Saturday, December 1, 2012

Keeping perspective in Judge's race

Check out the new post at Conservative Drink
The comments on My Bossier have gotten very heated, in some cases extreme. 
Regardless of what some commenters will tell you, I have presented the Judge's race in an unbiased manner, giving all sides an opportunity to present themselves. I have kept it open to the candidates to send me press releases in order to present their case. 
What is it about a race for District Judge that causes people to get so bent out of shape? Well, a couple of things.
Bossier Parish, at least the politicians, seem to be divided into two camps; the pro-Schuyler Marvin and the anti-Schuyler Marvin.
That's fine for the politicians and the power brokers, but I don't believe that the vast majority of people fall into either category. I think that people try to inform themselves about the candidates and vote accordingly, regardless of their affiliations and friendships.
I also believe that extreme rhetoric results in hard feelings for years to come, and that's a shame. We will all be living here together when the election is over. In the very first post about this potential race (back in March), I noted that both candidates are qualified and that it would come down to personal preference. 
We will know next Saturday night who will serve as Judge. In the meantime, let's all try to agree to disagree in a civil manner.
You know, for the old people and the kids.


50 comments:

  1. the greaves people started this with all their lieinggg! tell them to get along!!!!!!

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    1. Who is Greaves and what is lieinggg?

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  2. I believe you have presented the facts fairly and more clearly than anyone else. If not for your blog, I would be completely uninformed about this election. When folks can post anonymously outrageous comments will be made.

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    1. Bill I agree with you. That is why I have and always have posted under my name. Not ashamed of telling the truth.

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    2. The truth is that you were an incompetent staff, Darlene.

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    3. Maybe so but at least I DID NOT LIE in open court!!

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  3. oh no...now there's a Greaves in the race too?!??!

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  4. Darlene, I appreciate the fact that you are ready to put your name behind what you say.

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  5. I agree - I've never seen more anonymous posters with such a load of rhetorical crap...and all over a district judicial race.

    Great entertainment Jim. Great entertainment for free!

    (getting out the popcorn)

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  7. By the way, I've weighed in on the topic on my blog. Feel free to comment about it here - and like Jim said: "Can't we all just get along?" Nope.

    SHAMELESS LINK-> Race for the Judge Through the Mud

    "...For all the anti-Graves people, can you point to SPECIFIC instances where Whit or someone directly associated with his campaign have actually lied? I’m not talking about rhetorical BS – I mean link to some audio/video/printed content which proves it. If you want to say that John Kay or Ann Price did something, then post SPECIFICALLY what they did or said."

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  8. The LA Supreme Court in their opinion said Whit Graves "misled this Court". By definition - THAT'S A LIE. why doesn't Whit post his letter of apology he wrote the Court and the Disciplinary folks. Stay tuned. You'll see it.

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  9. Jim, I find your comment that "Bossier Parish, at least the politicians, seem to be divided into two camps; the pro-Schuyler Marvin and the anti-Schuyler Marvin."

    In fact, Six other Bossier politicians who have helped make Bossier Parish the envy of the State, have aligned themselves WITH Schuyler Marvin endorsing Mike Nerren. Whit Graves doesn't have the endorsement of ONE elected official. In all fairness, your statement probably needs a retraction, Jim.

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  10. Jim, please name one "anti-Schuyler Marvin politician". They seem to be all aligned in this race with Nerren. Maybe, just maybe, it's because of their choices???

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    1. More politicians are against Schuyler than even the good ole boys know. However, most all of the politicians are scared of Schulyer and his power. I would compare the current DA's rule to Napolean, Julius Cesar, Huey Long and other successful men that gained power and influence. Mr. Marvin treats his friends very well and his enemies very badly. Schulyer is a very smart man but he should be a better student of history. All these men rode a good ride of power until the people woke up. Every time the DA gets cocky and asserts his power he makes more enemies.

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  11. 2:31 - You're ignoring the point of that statement (which is true, by the way).
    "but I don't believe that the vast majority of people fall into either category. I think that people try to inform themselves about the candidates and vote accordingly, regardless of their affiliations and friendships."

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  12. According to Bobby Boucher's mama - John Kay is the DEVIL!!

    Enjoy video here -> Nerren and Graves Comments

    PS: The anon trolls agree with mama!

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  13. Jim, your blog is always a fair, free speech forum, open to all to express opinions even if different from your own.

