR AMERICA!

Monday, January 13th, 2025

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

A BAD WEEK FOR AMERICA!

 

A number of current and former public officials took it on the chin this past week. Much of the criticism was justified, but there was overkill in several of the high profile cases. We witnessed continuing political ineptness from coast to coast, as well as an insurance calamity that happened 1000 miles away from Louisiana, but still will have a direct bearing on what policyholders here pay.

First to take place was the trauma in New Orleans. A U.S. Army veteran, who had been radicalized by his views of Islam, zeroed in on New Year’s Eve crowds on Bourbon Street killing 15 revelers at 3:15 in the morning. Could this terrorist attack have been prevented? Many, including this writer, believe so. Few cities in America have a concentration of revelers in one area that draws millions of In a month’s time, a Sugar Bowl, the Super Bowl, and Mardi Gras. If there was ever an area that should been protected with drones, extensive surveillance cameras monitoring 24 hours a day, and street barriers that were supposed to be installed and working in the French Quarter streets, New Orleans was the place.  Yet the city and no detailed plan dealing with known threats.  There were a few temporary barriers that easily could have been (and were) driven around. City officials from the Mayor on down really dropped the ball.

Next came the devastating California fires. When early warnings of possible major wildfires might spread to Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass took immediate action. She flew to Ghana to attend the inauguration of the new president there. She also had slashed $23 million from the Los Angeles Fire Department’s budget just a few months earlier. A petition to recall her for her gross management has already garnered 56,000 signatures. She will spend the next year dealing with investigations and lawsuits over her poor performance operating the city.

The Governor and the California legislature did no better. One hundred fifty million dollars was recently cut from the California wildfire prevention budget. Numerous wildfire prevention proposals made by firefighting experts were ignored.  Several major reservoirs needed repairs and had been left empty.  It would seem that New Orleans and Los Angeles has a lot in common when it comes to ineptitude.

The insurance claims due to the California destroyed houses will reach well over $100 billion. This will not be just a problem for California property owners. An insurance company needs to “spread the risk,” wherever they are operating. Therefore, what happens in California will directly affect the cost of insurance in the Bayou state. So will the massive flooding that took place in North Carolina. It doesn’t seem fair, but that’s the way insurance works. We will not see any property insurance premium reduction here in Louisiana, at least for the immediate future.  Perhaps even more increases.

And how about New York’s former US attorney and mayor Rudy Giuliani? It wasn’t that long ago where he was referred to by just about everyone as “America’s Mayor.” As a lawyer for President Trump, he verbally attacked two Georgia elections workers, charging that they were complacent in Georgia election voter fraud.  But then the jury ordered Giuliani to pay these two workers $148 million for defaming them. Maybe Giuliani should pay something, but this seems like a ridiculous amount of money. I wonder how many of you readers would let the former mayor make false accusations against you if you could receive $148 million return?  I would.

And finally, there is the criminal case in New York City of President Donald Trump. I’ve written several articles saying how the charges were bogus and never should have been brought. As a lawyer, I see perhaps some misdemeanor under New York law at best. The verdict will certainly be overturned on appeal. But he was convicted as a felon on 34 accounts.  The judge sentenced Trump to “unconditional discharge.” What that means is he was sentenced to nothing at all.  So the system sticks it to Rudy Giuliani, but let’s Trump just smile at how he was treated. Lady Justice covered up her eyes. There is certainly no equal justice in the American court system today.

One week of  ineptitude  and questionable decisions throughout America. Coast to coast. Here’s hoping we can put recent days behind us and pray for better weeks to come.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownla.com.

 

 

 

REMEMBERING MY DEAR OLD DAD!

Monday, January 6^th, 2025

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 

 

REMEMBERING MY DEAR OLD DAD!

 

In this week’s column, can I divert from my usual agenda of politics and current events?  If he were still living, my Father would have reached the rip age of 110 this week.

 

In his work The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud describes the death of a father, as “the most important event, the most potent loss, of a man’s life.”  This is true in my case.  What I have discovered is that the older I get, the better I understand my Father, because I find more and more of him in me.

 

My Father was kind and gentle, and rarely raised his voice to me. One of the things I remember most was his sound advice and his continuing presence.  Even though he traveled a good deal as a vice president for the Kansas City Southern Railroad, he rarely missed any of my hundreds of ball games and track meets. In the spring of 1962, I was contending to be the hurdles champion at the Atlantic Coast Conference track meet in Raleigh, North Carolina. As the race was about to begin, I happened to look up into the stands. There was my Dad standing up and ready to watch me run. He had traveled two days by train and over 1000 miles unannounced to cheer me on.

 

During my numerous statewide campaigns for public office, no one campaigned harder for me than my Dad.  He would travel and speak to numerous civic clubs all over North Louisiana, wearing a vest that said: “I’m Jim Brown’s Father.”  Few patriarchs could ever have been more committed and more loving.

 

I could never fulfill his decency, and his family commitment. I’ve tried, but my Father set the bar so high. Oscar Wilde wrote that “I find it harder and harder every day to live up to my blue china.”  He was embracing a view that it was so often difficult to meet the high standard that was is expected of him.  I too have spent much of my grown-up life trying to live up to my Father’s blue china.

 

I’m not one to express my emotions publicly. I don’t cry often. When my brother called to tell me that my Dad died, our family was immediately immersed in the details of comforting my mother and making funeral arrangements. Late in the evening, the reality of his loss came true to me. My Father had died. I said it out loud repeatedly as my wife Gladys tried to comfort me. All the emotion of losing him, someone who had been such an important part of my life, came forth. My Dad had died. I lay there in bed, 

and I cried, and I cried.

 

I still remember a pub song I used to sing while attended Cambridge University in England some 60 years ago.

 

I don’t know where I’m going,

But when I get there, I’ll be glad.

 I’m following in father’s footsteps.

I’m following my dear old Dad.

 

My Father was a deeply religious man. His mother saw to it. She too was quite devout, and attended church services twice a day on Sunday and often on Wednesday evening. Sweetie Pearl (I love her name) was a member of the Eastern Star, a group with strong Christian overtones that also does volunteer work in their community.  Dad was a Third Degree Mason, a group the follows the same attributes as the Eastern Star organization.

 

Dad was also a regular churchgoer, and served as a deacon. He attended church services several times a week, but more than that, he would often watch services on television. He sent checks to televangelists, particularly the Reverend Jimmy Swaggart.  I thought he should concentrate his giving at the church he regularly attended. But I could not say much about Brother Swaggart, since he was from my hometown of Ferriday, and one of my first legal clients.

  

I’ve always been a fan of singer Dan Fogelberg. My favorite of his songs is titled “Leader of the Band.”  I thank you for your kindness and the times when you got tough, and Papa, I don’t think I said I love you near enough. So well said. Thank you Dad. Happy birthday. I sure miss you.

 

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownla.com.