THE DEMISE OF ENTERTAINING POLITICS IN LOUISIANA!

Monday, January 12^th, 2026

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

THE DEMISE OF ENTERTAINING POLITICS IN LOUISIANA!

I have a sad announcement to make. Politics is just no fun anymore in Louisiana. Let’s hope with new LSU Coach Lane Kiffin we have something to enjoy. But not politics.

Reams of books have been written about the colorful characters that ran the Bayou state throughout its history. And the average citizen got involved, attended rallies and actively supported their candidate of choice. Few states could match the intensity and enthusiasm that was a part of Louisiana campaigning. The state’s two favorite pastimes were LSU football and Politics.

The two Longs who served as governor wanted to stay involved right up to the time of their deaths. Huey Long was shot and died September 10, 1935, eleven days after his 42nd birthday. His last words were, “God, don’t let me die. I have so much to do.” Younger brother Earl Long was famously quoted as saying: “Oh Lord, when I die, let me be buried in Louisiana, so I can stay active in politics.”

Retail politics used to be a basic part of any campaign. No statewide candidate would fail to attend the Rice Festival in Crowley, the Watermelon Festival in Farmerville or the Strawberry Festival in Hammond. There were thousands of hands to shake and voters galore who loved to be part of the campaign season. I experienced the buzz and thrill of campaigning during my 28 years in public life. Politics was just a lot of fun.

Most of my colleagues who served during my tenure going back to the 1970s ran for public office to serve and try to improve the quality of life for the voters they represented. There was little thought of financial gain. When I was first elected to the Louisiana State Senate back in the 1970s, I was paid $600 a month, with no office, staff or any other financial help. I represented a large part of Northeast Louisiana. My phone bill in my district averaged $900 a month. A campaign contribution of $100 was a big deal.

Today a political campaign is all about who can raise the most money. TV drives the debate. Political rallies are few, and you would be hard pressed to see a candidate for statewide office throwing candy and riding in a local parade. If a candidate is leading in the polls, he or she often chooses not to even show up for debates. So the public loses interest, voter participation is down, and voter distrust is on the rise.

Political parties in Louisiana are becoming more and more obsolete. It has become obvious that any allegiance to a particular party is over. Democrats make up 43% of registered voters, but a significant number rarely vote their party affiliation. The fastest growing numbers of registered voters are independents that list themselves with no party affiliation.

An interesting side note is that the last time a president was elected in the country who was neither a Republican nor a Democrat was Louisiana native Zachary Taylor, who won on the wig ticket back in 1848.

One of the problems in Louisiana and across the country is that extremists in both parties are dominating the political agenda. Or as veteran Republican consultant Mac Stipanovich puts it, “Somehow you’ve got to destroy the myth that you don’t win if you’re not crazy enough.”

And working across the aisles with a legislator from the opposing party is a thing of the past in a number of states including Louisiana. A few years back, legislators would fight hard for their political beliefs during the day, but then spend time socializing and working towards some type of compromise when the working day was done. No longer. Today, if a lawmaker from the opposing party disagrees or has a contrary opinion, then he or she is dead wrong and often is considered a political enemy.

There’s a U.S. Senator’s race in Louisiana on the horizon that, so far, few seem to care about. The campaigns are just, well dull. Don’t you miss the rhetoric and musings of Huey, Earl, Jimmy Davis, and even ole’ EWE? Sad to say, the thrill is gone. Let’s hope we can at least cheer on Coach Kiffin and a winning Fighting Tigers team next fall.

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.

 

 

IN LOUISIANA THEY’RE ASKING — WHO’S IN CHARGE?

Monday, January 5^th, 2026

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

IN LOUISIANA THEY’RE ASKING — WHO’S IN CHARGE?

Our Louisiana governor, Jeff Landry, has been appointed by President Donald Trump to be an “ambassador to Greenland.” So the question is — who’s in charge when the Louisiana Governor is out of state?

Past governors have said: “the Governor remains the Governor wherever he is.” Apparently, the mindset is that the governor is always available by phone or email, so he never really is “away.” Not so, says the Louisiana Constitution, where clear language states: “When the governor is temporarily absent from the state, the lieutenant governor shall act as governor.”

The most recent constitutional convention, which was held in 1973, was called by the Louisiana legislature to update and rewrite the state’s founding document. I was a co-author of the legislation creating the convention, and I also served as an elected delegate for the one year undertaking to draft a new constitution. With little controversy, the convention overwhelmingly adopted the provisions that put the lieutenant governor in charge when the governor is out of state. The intentions of the delegates were quite clear.

