Greetings from Turkey Creek, Louisiana. (the one in Evangeline Parish in Louisiana CD 4, not the one in Franklin Parish in Louisiana CD 5).

Years ago in 2016, the fine folks of this Turkey Creek came out in droves to meet a relatively little-known State Representative from Northwest Louisiana who is now faithfully fighting for the common-sense values you find every day here & throughout Louisiana but unfortunately aren’t so common in Washington, DC.

That man, now US House Speaker Mike Johnson gets up just about every day now and has press conferences, gets on podcasts, national television and radio interviews to remind folks that US Senate Democrats are the ones causing the US government to continually be shut down.

The fine folks of Turkey Creek and communities like it voted for him because they knew in times like these, he’d stand up for the common sense he’d advocated for in his short time in the Louisiana Legislature, as a religious liberty attorney and as a private citizen. He has continually made us proud in the last few days not allowing the US taxpayer to be taken hostage by the crazy demands of weird socialism that seems to be the rage of New York City according to the media accounts we see.

It’s folks in the nearby communities of Oakdale and Bunkie that have small town hospitals that appreciate the fact that the Speaker and Republicans are standing strong for the needs of rural communities by protecting the hospital funds that were obtained in the One Big Beautiful Bill. On a Sunday morning when you have a scary health problem like I did in rural Concordia Parish a few years ago, you appreciate both the folks at Monterey First Baptist Church for praying for you and the emergency room at the hospital in Concordia Parish being open & operational more than most folks do.

I say all this to remind folks that our friend Speaker Mike Johnson and his family probably could use an extra prayer or two this weekend. I know him and the family would much rather be either here in Turkey Creek where I write this column tonight or anywhere else in Louisiana instead of being in DC faithfully advocating for common sense to prevail on 5 more US Senate Democrats. We also need to pray for five more US Senate Democrats to join the ranks of common sense to re-open the federal government. We should also remember to say and extra prayer for our US military troops and other critical federal government employees who are serving faithfully even when they aren’t exactly sure when pay day is going to hit the bank account.