Do NOT diss a YAT!

Bayou Buzz:

I'm a typical New Orleans girl, born and raised. Call me a "Scat," a "Yat," a "Gentilly Brat." You won't bother me.
But I do believe that Wendy Vitter' "cousin Jimmy Baldwin," just called me a drunk. Me and a few other hundred thousand "typical New Orleans girls."

Be careful what you say -- someone might be listening.

Harry Shearer: conservative v liberal, LSU as cause of health care crisis in NO

The Huffington Post:

"Like the shuttered public housing units, the delay in reviving or replacing Charity is, at bottom, the playing out of an ideological struggle between old-style liberalism and the Bush administration's flavor of conservatism. Charity was born in the Huey Long era, when the point was to build a full-spectrum facility to care for the poor and educate the state's doctors. The feds instead want to pay poor people to buy insurance with which to patronize private doctors and hospitals. The economics are debatable, but what's clear is that the recovery of New Orleans is being sacrificed to this ideological struggle. A complicating factor is the desire of LSU, the university that ran Charity, for a showplace new medical center."

Cop series set in New Orleans

Check out the promo.

K-Ville - K-Ville - Promo - Pizquita.com

On Fox-- no date set for premier, as far as I know. But looks like good actors, good production values. Anyone know any more? Worked on this?
Seems a great opportunity to tell N.O. side of the story. And a nice economic boost.

Update: Check the comments for time and date.

Will Reid take this seriously?

CREW files Ethics Complaint Against Senator David Vitter (R-LA) | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Reid said he wanted an airing of the scandal. But this might be too much for the Washington establishment.

CityBusiness turns against Vitter

Vitter stonewall won't hold.


This is what Your Right Hand Thief said Monday after the "press conference." Go read all the posts--and check out the clip from Leno.

Flynt: Vitter Lied

Check out Your Right Hand Thief for all the details of Flynt's interview with Larry King, and with WDSU.

The Myth of the Black Sniper

Newark to New Orleans: The Myth of the Black Sniper:

"Bob Hennelley, who has reported extensively on the legacy of the Newark riots for WNYC public radio, says: 'The 1967 phantom 'negro snipers' that was used to justify dozens of civilian homicides by law enforcement 40 years ago appears to have been the rhetorical equivalent of our 'weapons of mass destruction.'' Back in 2005, the Army Times conjured that same phantom, actually referring to the chaos in New Orleans—the supposed rebellion among people who have been abandoned by the thousands to suffer and die—as 'the insurgency.'"

It turns out that the myth is much older than Katrina. Probably goes back to the early days of slavery and the slave rebellions.

UNO College Republicans call for Vitter's head

THE DEAD PELICAN

The past week has unearthed several seedy situations concerning the current Republican Louisiana Senator David Vitter. Between being on the D.C. Madam’s list and reportedly having relations with two prostitutes in the New Orleans area, Vitter has certainly rebuked his promise with the people of Louisiana.

Moreover, by deciding to hold a press conference at 5 pm Monday afternoon, just as Bobby Jindal’s plane is taxing into Armstrong Airport, David Vitter has once more shown a blatant disregard for the political position of Louisiana Republican Party.

It is clear that Senator Vitter cares little for his fellow Republicans in Louisiana. After a week of silence, Vitter choose the day, almost to the hour, where all eyes were to be on Bobby Jindal and his vision for a better Louisiana.

W00T!

Vitter should have known -- don't step on Jindal's lines!

UPDATE: Now The Dead Pelican on the same subject. Mad as a wet republican, but not calling for resignation. Yes.

Louisiana Senator Killed by New Orleans Prostitute

Karen Dalton-Beninato: Louisiana Senator Killed by New Orleans Prostitute

Not what you think.

Nice quote included though.

Bertrand Russell says in The Conquest of Happiness:

"People who wish to have a high opinion of their own moral excellence have therefore to persuade themselves that they have achieved a degree of unselfishness that it is very unlikely they have achieved, and hence the endeavor after saintliness comes to be connected with self-deception of a kind that easily leads on to persecution mania."

Follow His Money

Forget Sen. Vitter’s Penis: Follow His Money

Local contributors. Bollinger, Chance.

$12 million boondoggle by FEMA. Melted ice.

Ice originally sent to Katrina victims finally being melted

Rumors.

