By
Dayne Sherman
Talk
About the South Column
November
4, 2012 – 700 words
Hammond, La., Sunday Star, 4A-5A
I
was born in Louisiana.
From my perspective, our state is far more interested in Tiger football and
oyster po-boys than building an educational environment that makes a university
football team possible or protecting a healthy ecosystem that creates good
seafood.
This
disconnect from the sources of our joy is our greatest downfall as a state. We
like the benefits of living in this unique cultural swamp but fail to nurture
its roots. We’re like folks that salt their own well and wonder why the water
has gone bad.
For
about six months, I have written a weekly column for my hometown newspaper. I
like to joke with friends that my pay has tripled during this time due to such
an overwhelming response: Three times zero is zero. But I didn’t write for
money or the lack thereof.
Most
of my columns have been dedicated to Louisiana
issues, threats to the quality of life as I see it.
This
is a good time to take a break from my quixotic task of tilting at windmills.
If
Barack Obama is reelected President, Governor Bobby Jindal will go into
overdrive for his presidential election bid in 2016. Louisiana will be little more than an
afterthought to Jindal.
On
the other hand, if Mitt Romney wins, Jindal will likely leave us for a cabinet
post, and many believe it will be as Secretary of the U.S. Department of
Education or the Department of Health and Human Services.
If
Jindal stays in Louisiana,
we’re doomed. If he leaves, Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne will have his
hands full.
In
either case, my contribution to fixing what is broken is limited. The Pelican
State
needs an exorcist, not a columnist.
Well,
I know people will say we already have an exorcist in Bobby Jindal. He wrote
about his reminisces of collegiate exorcism while at Brown
University,
but I’m afraid we need a really talented exorcist now.
Despite
what some may have perceived as shortcomings, I have been earnest to a fault in
my columns. That’s always been my modus operandi: Swing for the bleachers and
hope the bat doesn’t slip out of my hands and hit a fan in the fifth row on the
right field side.
But
I offer a parting shot in this final weekly op-ed. Every Louisianan should
realize that elections have consequences, and my question for those who voted
for Bobby Jindal is simple. How is it working for you?
Public
educators, what about that new evaluation system? How is it working for you?
School
officials, what about that MFP funding? How is it working for you?
Higher
education administrators, what’s it like watching your institutions destroyed a
little at a time? How is it working for you?
University
professors, what about the loss of academic freedom and the culture of fear on your
campuses? How is it working for you?
College
students, what do you think about your tuition and fees doubling since 2008?
How is it working for you?
Doctors
and independent pharmacists, what about the Jindal medical plan? How is it
working for you?
St.
Tammany Parish residents, the brightest red of red parishes in a fire engine
red state, what do you think about the destruction of Southeast Louisiana Hospital in Mandeville? How is it working for you?
Legislators,
what about the lack of respect and input during decision-making about cuts in
your districts? How is it working for you?
Former
Governor Mike Foster, what is it like knowing you created a dictator in Bobby
Jindal? How is it working for you?
Readers
of this newspaper, those who voted for Jindal and those who failed to vote at
all, how is it working for you?
During
the Ronald Reagan years, back in the 1980s, those horrible days of the
Louisiana Oil Bust, I recall seeing a bumper sticker: “Last one out, turn off
the lights.” People were leaving Louisiana
in droves and for good reason.
A
message summarizing the Bobby Jindal years might be “How is it working for
you?”
Perhaps
it’s time to print a few bumper stickers. Hope I see you at the polls on
Tuesday.
Dayne Sherman lives in Ponchatoula and is the author of Welcome to the Fallen Paradise: A Novel. His website at daynesherman.com.
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