    Unfortunately, I don't see how an honest upright person could want to live at peace with what goes on in the 26th Judicial District, either during this election or after it. All of you in Bossier might solve your problem by getting your fast growing parish in a district by itself. But I began to learn how crooked and corrupt Webster Parish is when I was in Junior High School. I heard older boys talking about getting caught by a small town COP coming back from the Bossier Strip drunk and speeding near 100. When he saw that the driver was son of a WP deputy, he lectured "go home, slow down, be careful, go to bed, sleep it off, tell Daddy that I say Hello". But he let them go drunk, underage, outrageously careless because of who they were and who they knew and who they were related to. That was just my first inkling of what things are like in Webster Parish. It has gotten nothing but worse. Some years ago, there was a woman who worked at the Webster Court House and friends with the former Sheriff, who is dead now, and she got her boyfriend to murder her husband at his deercamp, and then married the boyfriend murderer, and it was with impunity, everybody in Webster Parish knew about it. The difference now is that the boss of the Parish has always been the Sheriff, and he would use the prisoners to operate his personal business interests and all sort of that. This is all still going on, and the Webster Sheriff has taken over the local police departments by getting his boys elected as COP, but now at the same time the DA is trying to take over the courts by getting his boys elected as the Judges. It is sort of scary to take it to a higher and level of corruption and know that the court system will be in control of the prosecution.

    I know, like you say, that I have to keep living here no matter who wins the election, but I don't want to live at peace with this sort of goings on.

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    1. APOV not all of Webster Parish is corupt...I have read your earlier posts where u tried to tie Slattery in with Charles Jacobs. The reality is that Jacobs did everything in his power to help Nerren at Marvins request....you also tried to tie the flaws of law enforcement in with Slattery when in fact a Judge has zero input on anything outside the court room (at least an honest Judge)...what I'm trying to say POV is stop dogging your own Parish when you are in the dark about most things! Marvin is a problem but not everyone is Marvin!!

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  14. APOV, well said, help us do something about it by stopping Marvin putting in another puppet. If he is stopped NOW, and I mean NOW, Marvin will be next to go.

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  15. 4:19, I've already cast my ballot for Graves in early voting. But mind you, he is not any friend of mine, I am just voting against the Marvin and Sexton political machinery. I'll turn against any of them that do not rule in fair and unbiased manner. Unfortunately once they are elected they pretty much own it, for better or worse, until they give it up. Burchette is the only incumbent that I know of ever being challenged, much less defeated, and that was just because he had said he would retire and didn't, and Marvin was tired of waiting to get one of his boys on that bench.

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  16. If y'all have more honest lawyers and politicians in Bossier Parish, which might be an oxymoron, but if that is possible, then you would be well advised to just cut off the rotten part of the 26th Judicial District, and separate from Webster Parish. It just seems hopeless that Webster will ever be more than a den of theives, liars, and every kind of evil-doer you can imagine.

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  17. Jim, still waiting on names of anti-Marvin elected officials. I've named 6 that are aligned with Nerren. Gimme one against?

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  18. Not that it matters anymore in light of request for retractions, co-endorsements, etc but has anyone seen the letter from state Republican Party endorsing Graves? Or is this another lie?

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  19. Laura Adley, Jeff Thompson, Mike Nerren, and others have all admitted to speaking to the chairman on the party who confirmed the endorsement to them.

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    1. Anon at 542. Another lie. The chairman of the state party NEVER spoke to Nerren. And that's not hearsay.

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  20. So Whits endorsement is not even in writing? Are you kidding? That's a joke!!!

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  21. In this campaign, if it ain't in writing I don't believe it. And even if it is, I'm not sure.

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  22. 2:31 wrote:
    "In fact, Six other Bossier politicians who have helped make Bossier Parish the envy of the State..."

    Methinks 2:31 give politicians far too much credit. To whatever extent Bossier Parish is a desirable place to live/work/visit/do business, politicians are hardly the reason.

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  23. Mike Nerren verified the endorsement himself.

    I just watched the Rex video posted above. Finally a man that can think for himself! Excellent points on a number of fronts.

    Nerren camp is pre-occupied with who produced the video instead of worrying about the contents of the video or addressing that. The reason why is because its a factual video, and they cannot respond to it in an intelligent fashion like Mr Rex did. (or they would have already...remember I said intelligently)

    When you lay all the cards on the table, and look at the big picture, and you think about Mike Nerren...he "sounds" good, but he smells bad. The guy is financed and endorsed by a DA that has a horrendous track record on many levels...he is also financed by a group of big business men with ties to marvin. Ask yourself why it is so important to lay out so much cash for a judges race? Why is the race so important to them? Who stands to BENEFIT from all of this??? Is it us, the general public? Are these big biz guys just looking out for us? Or are they looking out for their own SELF-INTERESTS? Certainly we have seen how their criminal cases have been handled! IF YOU HAVE MONEY OR POLITICAL TIES TO THE DA'S OFFICE, ITS LIKE A BAD ROACH MOTEL...THEY ALL CHECK IN, AND THEY ALL CHECK OUT.

    And then you look at how Nerren tried to sneak in an Obama/Nerren ticket into the race. He claims he was just trying to get minority votes like Slattery and Graves. However Slattery and Graves did NOT stoop to his level. And he claims he never saw or approved the flyer. Isn't that his responsibility? He called down to Louisiana Republican party and they told him NOT TO CALL BACK or it would get worse, according to Nerren himself. Meanwhile half the local PEC is running around trying to embrace Nerren and doesn't understand why the Louisiana Republicans are against what Nerren did? Seriously??? I'm ashamed of half our local PEC.

    Can you imagine going in front of a judge around here, admitting you paid some thug $2,000 to steal a bumper sticker off a car, but instead he knocked the old lady driving the car over the head with a hammer? What do you think that judge is going to do to you? Or maybe you pay some thug to rough up somebody, but instead they kill them...what do you think is gonna happen to you? Come on Nerren, be for real!

    and this is what we have to look forward to if Nerren is elected? I don't think so!

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  24. Saw the latest attack ad by Nerren on TV 3 news. Could you please get the word lied any bigger on the screen and the red any brighter? Whit Graves was suspended from the practice of law; really? No deferment? How many lost work days did he suffer? "Bossier deserves better". Really....you kind family man says Bossier serves better than Whit Graves? Man, how low does it go? This is shameful, disgusting and an embarrassment to Bossier/Webster.

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  25. I will bet a months pay Schuyler Marvin never had a thought this race would be almost entirely on him. This has to be driving him nuts. Every day that goes by brings the inevitable, well financed challenger that much closer. Those that are still angry about Judge Burchett, Jeri DePingre, Judge Slattery and this race will all come together. The race for District Attorney will be a humdinger. One rumor of late. I heard a group is trying to get a mid-forty, well respected lawyer from Caddo to establish Bossier residency.

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  26. @7:19. Jason Brown?

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  27. 7:19,
    I'm guessing Hugo holland. If that is your man forget it. He has way to many skeletons in his closet

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  28. Yeah but he gets convictions the old fashion way....he earns them. Who has accumulated more skeletons than Schuyler? But Hugo a might old...but on second thought....hmmmmm.

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  29. 9:07.
    Didn't say he's my man, just trying to figure what caddo attorney 7:19 was referring.

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  30. Only way to beat Marvin is find a candidate with roots deep enough in Bossier/Webster that can divide Marvin's base support.

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  31. Schuylar is done next election, done.

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  32. Anybody that would have a chance to unseat schuyler is likely one of his supporters. Schuyler is smart enough to keep any threat to his position close to him.

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  33. Why are so many people focused on DA Marvin. The conspiracy theorists think he is a Puppet Master behind the scenes. The reality is that he knows both candidates...and like most people who know both candidates...for obvious reasons he supports Mike Nerren. Just like all the other elected officials. Nothing against Whit but between he and Mike, it isn't close. DA Marvin isn't a king maker...he is just like the experts in Vegas...he knows a clear winner when he sees one (just like all of the other elected officials who support Nerren).

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  34. Once again....Nerren ran third in a three horse race in 2002 and had difficulty raising money. 10 years later with the DA support he raised 200k and in a close race to win. Clearly DA the difference. You really think Mike Craig beats Judge Burcheett without Marvin and the entire Campbell clan? Now, just because one gets Marvins vote doesn't make you bad it just makes you hard to beat.

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  35. I agree. With Schuylar's backing, candidates are very hard to beat because he has a lot of influence. Like it or not people respect him and trust his judgment. He is the best DA we've had in quite some time and that carries a lot of influence in the community. I think he has that job until he decides to run for appellate judge like his dad did.

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    1. Really??? What about the animal laws he's not enforcing? What about all the reports of corruption? What about the rapist scandal that he didn't prosecute?? I could go on and on.....

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  36. For what its worth I received information this morning that indicatd a 39% to 38% advantage for Nerrin with 23% undecided. The margin of error was 4%. Looks like its coming down to the wire.

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  37. Hard to believe it could be that tight. Everybody saying it is going to be close. Which one has the October surprise?

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  38. John Kay said same thing before duke Thompson race- had duke up by 6.

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  39. I don't believe 5:21pm's poll. Especially the 23% undecided. The undecided at this point simply don't care and won't vote. I doubt that the turnout will be more than 10% of Nov. 6th. I think this election is more of a pro-Marvin vs. anti-Marvin contest, rather than having anything to do with the actual candidates. It is nostalgic for me, because I am old enough to remember the Kingfish, the late great dictator of Lousiana. Everybody was a Democrat, and the two political positions were pro-Long and anti-Long.






















    5

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  40. when you get down to it, whits law practice is a big deal to a lot of people. His practice is 100% DWI defense work. I know a lot of people still drink and drive, but talk to one person who has had a family member hurt or killed by a drunk driver and you will get an earful

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