Politicians who are a bit weird

Do you think that our candidates for national office are weird? That word — “weird” — has become the new attack buzz word for both Democrats and Republicans. So how did all these “weird” attacks” begin?

Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz began the give-and-take a few weeks ago when he called the Trump – Vance Republican ticket “just weird.” Vice President Harris followed up by attacking Trump “for his out-of-touch, weird ideas.” Trump shot back that “Nobody’s ever called me weird. I’m a lot of things, but weird I’m not. They are the ones who are weird.”

The Democrats are posting billboards in competitive states, picturing VP candidate JD Vance and Robert Kennedy, Jr. Surrounding Trump as he points to his head and makes a “cuckoo” hand gesture with the caption “Weird as Hell.”

Actually, when your profile many of the characters who live here in the Bayou state, being “weird” can be perceived as somewhat normal. The dictionary describes “weird” as  unearthly, spectral, preternatural, unnatural, strange,
 peculiar, eccentric, and even magical, having seemingly supernatural qualities or powers. Sounds like a lot of characters right out of the French Quarter in New Orleans to me.

Now, if you want to know the national candidate that really strikes me as weird, it’s Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He starts out as a Democratic candidate for president, then switches parties to become independent, and just last week he endorses Donald Trump, the Republican, for president. Before endorsing Trump, Kennedy had earlier called the former president “a terrible human being, and probably a sociopath.” Trump responded by calling Kennedy “a radical left lunatic.” Sounds like a great political marriage to me.

I first got an inkling of Kennedy when I was having lunch with friends at a popular Baton Rouge seafood spot, Phil’s Oyster Bar. I recognized Kennedy sitting at the next table, and as he was leaving the restaurant, he stopped to visit. He’s a nice looking fellow, and hey, he’s a Kennedy. So I was certainly interested in what he had to say.

He went on and on about the dangers of most vaccinations that he said caused measles outbreak, autism, and Covid-19. His arguments struck me as being disjointed and way too intense for a casual conversation at an oyster house. The guy was, well, a little bit weird.

Then more bizarre twists to Kennedy’s story really got weird. He went on Rosie O’Donnell’s national TV show to announce that part of his brain was eaten by a worm, and he experienced severe memory loss and mental fog. I’ve never heard of anyone claiming that their brain had been eaten by a worm.

But his story really gets weirder. Earlier this year, Kennedy said he found a dead bear cub in the middle of the road in upstate New York. He loads it in the back of his car and drives to New York City for steak dinner, then fakes a bicycle accident and leaves the decomposing bear in Central Park. Hummm!

Now in Louisiana, we yield to no one in our desire for electing weird politicians. Gov. Earl Long was committed to a mental asylum, Gov. Jimmie Davis rode his horse up the front stairs of the Louisiana State capitol, and KKK head David Duke almost becoming governor of the Bayou State. I could tell you about many more such local redneck and Cajun characters.

The bottom line Is this. To make a long term career out of being a politician, there’s no doubt about it. You just have to be a bit weird.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown