Monday, April 14, 2008

A Kiss From The Governor

Ah, you know things in my little corner of the blogosphere have gone awry, when I'm reduced to quoting myself in the comments to my own blog.

It all started with Jim (read that as, "It's all his fault") at JindalWatch, who told the story of his day of glory when he met Uncle Earl Long of Louisiana, brother of Huey and one-time governor of Louisiana. And a charming story it is. You should read it.

Then in Jim's comment section, we had this exchange:

Grandmère Mimi said...

...One day I'll tell you about the time I met Edwin Edwards.

Jim said...

I would love to hear your Edwin Edwards story. Write 'er up!


Are you still with me, folks? "Well," I thought to myself, "Why not? It's a little embarrassing, but I'll do it". To my surprise, I discovered that I had already written it up in my own comments. For your amusement, here it is brought into the light of an actual post:

Grandmère Mimi said...

Lapin, there really was a bumper sticker that said, "Vote for the Crook. It's Important", because Edwards' opponent in the race for governor of Louisiana was none other than the arch-segregationist and neo-Nazi, David Duke. And I did vote for the crook.

Although Edwards was a crook and a notorious womanizer, there was something about him that I found endearing. (God help me!) Perhaps, it was because he was seldom hypocritical - a welcome relief in a politician.

He'd campaign in black churches and tell the congregation, "I don't drink, I don't smoke. Two out of three is not bad."

In fact, on one occasion when he arrived at a gathering at the university where my husband worked, there seemed to be no officials there to greet him. I was standing there with a group who may have resembled a receiving line, and he came right up to me.

That was one occasion when words came out of my mouth seemingly without passing through my brain, because I said to him, "Does a kiss from the governor come with the greeting?" Of course, he promptly kissed me on the cheek. Grandpère was standing next to me wide-eyed and astonished.

After Edwards moved on he said to me, "What did you think you were doing?" So. There you are. I'm in the company of an enormous number of women who have kissed Edwin Edwards.
October 8, 2007 12:19 PM


There you have it. Sometimes the demons take over, and what can you do?

UPDATE: Too Good For the Comments:

Paul said...

We all have our inner trollop, Mimi.

27 comments:

  1. I thought Jesse Ventura was a flamboyant governor, but I think Louisiana has us beat.

    "two out of three is not bad." that's hilarious!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mimi, I didn't know you were that kind of girl! I love it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Politicians will be politicians, Diane, each in his/her own special way.

    Jim, I didn't know I was that kind of girl either.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We all have our inner trollop, Mimi. I'm just glad GP was there.

    Hmm, now when Jerry Brown was governor of California, I might have been tempted.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fiddlesticks, Mimi,

    you may not be EE's usual kind of girl--I doubt it, frankly--but you've never been shy about kissin' the boyz, and at least one very pretty ELP.

    I testify to what I do know, and have seen, so careful what ya try to sneak past us.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh dear, Johnieb, you'll spoil my image as a sweet, innocent old lady.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh my I needed that laugh!

    Brilliant Mimi!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mimi, what a riot. Well, it can be a good thing to get in touch with one's inner trollop. Though it can be tricky if it happens in public, and in front of one's husband!

    LOL, Paul. I would be tempted to ask Jerry Brown for a kiss even though he isn't a governor any more ...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ick. Really, I've seen Jerry Brown in person (though, I hasten to add, not kissed him) (which doesn't mean I don't have an inner trollop) and he is NOT that sexy. Trust me on that one.

    Mimi, nothing surprises me any more and I love your story. Thanks for telling us! I do remember that David Duke election year. Scary, scary. And I was living Up North at the time.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dear Jane, bringing us back down to earth. Sigh. Of course, I am carrying in my mind an image of him when he was much younger. If I ran into him today, I imagine my reaction would be not unlike yours.

    You know that what I had in mind was
    this and not this.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ooooh! Are we going to have a food fight about Jerry Brown on my wee blog?

    Well, if I'm not surprising y'all any longer, I'll need to up the ante, won't I?