Citizens for Legitimate Government

The other shoe: Prostitute describes Vitter affair

NOLA.com

Days after Senator David Vitter apologized for using an escort service in Washington, D.C., a woman who once worked as a prostitute in Louisiana said he was a regular client of hers several years ago while he was a state legislator.

The woman worked under the name Wendy Cortez. Her birth name is Wendy Yow, according to her ex-husband, who asked not to be named but said he has seen her birth certificate.

With a photo.

Update: Your Right Hand Thief has an excellent commentary on the article.

Did Vitter try to intimidate the D.C. madam?

Maybe.



From WAFB, Baton Rouge.

Deborah Palfrey, the Washington madam who is facing federal charges for racketeering, maintains her escort service is legitimate. She also told CNN Radio that she got a not-so-very inviting phone call from the Vitter camp once she published her phone list on Friday. Palfrey says, "I had a feeling it was coming. I was forewarned, but wasn't told who it was going to be. I was just told to expect a phone call. I got it a few hours ago and boy did I get it. I had no idea who this man was prior to a few hours ago, even though I'm sure he obviously was a client and he's stated accordingly, but I don't remember this man. I think he used the service in 2001."

Article from 2004 about Vitter's affair.

Article no longer at PoliticsLA.com, but saved on Google Cache

Congressman Denies Affair With Prostitute, Says Charges Are Politically Motivated

by Christopher Tidmore
PoliticsLA.com columnist
posted by March 26, 2004

For the first time, Congressman David Vitter has spoken out publically about allegations that he carried on an eleven month affair with a known prostitute named Wendy Cortez.

On WSMB radio last Saturday, a caller who identified himself as Elwood asked Vitter about charges, made by a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee in the Weekly that the then-State Representative, had had an affair with a known prosition in the French Quarter. Elwood continued, "Would you be willing to sign an affidavit that you have ever known, met or had relations with one Wendy Cortez."

Vitter responded, "I think you know that that alligation is abosultely and completely untrue...I have said that on numerous occassions...I'll say that in any forum...Unfortuanately, that's just crass Louisiana politics, now that I am running for the Senate. I have made that clear that it is alll completely untrue...And, it's obviously politically motivated."

In point of fact, Congressman Vitter had previously refused any comment on the charges. The story appeared in this newspaper just days after Vitter dropped out of the race for Governor in June of 2002. The Louisiana Weekly published allegations that Cortez, a known prostitute, claimed that she had an 11-month affair with Vitter, a state representative at the time.

Vincent Bruno, secretary of the Republican Party of Jefferson Parish and a member of the RSCC, alleged that Congressman David Vitter had engaged in an extramarital affair. In what was a high-stakes political battle between some of the most prominent members of the Louisiana Republican Party, Bruno charged that a prostitute, who stated her name to be Wendy Cortez, allegedly confessed to him to having a paid sexual relationship with Vitter.
Three separate and independent sources, including WDSU-TV reporter Richard Angelico, confirmed Bruno's allegation. Each had spoken to Cortez personally, and she recounted to them the details of her alleged affair with Vitter.

Bruno, who supplied documentation of detailed accounts of his meetings with Cortez, along with specific testimony that she provided against the Congressman, claims that he only came forward with the prostitute's name and personal information when pressed as a means to protect his integrity, after enduring attacks on statewide radio.

The Claims in the midst of the First District Congressional Race left vacant as a result of the resignation of Bob Livingston almost four years ago, Bruno asserts that a young woman contacted the Treen Campaign claiming that she had engaged in an affair with Vitter.

Bruno states that he and another prominent Republican subsequently met with the woman. She reportedly told the men that under the alias of "Leah," she regularly had sex with Vitter - at the time a State Representative - in a small apartment on the corner of Dumaine and Dauphine Streets in New Orleans.

Bruno, who by his own admission says he was working "independently" of the Treen Campaign, arranged another meeting with Cortez -this time in Baton Rouge. He claims that he had Cortez flown to the state capitol, housed in a hotel, and resumed the questioning.

Cortez, according to Bruno, recounted the chronology of her alleged affair with Vitter saying that Vitter contacted her through a local New Orleans escort service and visited her for a period of several months making appointments typically on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Bruno also states that the GOP official from the first meeting was again in attendance, along with another prominent Republican with no connections to the Treen Campaign to evaluate whether or not her story was true.
Each man, independently and on the promise of anonymity, gave The Weekly a detailed account of the second meeting with Cortez, providing specific comments and claims that she made against Vitter.

