Last night on the Tonight Show, host Jay Leno and his guest actor/comedian Robin Williams had a great time laughing and joking about one of the most colorful characters in Louisiana political history: Edwin Edwards. Here is a clip of the exchange:
During their conversation, Williams and Leno linked Edwards to hookers, bribes, and typical Louisiana politics. In fact, Leno even repeated Edwards’ infamous quote about the only thing that could cause him to lose an election was “to be caught in bed with dead girl or a live boy.”
The segment was funny and quite entertaining, but in another way it was a terrible indictment of the State of Louisiana. After seeing that clip no business leader in his right mind would want to set up operations in a state that produced Edwin Edwards.
Tragically, voters in this state elected a corrupt politician to the highest office in Louisiana four times, the most in our history. It was a terrible mistake that we are paying for even thirteen years after Edwards left office. His criminal legacy will harm Louisiana for decades to come.
For all of his supporters who have written me hate mail in the past few months for my stand against his early release from jail, I hope they watch this clip to understand the damage that Edwards is still doing to our state today. Also, I hope that former Governor Treen and the other friends of Edwin Edwards, who want President Bush to commute his sentence, see this clip.
Currently, Edwards is serving a ten year prison sentence at the federal institution in Oakdale, Louisiana. He was found guilty on 17 very serious counts, including racketeering, extortion, money laundering, mail fraud and wire fraud. Clearly, Edwards is where he belongs for the damage that he inflicted on Louisiana, his horrible legacy that is still harming our state today.
Louisiana is finally moving in the right direction with an Inspector General and a new District Attorney in New Orleans and a new U.S. Congressman replacing Dollar Bill Jefferson on Capitol Hill. Important steps forward have been taken; however, releasing Edwin Edwards would be a horrific step in the wrong direction.
Releasing him would send the wrong message at just the wrong time when we are trying to clean up our sordid image. Hopefully, President Bush will not succumb to the pressure and will refrain from releasing this criminal from jail. We will know the answer very soon.
Jeff Crouere is the Host of “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 7:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and 7 till 11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990 AM in New Orleans and the Northshore. He is the Political Analyst for WGNO-TV ABC26 and the Political Editor for NewOrleans.com. For more information, visit his web site at RingsidePolitics.com. E-mail him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com
Edwards is NOT the Louisiana PROBLEM.... Louisiana IS the Louisiana PROBLEM.... In a nutshell the condition is probably best described as; STUCK ON STUPID..... Written by
on 12/29/2008
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Both Nagin and Aaron Broussard were somehow re-elected in spite of great criticism as regards competence in a crisis situation. In Edwards' case, by contrast, no one has ever said that he or his team was not competent. OTOH there have not been any of the so-called reform governors since Edwards' time whose competence has not been called into question at one time or another with even the Jindal group bungling the legislative pay raise issue and with many of those working for him seeming to be lightweights. While BTW criticisms of the Landrieus have generally had to do with ideology rather than competence yet many conservative voters rejected Mitch Landrieu for mayor in favor of keeping Nagin. All of which seems to be pointing to that people are focusing at election time on issues other than who is actually delivering the goods and how well -- and that's what matters the most. Everyone has seen over and over again how it seems that business seems to respond the best to governors who will sit down and negotiate with them and do things to take care of them, as happens in most every state, a endeavor to which the wheeler-dealer Edwards was well suited while Roemer felt he above such activities and Foster, though he could easily speak the language, was disinclined to expend any energy and Jindal seems to be interested in selling his own self above all else. So who has really hurt or is hurting the state the most? Written by Facing Reality
on 12/29/2008
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Vitter's hold on his senate seat is shaky. I'd would suggest donating as much as you can afford to the Democratic Party's opponent for this seat. Money well spent. Don't let his high approval numbers deter you, give till it hurts. Perhaps you could run for this seat yourself? Written by kpf
on 12/27/2008
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By the way Jeff, are you going to invoke the dead girl, live boy standard for David Vitter? You may want to worry more about Vitter and less about edwards. Written by David Quidd
on 12/27/2008
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Edwards is NOT the Louisiana PROBLEM.... Louisiana IS the Louisiana PROBLEM.... In a nutshell the condition is probably best described as; STUCK ON STUPID..... Written by
on 12/27/2008
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Edwards is a career criminal who dodged the law for decades before finally being brought to justice. Nothing and no one else makes a difference in that case. No matter how many Ray Nagins or Bill Jeffersons or Bob Odoms are out there, the fact remains that Edwards committed the crime and should do the time. And if he dies there first, his tombstone can brag that he beat the rap and shorted the sentence again. Written by
on 12/26/2008
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Never, dear, you are absolutely correct. It is time to stop blaming everything on Edwin Edwards and start taking the blame ourselves for the condition of this city and this state and this nation. We the voters are to blame and we are still allowing the trash of corruption to continue. The city was basically in ruins before Katrina and is in worse condition today because the failing infrastructure which was brutalized by Katrina. We read about the gravel alleyways in Lakeview being repaired but cringe at the streets of Lakeview and other areas of this city that were damaged before and after Katrina. So many other things to look at Jeff. Stop the rant on Edwin and start the recall of Nagin. Jeff was able to rally support for the veto of the legislative pay raises. Time to start a rally for the recall of incompetents and for the resurrection of this city in a rational manner. Note we say a rational manner. It is time to face reality in a BIG WAY!!!! Written by RhettsWife
on 12/25/2008
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I suppose one way to "interpret reality" is to assume that "Da Leader" is responsible for the economy - good or bad. However, it may be worthwhile to consider the possibility that the mayor, governor, or president deserves neither credit nor blame for the economy during their term in office. That is, it is worth considering if one truly desires to "face reality." Written by kpf
on 12/25/2008
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To say that Edwin Edwards is a detriment to Louisiana is to forget about Ray Nagin, Representative Jefferson of of New Orleans, Eddie Jordan (Former Federal Prosecutor and Orleans District Attorney) and most of the residents of the City of New Orleans that constantly cry out for public assistance or assistance from the rest of the citizens of Louisiana. I would say that Edwin's actions are far overshadowed by what all Americans saw happen in New Orleans and appears to still be going on in New Orleans today. Written by Never an Edwards Supporter
on 12/24/2008
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The last time that Louisiana was actually somewhat growing economy-wise was when Edwards was in his first two terms. How has the state's economy done during any of the terms of the so-called "reform" governors, including the present? Written by Facing Reality
on 12/24/2008
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give it a rest, jeff. your attention to this issue just keeps it front and center. businesses aren't going to make a decision based on robin williams schtick. if they do, then we don't want them anyway. Written by MA
on 12/23/2008
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Are you serious? Williams is a jackass using tired old African-American stereotypes. That's your act, dude? Talking baby talk and jive? Your comedy isn't relevant and no better than Family Guy rubbish that borders on being racist, sexist, etc. Written by Robert
on 12/23/2008
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I doubt that any business is going to make a decision on whether to locate here because of the Tonight Show. Didn't Jay Leno have Bobby Jindal on this year as well? I guess you don't have much confidence in Jindal if you are so concerned about the jokes about Edwards. Do you seriously believe George Bush would commute Edwards' sentence? If you do, I suggest you contact President Bush and let him know how you feel. Written by David Quidd
on 12/23/2008
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Last night on the Tonight Show, host Jay Leno and his guest actor/comedian Robin Williams had a great time laughing and joking about one of the most colorful characters in 
