This is probably just one more in an endless series of posts we’ll be doing between now and the end of the Louisiana governor’s race, mostly because they just write themselves. You already know that Shawn Wilson, who for the last seven-plus years has been the bureaucrat in charge of Louisiana’s Department of Transportation and Development, is the Democrats’ candidate for governor.

You probably also know that Wilson doesn’t exactly have the resume to indicate he’s qualified to run the whole state government. Not based on DOTD’s exploits while he’s been running it.

It’s actually hilarious, except for the fact that your tax dollars are paying for it. Wilson’s out there pushing the narrative that what Louisiana needs is a “bridge-builder” to be its governor, which is a prelude to a claim that he literally builds bridges so he’s the guy for the job.

Except he doesn’t build any bridges, or at least he doesn’t build any important ones. He’s had seven-plus years to do something about the falling-apart I-10 bridge in Lake Charles, and it hasn’t been built. He hasn’t moved things too far in building that new bridge over the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge south of downtown; we still don’t even have a site selected for that bridge.

And most comic of all, Shawn Wilson hasn’t even been able to finish the two flyover ramps connecting I-10 with the New Orleans airport’s new terminal, and it’s been more than four years since the airport opened. Think of those flyover ramps as bridges, which they more or less are, and the fact that he’s calling himself a bridge-builder while failing to finish that project before declaring for governor and all you can do is shake your head and laugh.

But don’t laugh too hard or you’ll miss some of the even funnier stuff. For example…

How hard is it to keep the grass cut on the new medians you’ve built on a street literally named for state government?

Government Street in Baton Rouge was, until not very long ago, a four-lane road. It’s technically a state highway, something which is bizarre in its own right – why Louisiana has surface streets in cities designated as state highways under the management of DOTD is something even semi-intelligent governmental minds should have remedied decades ago. And DOTD had the genius idea to create a “road diet” – essentially limiting access on Government Street to just two lanes while pushing remaining traffic north to North Boulevard and Florida Street where simply standing around on a street corner is an exercise in physical courage, or perhaps suicidal ideation.

Then they turned these new medians into an experiment in weed cultivation/snake habitat formation. This has been going on for months.

Sure, you could say that this is a problem created and fostered below Shawn Wilson’s pay grade. And you could say that as Wilson is the retired head of DOTD this isn’t his problem.

To which the answer is “bullshit.”

This is very much still Wilson’s DOTD. It’s run by all of his people, and it’s run exactly the same way he ran it. There are weeds growing out of control all over the state on highways that agency is in charge of – this one is just a higher-profile eyesore because it’s in the middle of town in the state’s capital city and it’s on a median Wilson’s DOTD literally created.

Imagine what state government would look like if this was the standard for everything, and you’ll get a pretty good projection for what it’ll look like if Wilson gets the job he’s running for.

The good news is that’s exceedingly unlikely. When even Wilson’s core base of support is casting about for Republicans they could throw in with, you can tell confidence in that camp isn’t exactly high.