Can She Be Trusted?

At yet a reportedly third meeting that Cortez had with Bruno, WDSU Investigative Reporter Richard Angelico attended. Bruno says that Angelico heard Cortez's story and was interested in airing it. However, Cortez refused to give out her name on TV then, nor would provide a valid Social Security number to confirm her identity.

Bruno says the prostitute told him she was worried about the negative effect her appearance on television making these claims would have on her daughter. Without a valid identity to make the claim, Angelico dropped the story. Mr. Angelico confirmed this story and his reasons for not pursuing it.

The refusal to go public was not the only thing that brought Cortez's integrity under question. Some of her statements did contradict one another. In one of her comments, that one of the witnesses provided, Cortez stated that she had spent the previous evening at a Casino and won five thousand dollars. A short time later, in the same interview, she claimed that she did not have enough money to pay her rent-hardly consistent points.

After the initial story was published, a two-month search uncovered Cortez's whereabouts. She was finally located in Atlanta. After her identity was confirmed, she and a friend spoke briefly on a telephone interview. At that time, she simply confirmed the allegations about her to this newspaper and stated, "I stand by my comments" to Bruno and all that the affair occurred.

The story took on an extra political dimension in the last week of December of 2003, when a senior Democratic source revealed a series of attacks that were planned against Vitter. Foremost amongst them was that the controversy over Wendy Cortez. He contended that the allegations will become central to the Senatorial campaign.
Supporters of Vitter flatly deny Bruno's charges. They accuse him of having political motivations, and question the veracity of Cortez's story.

"I know it's not true. I don't give it any credence," said Jim St. Raymond, political consultant to David Vitter.

Vitter's official spokesperson, Tonya Newman, said the motivation is revenge because Vitter defeated Dave Treen in the First District Congressional election to replace Bob Livingston two years ago. Bruno was a supporter of Treen's.

"All these rumors are obviously untrue. They are coming from his [Vitter's] enemies, and they have not been successful politically, so they are going after him personally -- and his family. I think it's significant to know that these people have had a vendetta against Vitter since he was in the Legislature," Newman said.

Bruno, who supplied documentation of detailed accounts of his meetings with Cortez, along with specific testimony that she provided against the congressman, claims that he only came forward with the prostitute's name and personal information when pressed as a means to protect his integrity after Bruno was attacked on a statewide radio show.

Update: Is Tidmore a terrible speller? Or what?

Obama pays attention

First Read:

"Twice in almost the same breath, Obama made a point that the president needs to be 'in touch with the needs of New Orleans before the hurricane hits' and that 'we've got to have a president who understands the reality that people in New Orleans were being neglected prior to the hurricane.'

"

Jefferson bans taqueria trucks

Jefferson bans taqueria trucks

What a dumb idea! These taco trucks provide great food at a great price. Even Houston doesn't restrict them as heavily ad Jef Parish.

Another Katrina death?

NEW ORLEANS - A former New Orleans police officer charged in the videotaped beating of a man after Hurricane Katrina apparently shot himself to death about a month before his trial, authorities said Monday.

NY Times goes after Bush inaction on N.O. recovery

President Bush has reneged on his promises to Katrina’s victims. Shamefully, the president has chosen the interests of bureaucracy over those of American towns on the brink of failure.

Over a year and a half later, there are 64,000 people still sleeping in trailers in Louisiana and far too many communities without schools, hospitals and other basics. These are unacceptable failures. At least part of the problem is a law that requires states to contribute 10 percent of the cost of most federally financed reconstruction projects. Mr. Bush waived that requirement after the Sept. 11 attacks (as his father did after Hurricanes Andrew and Iniki) but he refuses to do so for the Gulf Coast.

The Times has been very supportive of New Orleans recovery from the very beginning. But look at the comment on the WWL Blog about the editorial. What the hell does "defamate" mean? Sounds like "misunderestimate." That guy is taking vocabulary lessons from Bush.

Camellia Grill!!!

Now that's what I call Recovery!
Woohoo! Can hardly wait for a chocolate freeze and pecan waffles for breakfast.