Louisiana needs leadership like Ted Kennedy

The following was originally printed in the Opinion section of The Daily Reveille:

The death of Sen. Ted Kennedy, the scion of this country’s most prominent political dynasty, serves to highlight the desperate need for strong leaders, especially in times of national crisis.

Kennedy has been the driving force behind almost every piece of major legislation on domestic policy for the last half century.

Throughout almost five decades in the Senate, Kennedy fought for those who had no voice of their own. While he was born into privilege, wealth and power, he fought for all those who had none of the three.

It is because of this great American hero that so many groups of people were given the rights they deserved, including people of color, women, the disabled and young people.
With his death, we should take a look at the state of our own leadership.

Throughout history, Louisiana has been, for better or worse, led by those with large personalities and even larger egos.

The Pelican State currently lacks strong leadership. One has to look no further than Sen. David Vitter for example.

Vitter leapt onto the national stage in 2007 when news broke that he had been a client of the infamous “D.C. Madam” while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The senator never apologized to the people of this state directly or came clean about his actions, only asking forgiveness for his “serious sin.”

Unfortunately, the senator’s indiscretions do not stop there.

Earlier this year, Vitter set off an alarm at a D.C. area airport when he reportedly tried to open a closed boarding ramp door. He then allegedly threw a fit when told he would not be permitted to board the aircraft.

And last week, the Louisiana Democratic Party filed an ethics complaint against Vitter for campaigning for reelection at taxpayer-funded town halls. According to the complaint, he has spent the better part of the meetings trashing his opponent in next year’s Senate race as opposed to talking to voters about actual issues.

Yet, Louisiana may get a chance at new leadership after events of the past couple of weeks.

U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, announced he will enter the 2010 Senate race as a Democrat. Melancon, a conservative Blue Dog, is the state’s sole Democrat in the House of Representatives.

There are rumors Lt. General Russel Honoré will enter the Republican primary against Vitter. Honoré can be remembered as the Creole general who was lauded after successfully leading the Joint Task Force Katrina.

Another potential challenger is adult film star Stormy Daniels. Daniels, a Baton Rouge native, is being drafted by a grassroots network of supporters.

After three major hurricanes in four years, Louisiana needs the best leadership it can possibly get. This state deserves better representation and a stronger commitment from leaders to the people of this state.

Saturday marked the four-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Some progress has occurred in restoring Louisiana, but much more work still has yet to be completed.

We need someone who will fight for Louisiana and have the courage to bring real reform and progress to a state that so desperately needs it — and so desperately deserves it.

We need someone who will be a voice for our huddled masses. We need someone who will fight for better education for our youth, for health care for our uninsured and for more aid to our citizens devastated by Katrina, Rita and Gustav.

At the end of the day, our state desperately needs a strong leader; we need a senator like Edward M. Kennedy.

The Liberal Lion

As a product of the '80s, I wasn't alive when Senator Ted Kennedy fought for Civil Rights for many of my friends, I wasn't alive when he fought for the rights of millions of young people to vote, I wasn't alive when he fought for the rights of the uninsured. I am alive now, and I know what the twentieth century's greatest senator has done for myself, my peers and my fellow Americans.

If Kanye can overcome hate, maybe others can too

The following was originally printed in the Opinion section of The Daily Reveille:

Let’s be frank: The vast majority of the time, anything that slips out of Kanye West’s mouth is at best, ridiculous, and at worst, hugely egotistical.

No doubt, when people think of offhanded Kanye West quotes, they think of his appearance on NBC’s “A Concert for Hurricane Relief,” held shortly after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. While on the show, he ventured off script and blasted the Bush administration, famously saying, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

But recently, West has been talking more about a subject that his peers in the hip-hop industry rarely venture into: discrimination against gays.

Except for one or two other stars in the industry, discrimination of this nature is rarely talked about, and never so candidly. If homosexuality is broached at all in hip-hop, it is used as an insult.

West spoke candidly in past interviews about how black street culture idolizes masculinity and how this idolization in turn creates an environment hostile to gay people.

“I wanna just come on TV and just tell my rappers, just tell my friends, ‘Yo, stop it,’” West said when asked further about the subject.

Such a blatant plea to end gay bashing in song and in everyday life is something not common in the world of hip-hop.

Mr. West’s critique of the industry and its attitudes toward gays is refreshing. It is quite bold of him to so adamantly declare his support for tolerance.

More recently, West has decided to tour with Lady Gaga, an artist who identifies strongly with the gay community.

In an interview last month, Gaga told West, “I’m gay. My music is gay. My show is gay. And I love that it’s gay. And I love my gay fans, and they’re all going to be coming to our show. And it’s going to remain gay.”

While West’s actions and statements are bold, he is not the only industry heavyweight advocating for tolerance.

Industry giant Russell Simmons recently wrote a letter to Democratic New York Gov. David Paterson urging him to support gay marriage, and R&B superstar Mary J. Blige recently co-hosted a fundraiser to raise money against Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban in California.

Nevertheless, the vast majority of hip-hop artists either continue to perpetuate discrimination in their work or fail to condemn their peers who do.

Artists such as Busta Rhymes, Eminem and 50 Cent have all used homophobia as a way to sell albums and perpetuate stereotypes.

One cannot help but miss the irony in all of this. The industry grew out of the street and gang cultures, cultures largely plagued with poverty and crime, as a means to give a voice to some groups of people who were being — and who still are being — discriminated against.

Some people, including Kanye West and Russell Simmons, compare the struggle for gay rights to the Civil Rights movement of the ’60s.

I respectfully disagree, as black people were discriminated against far more than the gays of today and because they lacked far more rights than the modern gay community.

This is not to say discrimination today is so slight that it is not an issue.

In Louisiana, it is still legal for employers to fire employees simply because they are gay. Our state even denies gay couples hospital visitation rights.

Because of such things, I applaud West for coming out against such senseless discrimination, despite how I feel about the majority of his viewpoints.

I guess the old saying, “beggars can’t be choosers,” rarely rings so true.

Welcome

Hey y'all,

For whoever may read this, I say welcome. This blog is dedicated to politics and issues that I think are important.

Beginning in the fall, I will be writing an opinion column in The Daily Reveille, the student newspaper at LSU. I plan on posting my articles on this blog, as well as a handful of other writings.

Hopefully, whoever stumbles upon this blog will enjoy my posts.

Best,

S