In 1973 there were no cell phones, but landlines, of course, were abundant. However, Louisiana had experienced numerous blackout problems during hurricanes. Phone lines went dead during the storms and the delegates to the constitutional convention wanted provisions that, under emergency conditions, someone on the state level would be physically in charge. They had the savvy and the foresight to see that regardless of communication breakdowns, Louisiana would be best served by an onsite governor during an emergency.

Granted, communication systems have become much more sophisticated today, but the importance of the provisions still applies. No better example can be found than the Katrina experience. Cell phone and Internet service failed, and local television and radio stations were off the air. An absentee governor would not have been able to communicate to first responders, the state police or the National Guard. No matter how electronically “tuned in” an out of state governor might be, the delegates felt that a major emergency needs “hands on” leadership. And they were right.

Was another statewide official ever called on the issue of an executive order from the Governor’s office? Yes., I filled the role as Governor to deal with an anticipated emergency. I was elected Secretary of State in 1979, and the office is second in line to the Governorship behind the Lieutenant Governor. On several occasions, both then serving Governor Dave Treen and Lieutenant Governor Bobby Freeman were out of the state and I got the call.

The first time was in the fall of 1980. I had been in office for a little less than a year, and I was attending a national convention of Secretaries of State in Atlantic City. My wife was along, and we had tickets for one of the final concerts of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. This was a big deal back then, and an event my wife and I did not want to miss.

Late in the afternoon before the concert, the phone rang. The Governor’s executive counsel, Sonny Mouton was on the phone along with then Commissioner of Administration Bubba Henry. They quickly told me that both the governor and the lieutenant governor were out of the country, and they needed me to get back to Louisiana immediately to call a much-needed special session of the legislature. “I’d be glad to,” I told them, “first thing in the morning.”

No, they told me — the call had to be signed by midnight. What a dilemma. Either Frank, Dean and me hangin’ out (well, sort of), or back to Louisiana on a late flight. I reluctantly opted to skip the concert, and fly back to New Orleans. A State Police helicopter met me on the Delta runway, and I signed the needed document minutes before the midnight deadline.

Should the law be changed to have the governor in charge at all times? There are pros and cons, particularly in a state that is as disaster prone as Louisiana. Right now, a succession in command is the law. So when Governor Landry travels to Greenland, he needs to know that there is someone back home looking over his shoulder. Whether he likes it or not.

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.

NEW YEAR THOUGHTS FROM THE BAYOU STATE!

December 29th, 2025

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

NEW YEAR THOUGHTS FROM THE BAYOU STATE!

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? I always do.  A New Year always brings with it promise and uncertainty, but this coming year brings with it a greater foreboding than we have experienced in the past.  The Chinese have a saying: “May you live in interesting times.” But their definition means dangerous or turbulent. We in Louisiana and throughout America certainly live in “interesting” times today.

One resolution I make each year is to maintain my curiosity.  It doesn’t matter how limited your perspective or how narrow the scope of your surroundings, there is (or should be) something to whet your interest and strike your fancy.  I discovered early on that there are two kinds of people — those who are curious about the world around them, and those whose shallow attentions are generally limited to those things that pertain to their own personal well-being.  I just hope all those I care about fall into the former category.

Another resolution is to continue to hope.  I hope for successful and fulfilling endeavors for my children, happiness and contentment for family and friends, and for the fortitude to handle both the highs and lows of daily living with dignity.

  I also ask friends and family to re-read Night, the unforgettable holocaust novel by Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Peace laureate who survived the Nazi death camps. I met him shortly before his death.  I have a Wiesel quote framed on my office desk:

 “To defeat injustice and misfortune, if only for one instant, for a single victim, is to invent a new reason to hope.”

Like many of you, our family welcomes in the New Year with “Auld Lang Syne.”  It’s an old Scotch tune, with words passed down orally, and recorded by my favorite historical poet, Robert Burns, back in the 1700s.  (I’m Scottish, so there’s a bond here.) “Auld Lang Syne,” literally means “old long ago,” or simply, “the good old days.”  Did you know this song is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the New Year?

I can look back over many years of memorable New Year’s Eve celebrations.  In recent years, my wife and I have joined a gathering of family and friends in New Orleans at a French Quarter restaurant.  After dinner, we make a stop at St. Louis Cathedral for a blessing of the New Year. Then it’s off to join the masses for the New Year’s countdown to midnight in Jackson Square.

