The Coach
So, yesterday (i.e. Thursday) we had quite the day. I spent most of the day running around driving people where they needed to go. Unfortunately, I had not received an assignment from the NAACP LDF today b/c my supervisor was in depositions all day. This meant I spent my day getting things done, but none of them related to my project. Not necessarily the best use of time but understandable under the circumstances. I hope that I will be able to contribute more before the end of the trip.
This evening we were picked up by the Louisiana National Guard and driven to the Governor’s mansion in Baton Rouge. The governor’s chief of staff is the uncle of one of the students on the trip, so what unfolded the rest of that evening was truly amazing. After being given a short tour of the Govenor’s mansion, we were introduced to Governor Blanco and the first Gentleman. Governor Blanco was quite gracious and spent about half an hour meeting each one of us and talking with us. After meeting the governor, we sat down to dinner (blue cheeze and mandarin orange salad, gumbo and pecan pie) with the governor’s chief of staff, the special counsel to the governor and General Hunt Downer. The General is currently the Governor’s legislative director and the adjunct general for the Louisiana National Guard. He has also spent 28 years in the Louisiana legislature with 4 of them as the speaker of the house and 4 as the speaker pro tem. Needless to say, we had some of the main people who were dealing with the problems on the ground both legal and otherwise directly post Katrina.
After a very nice dinner, both the special counsel to the Governor and General Downer spoke about some of the legal issues they have been dealing with in the wake of the storm. What amazed me the most was the sense of powerlessness that existed even at the highest echelons of State government. Don’t get me wrong, they were very optimistic about the future, but the number of road blocks set up for them by the federal governmnet and FEMA specifically were truly amazing. I know that that this was probably a very one sided part of the story, but this is a side that has not been told by the mainstream media.
At this point, I suppose it is necessary to explain the title of this post. The First Gentleman used to be the athletic director at University of Louisiana - Lafayette (he is now the Vice-President). As a result of this position, he is affectionately known as the Coach. He was a true Louisiana character. For lack of a better way to explain it, he seemed more like a guy who everybody loves behind the grill at the neighborhood barbeque. He also provided some very interesting perspective on how the recovery has been dealt with in the direct aftermath of the storm. For example, Mississippi has gotten federal aid at a rate of about 5 to 1 and 3 to 6 months earlier than Louisiana on numerous occasions. In his mind, this is a result of the Mississippi governor being a Republican and the Louisiana governor being a Democrat. I don’t have a better way to explain this discrepancy.
After our post-dinner discussion in the Governor’s mansion, General Downer took us to the Capitol building and gave us a behind the scenes tour. This tour included, but was not limited to, the floor of the state House and the floor of the Senate, the House speaker’s office, the governor’s personal elevator, the governor’s office, the press room and the top floor of the tallest State Capitol in the US. I can’t even begin to explain how amazing this tour was. General Downer, after spending 28 years in the House, has become the de facto historian of the capitol building and was able to show us all sorts of amazing things, including the bullet holes where Senator Huey P. Long was shot.
I can’t even begin to say how thankful I am for all of the people who made this unique opportunity available to us. We truly have been blessed.
