Pooyie 07.21.2010

C’EST BON
It was probably no skin off Cajundome Director Greg Davis’ back last week when he was passed over for a seat on the Lafayette Charter Commission. He wasn’t even nominated. But the fact that Davis put his name up for nomination for what will undoubtedly be a tiresome nine months of meetings and research, coupled with his qualifying to run for the District 2 seat on the school board, says a lot about this energetic man. We were surprised by his school board candidacy: Davis’ main focus the last few years has been helping his adult son, gravely ill with a heart condition, fight his way back to health. From his past chairmanship of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce to his current involvement with 100 Black Men of Greater Lafayette and the Lafayette Public Education Stakeholders Council — and now a bid for school board — Davis quietly leads by example in terms of civic engagement, especially when it comes to public education. If he wins the school board seat, Greg Davis will have little time to relax. Lafayette will be the better for it.

PAS BON
When qualifying ended July 9, it was a pleasant surprise to see three candidates enter the race to replace retiring District 5 school board rep Mike Hefner. Less than a week later the indigestion set in. Turns out, according to The Daily Advertiser, all three candidates have butted heads with John Law. Both Kermit Bouillon, a Republican, and Dean Landry, no party, had episodes of domestic discord that resulted in restraining orders filed against them by their wives. The third candidate, June Andres, no party, is a former school board member who lost a re-election bid not long after being cited for cruising for prostitutes at Four Corners. Have you seen the prostitutes at Four Corners?! Voters in District 5 now must decide which candidate is furthest from his checkered past. Good luck with that. Kudos to The Advertiser for doing what a daily newspaper is supposed to do: dig and report.

COUILLON
Maybe U.S. Sen. David Vitter gave credence to the birthers — those who give quarter to the conspiracy theory that President Barack Obama was born outside the U.S. and is therefore an illegitimate commander in chief — to push the Brent Furer and “serious sin” scandals into the shadows. There’s been little mention of his drunk-driving, girlfriend-beating ex-aide or the D.C. Madam — minor peccadillos to be sure — since the Metairie Republican told a constituent at a town hall meeting that he supports conservative groups’ lawsuits challenging Obama’s legitimacy. How could a sitting U.S. senator and Rhodes Scholar subscribe to such a roundly discredited notion? He probably doesn’t. But there are evidently enough wackadoos who do and, sadly, it’s looking like that fringe right element is steadily engulfing the Republican base. Every politico knows that pleasing the base is de rigueur. Vitter is still the frontrunner, but if he persists in tapping these nails into his own coffin, eventually he’ll have to climb inside and close the lid.

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