When my daughters were quite young, we spent a number of New Year holidays at a family camp on Davis Island, in the middle of the Mississippi River some 30 miles below Vicksburg.  On several occasions, the only people there were my family and Bishop Charles P. Greco, who was the Catholic Bishop for central and north Louisiana. Bishop Greco had baptized all three of my daughters, and had been a family friend for years.

On many a cold and rainy morning, the handful of us at the camp would rise before dawn for the Bishop to conduct a New Year’s Mass.  After the service, most of the family went back to bed.  I would crank up my old jeep and take the Bishop out in the worst weather with hopes of putting him on a stand where a large buck would pass.  No matter what the weather, he would stay all morning with his shotgun and thermos of coffee.  He rarely got a deer, but oh how he loved to be there in the woods.  Now, I’m not a Catholic, but he treated me as one of his own.

New Year’s Day means lots of football, but I also put on my chef’s apron.  I’m well regarded in the kitchen around my household, if I say so myself, for cooking up black-eyed peas as well as cabbage and corn bread. And don’t bet I won’t find the dime in the peas.  After all, I’m going to put it there.

I’ll be back next week with my customary views that are cantankerous, opinionated, inflammatory, slanted, and always full of vim and vigor.  Sometimes, to a few, even a bit fun to read.  In the meantime, Happy New Year to you, your friends and all of your family.  See you next year.

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. 

 

 

SECOND CHANCE- A HOLIDAY STORY!

Monday, December 22^nd, 2025

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 

SECOND CHANCE

A HOLIDAY STORY!

 

I always get caught up

In the momentum

Of the holiday season.

We pass Thanksgiving

Reach the Christmas milestone

And approach the New Year.

There are numerous things

To the divert our attention.

Holiday shopping, football, social events.

 

But for me

It is a time to reflect.

All three holidays

Have special meaning.

A second chance and maybe

Even a new beginning.

 

Thanksgiving Day,

A second chance.

That is why pilgrims

Made a treacherous journey

From England to America.

They were searching

For a better life

To live and worship

In their own way.

They wanted

A second chance.

 

To Christians

Christmas

Is the most important season.

A special line in the sand.

And for one reason.

Christ died on the cross

To give believers

A second chance.

 

My favorite Christmas story

That I share with

My grandchildren

Is the marvelous tale

Spun by Charles Dickens

Called A Christmas Carol.

The lessons of the spirit

From this special time of year

Come from the dead.

Follow the teachings

Of Saint James in the Bible.

Do good deeds

Help others

Do good works.

 

Our worst sin

Is often not our venality

But our indifference.

Dickens teaches us that

Our empathy can swallow us

And we lose compassion.

But we have a chance

For redemption

A gamble to look back

And try again.

What a wonderful gift

The one-time act

Of a second chance.

 

Then comes the New Year

And the opportunity for renewal.

A second chance if you need one.

I certainly do.

And as Tiny Tim says in Dickens’ saga

God bless us everyone.

 

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. 

 

 

Monday, December 15th, 2025

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

                                                                   COVID ON THE RISE-

KEEP YOUR GUARD UP!

 There is good news and bad news about Covid. The Center for Disease Control, a federal agency, is reporting that Covid is on the rise in many states throughout America. The good news is that people who get the Covid booster are much less likely to get the disease.

  Let me tell you about my Covid experience. I hope none of you reading this article contract Covid. What happened to me was horrendous. I would not wish it on anyone.

I was being careful. Or so I thought. When the virus began spreading so rapidly at the beginning of 2020, I kept my guard up. We left home only occasionally, wore masks, and kept our distance. I knew I had to be cautious and keep up my resistance. I was well aware of the fact that a Covid attack would be damaging, possibly even fatal, at my age.

But then I learned a stark lesson.  You don’t get the Covid. The Covid gets you.

 In the fall of 2020, I made the mistake of attending a dinner on behalf of a close friend who was running for public office. I planned on staying just a short time, and thought I was keeping my distance. But somehow, through hook or crook, I became infected. The symptoms were shallow at first. I felt a little flushed and did not have a lot of energy.  But I chalked it up to being run down and possibly having a flu bug.  The symptoms persisted. I went to a local testing lab that did confirm I had contracted the virus.  By that time, I was feeling tired and sore all over. I was coughing a good bit with a sore throat. It was time to get some medical help.

