Is Edwards Violating His Probation?

Yeah. Looks like he is. He and his boss just don’t want anybody to know about it.

In the Inside Politics section of Sunday’s Baton Rouge Advocate was this nugget…

Former Gov. Edwin Edwards recently lunched with state House Democratic leader John Bel Edwards and Louisiana Democratic Party Chairman Buddy Leach in downtown Baton Rouge.

Leach insisted politics was not on the menu despite the looming governor’s race.

He said the three reminisced about John Bel Edwards’ father, who was a sheriff, over lunch at the Little Village.

Leach said the terms of Edwin Edwards’ release from federal prison prevent him from dining with just anyone. As Edwards’ employer, he said he has to accompany the former governor.

Leach said if he does not go with Edwards, the former governor has to pack a lunch.

Does anybody really expect us to believe that Edwards, Leach and John Bel Edwards got together for a lunch four blocks from the state capitol in the middle of a legislative session and “politics wasn’t on the menu?” Sure, public education in Louisiana is in a dreadful state, but it’s not THAT bad.

When Edwards was hired by Leach to “research alternative energy sources” for one of the latter’s companies, it was advertised that the job wouldn’t have anything to do with politics – because, it’s been reported, the disgraced ex-governor can’t work in political roles while he’s on probation. Sometime in mid-July that will change, and at that time it’s entirely likely we’ll be subjected to an autobiography and a rubber-chicken circuit from Edwards, plus a daily barrage of pontifications from the man who took one of the hottest state economies in the country in the early 1970’s and over four terms in office over 24 years practically cratered it on the way to federal prison.

Besides not talking politics with politicians at the Little Village, it seems Edwards also engages in not talking politics with politicians on the phone. Impeccable sources report to the Hayride that Edwards is engaged in attempting to recruit candidates to run against Gov. Bobby Jindal – including, as it happens, Republican candidates.

Leach, for his part, has been attempting to rally the troops with assurances that the Democrats will have a slate of candidates despite the feeble “Anybody But Bobby” bumper stickers the state party came out with last week.

“There’s been a lot of talk about who is going to run against Bobby Jindal this fall,” he wrote. “Names have been tossed around and so has talk of fundraising, polling and campaign consultants. I want to tell you two things I know to be true: We will have strong Democrats running up and down the ticket this year and just about anybody would be better than Bobby Jindal.”

So how does Leach know there will be these “strong Democrats” on the ticket when not one of them has emerged? Who’s doing the work to recruit these “strong Democrats?” It can’t be the Zipper, because that would indicate Leach is lying about the work Edwards is doing for him. And it would indicate both of them are in cahoots to violate the terms of the latter’s probation.

Rockin’ With Caroline

Speaking of “strong Democrats,” the word over the weekend was that Caroline Fayard, who’s a conservative because she goes to church, you know, gave ’em hell at an event in New Orleans put on by the Louisiana Stonewall Democrats – a gay and lesbian group headed by Democrat operative and former John Edwards minion Stephen Handwerk. The Stonewall group is rather considerably left of center, rather than go-to-church-conservative; it describes itself thusly…

Louisiana Stonewall Democrats is a grassroots force for social change within the Democratic Party. Members call voters, put together campaign mailings, go door-to-door for fair-minded candidates and have tough conversations with Democratic Party officials about why LGBTQ families need and deserve more support from the Democratic Party and its elected officials.

Perhaps one of our readers more hip to the acronyms than we are can identify what the “Q” stands for; the first four letters stand for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual. Q? Queer? Lesbian and gay should cover that, no? Do we even want to know?

Fayard is, generally speaking, now being considered to have peaked as a Democrat star following her “I hate Republicans” gaffe two weeks ago and not-so-artful management of the blowback to it. It may be that Fayard isn’t the savior the Dems were hoping, so Leach and Edwards are now lunching with John Bel Edwards. But unfortunately for the party, the list of in-demand diners is a short one.

And Edwards himself is legally prohibited from running for anything statewide until 2025.

Maybe the Dems can find a way to skirt or ignore that stricture the way they’re doing with his probation.

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