Stuck on Stupid in Louisiana
Dayne Sherman
April 6, 2014
Column / 650 words
On April Fools' Day, the Louisiana
Legislature was in session. Perhaps the apex of legislative insanity
ensued on April 1 when our elected officials debated the legality and
ethics of “chicken boxing.” It was not a joke.
Yes, chicken boxing became both a great
occasion for humor and an embarrassment to the state. News outlets
nationwide picked up the story. Sen. JP Morrell (D-New Orleans)
proposed legislation to close the loopholes in the state cockfighting
ban. Slick and enterprising fowl breeders bypassed the fighting cock
prohibition by using sparring “gloves” during rooster bouts. In
other words, they've turned the birds into boxers instead of
fighters.
This is the logic of Louisiana politics
on public display.
No doubt, when the legal authorities
aren't watching, the gaffs and knives come out and cockfighting is
back to the bad old days.
Undone by Morrell's attempt to make
cockfighting paraphernalia illegal, Sen. Elbert Guillory
(R-Opelousas), a rising star in GOP politics, defended the practice
of chicken boxing, which he understood to be well within in Morrell's
legislative sights. Guillory, a man with an unparalleled love for the
photo-op, posed for pictures while holding little rubber boxing
gloves fitted for roosters.
Guillory, an African-American, was a
Republican but then switched parties in order to win his seat in a
heavily Democratic district. Last year he switched back to Republican
with much fanfare. He is also a man who made headlines a year ago for
his praise of witch doctors as a rationale to keep Louisiana's
embarrassing creationist K-12 “science” law on the books.
Indeed, the debate over chicken boxing
will continue, as will Louisiana being the laughingstock of America.
However, we have another debate that is
to me just as insane as boxing birds, perhaps worse.
Rep. Chris Broadwater (R-Hammond) is on
the defensive about HB 244, the “gun shows on college campuses
bill.” The proposed law, according to Broadwater, is simply a gun
safety bill.
I have read HB 244 bill, gotten an
email and a text message from Rep. Broadwater regarding the bill, and
read articles written about the bill.
Two facts come to mind. First, there is
NOTHING in HB 244 to prevent gun shows on college campuses or even in
the facilities of the elementary and secondary laboratory schools at
SLU, Southern University, and LSU. If Rep. Broadwater had wanted to
prevent “gun shows” from occurring, he could have written into
the language allowing for no more than two or three guns to be
auctioned or sold at events.
Second, if Rep. Broadwater wanted to
make a real statement promoting campus safety, he could have stopped
any and all groups from selling or auctioning guns on campus under the
Gun Free School Zones Act.
This did not happen. We now have a bad
bill that makes a bad statement. We can do better.
I am proud of SLU professor Dr. James Kirylo and the SLU faculty senate for making a strong statement
against gun sales on college campuses through a recent resolution. In
a climate of fear created by Gov. Bobby Jindal's assault on higher
education, it is courageous when college employees take a stand on an
important issue. LSU's faculty senate is scheduled to take up a
similar resolution soon.
We don't need to get stuck on the words
“gun shows” or “gun auctions.” Likewise, let's not get
distracted by “chicken boxing” or “chicken fighting.” Who
cares?
At the end of the day, all of this is a
bunch of foolishness as Louisiana continues to go to the birds. We
have elected officials who make it April Fools' Day all year long
here in the Pelican State. Unfortunately, we allow them to bring
embarrassment to the state when we create an atmosphere of disaster
by voting them into office.
Dayne Sherman resides in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. He covers the South like kudzu and promises that he never burned Atlanta. He is the author of Welcome to the Fallen Paradise: A Novel. His website is daynesherman.com.
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Dayne
Sherman, Writer & Speaker
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Web & Social Media: http://daynesherman.com/
Talk About the South Blog: http://daynesherman.blogspot.com/
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***This message speaks only for the writer, a citizen, not for any present or past employer.***