The medical advice I received from my internist was to go to the emergency room of one of our local hospitals. My nephew put me in his truck and drove me to the emergency room.  Both of us felt it was the right decision and I will be put in good care. What a mistake!

I was given a room that would be my home for the next 12 days. It was a miserable experience. The care I received was satisfactory. But the right hand did not know what the left hand was doing. Covid was so new, and most hospitals had had little or no experience in treatments.

When I heard the doctor talking to the nurse about putting me on a ventilator, I knew I had to get out of there. The nurse in charge told me I was not ready to leave, but I knew if I did not make the effort, I might not ever get out. So I had my son pick me up, and brought me back home.

What a relief to get in my own bed. A wonderful home healthcare nurse stayed with me for the first two weeks. I was so weak, she had to assist me in moving the few steps to the portable toilet in my room. She also bathed me, as I had no energy to even raise my arms. But little by little, I could see my strength improve. Slowly, I increased my activity and could see major improvement. It took about four months of outpatient therapy to get in full recovery mode.

I know I’ve rambled a good bit, but I just needed to get this trauma off my chest. It was the worst medical experience of my life, and I continue to be angry.  I’m annoyed that I allowed myself to be exposed to the virus. I’m livid at the hospital for the poor care I received. And I’m disappointed over the fact that at my age, I have lost six months of living a full and active life.

I learned to be persistent in my recovery. Winston Churchill said: “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”  I’ve certainly been tenacious in making the best of a debauched situation. I always remember that people who have been damaged like me are dangerous. They know they can survive. And I’m a survivor.

It is a personal decision of whether or not to receive a Covid shot. But I never want to have the Covid experience again. I get the Covid booster the minute it becomes available. Many of my friends have had the Covid for the second or third time. I am immune. And I’m darn glad of it.

 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. 

 

 

IN LOUISIANA, IT’S ALL ABOUT FOOTBALL!

Monday, December 8th, 202

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 IN LOUISIANA, IT’S ALL ABOUT FOOTBALL!

A lengthy article appeared in newspapers across the country by syndicated columnist George Will concerning  the innovative programs involving higher education throughout the south.  The University of Tennessee was recognized  because of its Institute of American Civics. The University of North Carolina, my alma  mater,  because of its School of Civic Life and Leadership. The University of Mississippi because of its Declaration of Independence Center for the Study of American Freedom. There was no mention of Louisiana’s flagship, LSU.

The state’s major university did make big news across the country. It hired a new football coach. It ran off the last head coach having to pay him a total of $54 million as a buyout. The former athletic director, who also was recently fired, summed it up insightfully. The top three priorities at LSU are number one, football. Second would be football and the third? Oh yeah, it’s football.

LSU’s new football coach, a guy named Lane Kiffin, will be paid $13 million a year for a total of $91 million over seven years. Extra incentives could move his salary up to $17 million  That makes the highest paid college coach in America. How much is $13 million? The school could hire one hundred new full-time tenured professors for the same amount of money. One Hundred educators offering an educational foundation for the state’s young people. But that doesn’t win football games.

Louisiana’s Governor Jeff Landry said there would be no more sweetheart deals for the new football coach similar to former coach Brian Kelly’s $54 million buyout. “I’m tired of rewarding failure in this country and then leaving the taxpayers to foot the bill.” So was the Governor right? Instead of a $54 million buyout, Coach Griffin has a $72.8 million buyout.  And that’s supposedly a better deal?

The guiding force behind LSU, the Board Supervisors, says there will be very little public money involved in paying a new football coach. It’s all raised through the giving by private donors to the athletic program. So the public pays nothing, at least that’s what they say. But let’s call it what it is. These private donors deduct what they pay to the university football program, a nonprofit, from their income taxes that would normally come to the state and federal government  to pay for public services. So actually, it is the taxpayers who are footing part of the bill. 

Tulane University in New Orleans, where I went to law school and for years was LSU’s archrival, has been paying its football coach a little less than $3 million a year. The team just won the American Conference title and has qualified to make a run for the football national championship. The fighting tigers of LSU were lucky not to have to play Tulane this year.

As a sidenote, the last time Tulane beat LSU was on November 27, 1982. I remember the date well. I got married to my wife of 43 years on that morning in New Orleans, and came back to Baton Rouge to watch Tulane stomp the Tiges. After the game, many fans walked over to the LSU Assembly Center to watch a  late night concert by singer Neil Diamond. Quite a day for me.