    My inner trollop. I love the idea. I don't know whether GP would agree. He was stunned by the incident.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Bad Boys are much more interesting, aren't they? Edwards wins hands down any day. Given the chance I bet even Linda Ronstadt would have .....

    ReplyDelete
  13. How does one get in touch with one's inner trollop?

    ReplyDelete
  14. With "herbal teas that refresh the womb" TM?

    ReplyDelete
  15. How does one get in touch with one's inner trollop?

    TheMe, I'm not sure. Mine seems to lie in wait in the unconscious to surface suddenly, surprisingly, and sometimes embarrassingly. I believe that it may be out of my control.

    Bad Boys are much more interesting, aren't they?

    Well, Lapin, some of them are, but I wouldn't make a that a blanket statement. Take Bush. Interesting is not a word that I would use to describe him - or Cheney either. They are bad boys that I wish I didn't have to think about at all, ever. I don't think my inner trollop would surface in the presence of either of them. Not even with the help of herbal teas.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Not at all the type of "Bad Boy" I was thinking of, Mimi. "Herbal teas" refers to something TM posted yesterday evening on Hagger the Horrible's Battenberg cake thread.

    ReplyDelete
  17. About Jerry Brown: let me not imply that I don't find older men sexy. I do, in fact. Especially since I am, er, getting a little older than I used to be. The problem is that he's a bit slimy and, as we used to say in California, his vibe isn't clear.

    Also, they just hated him in Oakland when he was mayor. He just became a little too Chamber of Commerce. And Chamber of Commerce is NOT sexy.

    :-b

    ReplyDelete
  18. Well, yes, Jane, I do recall talk indicating his vibe wasn't clear (though I did not hear those exact words) and he was very CofC in Oakland, which earned him lots of hatred, though it did help the downtown move toward vitality. Always a mixed bag. And CofC is never sexy.

    No, Mimi dear, I don't think we will make a scene over Jerry Brown, neither here not elsewhere. But it makes for a pleasant change from thinking about those two evil boys you mentioned (not to be confused with "bad boys").

    I cannot help with TM's question; in my case it's an outer trollop. I lack Mimi's southern gentility. I trust none of this has startled the horses.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Paul, I hear a bit of commotion from the stables from time to time, but nothing major. Somehow, I do have the sense that I have reached a point of no return. OCICBW.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Well, my name MEANS "trollop," so there you go...

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh, Paul, those photos do say a lot. Okay, and thanks to Jane R, I am warned off Jerry Brown. He's safe from this naughty old lady. It's back to the drawing board to do some research on kissable public officials.

    Actually, my own state's Governor, Martin O'Malley of Maryland, is cute. And he has his own band!

    I like older men, too, Jane, which is a good thing because I am old enough to remember shaking hands with Estes Kefauver when he was running for President, and waving from the sidewalk as President Truman passed by in his motorcade.

    There are bad boys, and then there are bad boys. Dick Cheney was good-looking and considered a 'nice' boy in high school, but he turned out to be bad, and not in a good way. If you see what I mean.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Trumped by Trollop Doxy! Why am I not surprised?

    Sister Mary Clara, exactly. There are good bad boys and bad bad boys, and somehow I knew that you would sort it out for us.

    ReplyDelete
  23. From what I have read of Edwards, you are not the only woman in Louisiana to kiss Gov. Edwards, and you are not the only woman to kiss the governor in the presence of her spouse. You may however be the only one to end the relationship there!

    Which arguably shows your moral superiority, or something.

    FWIW
    jimB

    ReplyDelete
  24. Well, my $.02 worth...there's bad boys. good boys, good ole boys and bubbas. Think the bad boys mentioned (I dare not speak their names) just wish they were perceived as GOBs. That of course will never be the case!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Jim, I'm not above a little flirting, but that's as far as it goes. And he did have what we called in the old days, a reputation.

    Susan, neither of them will ever, at any time have the remotest chance of being a GOB. NEVER!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Mimi, I do believe you are a vamp....!

    IT

    ReplyDelete
  27. IT, you've got it right, and once a vamp....

    ReplyDelete

Anonymous commenters, please sign a name, any name, to distinguish one anonymous commenter from another. Thank you.