As the 244th Assault Helicopter Battalion from Hammond trains to deploy to Iraq for a second tour, joining other state troops there, it seems a particularly lousy time for the leadership of the Louisiana National Guard to become the focus of the first political blow-up of the Jindal era.
That was the sentiment expressed by dozens of Guard officers filling the wide Capitol corridor outside the confirmation hearings for state Adjutant Gen. Bennett Landreneau last week.
The major general sat quietly on a bench talking to his daughter, friends and his lawyer, while inside the closed hearing room his predecessor, retired Maj. Gen. Ansel "Buddy" Stroud, discussed with senators the report by himself and four generals that alleged failed leadership, rampant nepotism and low morale in the Guard under Landreneau.
Later, Landreneau's supporters would defend his leadership by pointing to the state Army Guard's ranking of fourth best in the nation.
Privately, the adjutant general's backers speculated that relations between the two generals began deteriorating after the retired Stroud, who recommended that Landreneau succeed him, began working as a consultant for a company seeking to do business with the Guard, but--so their story goes--he received little access or deference from his former protege.
Just as strong family ties are a tradition in the Louisiana National Guard, so too, to some degree, is politics in its leadership. Yet the hostile fire exchanged between the two camps made even the political pros wince. A member of the confirmation committee, Sen. Lydia Jackson, D-Shreveport, observed, "This has evolved into a political drive-by shooting, and I'm not sure who's holding the gun."
Two of the main suspects were nowhere to be seen but considered to be key movers in the sad public spectacle that could have been avoided. Not mentioned in the open hearings but widely discussed in the corridor was the handling of the matter by Chief of Staff Timmy Teepell and the behind-the-scenes maneuvering of former Gov. Mike Foster.
By now, Gov. Bobby Jindal surely regrets ever having asked Gen. Stroud to make a recommendation on the adjutant general position, which Landreneau has held for 11 years. When Foster got word of where the committee of generals was going with its report, he urged the governor to ignore it and to reappoint Landreneau, which Jindal did.
Instead of accepting Stroud's report and quietly shelving it, chief of staff Teepell cancelled his meeting with the generals and, through the press secretary, initially denied any report existed.
In a testy exchange of letters and e-mail between Stroud and Teepell, the governor's top aide penned one paragraph too many when he cited the retired general's consulting contract as evidence of his personal bias. Inevitably, the correspondence was made public, along with Stroud's assertion that Foster was behind it all.
Fairly or not, shades of Foster are also seen in Gov. Jindal's support of a pending legislative bill to repeal the motorcycle helmet law, which the former governor had nixed in 1999 only for it to be re-instated under ex-Gov. Kathleen Blanco. Former Highway Safety Commissioner Jim Champagne complained to a legislative committee last week that he was replaced after a meeting with Teepell in which the retired State Police lieutenant colonel refused to temper his public opposition to the repeal.
These controversies occurred during the same week that a poll showed Jindal's already-strong approval ratings soaring to the high 70s, with disapproval ratings in the single digits. While the tempests over the National Guard and motorcycle helmets do not pose direct threats to the governor's popularity, they point in the only direction it can go from here.
For an administration obsessed with appearances, the public perception that the strings are showing must disturb Jindal, especially since it's questionable how much influence the old governor exerts in the new administration, at least on issues that matter. Foster, who has associated with a law firm as a governmental consultant, has complained to various politicos that Jindal doesn't return his calls any more. Join the club. Though he communicates through Teepell, some now wonder how long that will last, or will the old mentor-protege relationship between the two governors go the way of the two generals.
Well, dears, does this mean politics as usual. Now calls are not being returned? Why should they be? After all Pi is now the governor. Doesn't Foster understand that and what does Pi owe him. Written by RhettsWife
on 4/23/2008
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It would appear that this is becoming a rerun of the Foster Administration while Jindal waits for word from McCain. Written by David Quidd
on 4/23/2008
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