Let’s go ahead and call big time college football for what it is. It’s a professional sport. Nothing less. You can forget about all these sentimental values of pulling for your home team. In the old days, college football players brought value to their home state.

They played at local high schools, attended universities like LSU for a solid education, and went back home in their communities to make a solid contribution. Billy Cannon stayed in Baton Rouge as a dentist, LSU all American Tommy Casanova is an eye doctor in Crowley Louisiana. Star LSU quarterback Bert Jones runs a lumber company in Ruston Louisiana. They all contributed to their state. Those days are gone. It’s all about the money.

So cheer on your big time college team. But just recognize that it is no different than any other professional team. Such college teams bring little educational value to their home state. And for a state like Louisiana, that desperately needs a first rate flagship University, that’s a shame.

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. 

 

 

 

GOVERNOR JIMMIE DAVIS BROUGHT US SUNSHINE!

Monday, November  24th, 2025

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

GOVERNOR JIMMIE DAVIS BROUGHT US SUNSHINE!

Louisiana Governor Jimmy Davis died 25 years ago this month. He was my friend and a great supporter for many years.

 Besides serving two terms as Louisiana Governor, he wrote the song that could be the most recognized American song worldwide. Go to a small Asian community where little or no English is spoken. Start humming, “You Are My Sunshine.” More likely than not, the locals will join in singing the song in English. Everybody knows the words to a down-home tune written by a Louisiana country singer and movie star. And he was sworn in as Louisiana Governor seventy-five years ago

Jimmie Davis was a popular country singer in the 1930s and made a number of western movies including the likes of Cyclone Prairie Rangers, Mississippi Rhythm and Square Dance Katy. But throughout the world, he made his mark with Sunshine.

A few years back, I was in Cambodia at the Golden Triangle, where Burma and Thailand converge. I was having breakfast in a rural village at an outdoor cafe, and the young waitress who knew a few words in English said, “You American. I love America. I sing about America.” Then, with a big grin on her face, she broke out in song and danced around the dirt floor singing “You Are My Sunshine.”

After serving two terms as Louisiana Governor, Davis spent a lot of time at his farm in northeast Louisiana, traveling back and forth from the state capitol in Baton Rouge. The Governor was friends with my senior law partner in Ferriday and made it a habit to stop at our office for a coffee break. I was a wet behind the ears 26-year-old attorney and often the only one in the office. So Jimmie Davis would talk at length about his life and gave me my first political education.

He would often ask me to notarize some document, which I was glad to do. “So what do I owe you Brother Brown?” he would say. I always settled for a few verses of Sunshine. He regularly inquired if I could find him a raccoon. Up in redneck country, we just call it a coon. His favorite meal was coon stew. Knowing the coon request would always come with his visit, I asked some local hunters I represented to drop off a raccoon. So I would keep one of those critters in the office freezer ready for the Governor’s visit.

Now I know I have whetted your appetite for a delicious plate of raccoon. When I was elected Secretary of State some years later, I wrote a cookbook, and the Governor graciously gave me one of his favorite coon recipes to include in my gourmet collection of sumptuous dishes.

Davis made one last futile effort to be elected for a third term in 1971, while I made my foray in politics running for state senator. He often campaigned with his band in the district where I was running, and I would put up signs that read: “Come to the Jim Brown for Senator campaign rally. Special guest: Governor Jimmie Davis.” Davis laughed when he caught on to what I was doing and always called me up on the platform to introduce me as the district’s next state senator. He supported me every time I ran for public office after that.

Throughout my 28-year political career, Jimmie Davis would often come by my Baton Rouge office or call me to come visit at him at his home, which was right by the state capitol. I always knew he needed a notary. My last call was a few weeks before he died in 2000. He was donating a piece of property, but he insisted he pay me something. “OK Governor,” I told him. “When you pass on, I want you to give me your driver’s license number.” You see, Davis instituted the license requirement during his first term as governor in 1944. And the number on his license? Number one. “A done deal,” he told me.

Of course, I never actually got it. But it was good way to end our 35-year relationship with a smile. And Sunshine? Who was she? A past lover? A devoted family member? No. Sunshine was Jimmie Davis’s horse. The palomino mare is buried up on the northeast Louisiana farm. I pass that way occasionally and remember back on my conversations with the Governor. And yes. I do hum a few bars of “You Are My Sunshine.”

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.