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| 11 September 1992 |
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| Cheryl B. Horton Criminal District Court, Sec. "A" 2700 Tulane Avenue New Orleans, LA 70118 |
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| Re: Current Events |
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| Dear Cheri: |
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You must excuse the hiatus in my corresponding, but natural disasters and mega-rich tennis stars on prime-time telly (and beyond) have stolen precious hours. Too, I've worked these few weeks. |
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| LOCAL NEWS |
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| He may have been there for years, but, for me, Samuel "Sammy" Nunez took his place among the "big bidness" and "luziana politician" types when, during the land-based casino debates in the Senate, he told Mrs. King Milling (a well-heeled do-bee), "You gotta let da system work, Honey." He then, reportedly, kissed Mrs. Milling (he has yet not been introduced to her) on the cheek, turned, and skulked away to do Quick Edwin's bidding -- or bidness. |
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| The state Ethics Board recently found (one wonders where they were looking) that although Sammy violated ethics rules in allowing himself to be swept away to Hawaii by mega-mega-rich Christopher Hemmeter, no board action was warranted since the Samster paid (after-the-fact) for the trip. |
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| Don't blame Sammy; others did it -- Mayor Sidney, Councilman Lambert, The Big Mamou. The board found that the New Orleans politicians violated ethical rules, but, like Sammy, were forgiven because they forked over the price of the trip (after someone tattled, of course). Not so with the J.P.D.A. and our righteous governor. Their trips on Hemmeter were excused as pleasure trips -- not a word of bidness having been uttered. |
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| Whoa! |
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| Let's try to lasso this logic. Barthelemy, Boissiere, and Nunez committed ethical no-no's because their trips to the tropical paradise were all work (yea, right) and no play. But that's O.K. since their ethics lacked only gentle prodding by the media. |
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| I haven't seen the actual report, which evidently concludes that a billionaire developer from Hawaii, or wherever, befriended a lawyer-governor from Crowley, Louisiana, and a "parish" official they call "The Big Mamou" and jetted them, gratuitously, to Hawaii, Colorado, and New Mexico for reasons unrelated to "government business." Gee. |
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| This isn't working for me. Perhaps a more formal approach would prove useful. The syllogism is the type of deductive argument which may well cure my befuddlement over the Ethics Board's report. You know: All insects have six legs; this creepy crawler has eight; therefore, this bug's not an insect. |
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| Mind you, the premise arguments must be ever true or the deduction does not work. Example: Maggots do not feed on viable tissue; Eddie, Sammy and the others have long been feeding on the LA public; therefore, the LA public must be dead meat. This argument, according to what remains of my Philosophy 101, is fallacious, not logical, since it is quite possible (albeit the less probable circumstance) that Eddie, Sammy, and the gang are not maggots. See how it works? |
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| Let's try it. |
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| Premise: The Ethics Board censures unethical politicians; Premise: The Ethics Board did not censure Edwin and his entourage; Conclusion: Therefore, Edwin and his entourage are ethical. |
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| Work for you? Well, it shouldn't; it is a fallacy. This is so since the first premise is not universally true. |
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| I'll try again. |
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| Premise: The members of the Ethics Board must keep their jobs and political connections to "get ahead" in LA; Premise: Their jobs and political connections would be lost if they found Quick-Edwin unethical; Conclusion: The Ethics Board must find Edwin ethical. |
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| Clear, unassailable logic. |
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| Sammy "let-da-system-work" Nunez, trying to articulate the board's fallacy, said, "I'm not in violation. The board said I would have been in violation if I hadn't made the reimbursement, but I did." |
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| WORLD NEWS |
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| In Sveti Stefan, Yugoslavia, game six ended in a draw. Spassky now leads Fischer 2 to 1 in games. |
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| Fischer's loss in game five shocked the chess world. Reporter Robert Byrne, in the N.Y. Times, eloquently expressed the sentiment felt around the globe: "Soon, however, Fischer revealed that he had no integrated long-term strategy. What was his 19 Ba5?! supposed to be aiming for? Any time he might play Bb6 Nb6, Spassky would have the bishop-pair and a beautiful position. Fischer's lack of clarity showed in his vacillating 21 Rc1 and 22 Rb1." |
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| You can't argue with that logic. |
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| More Later, |
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| David J. L'Hoste |
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| DJL/djl |
| cc: Bernard A. Horton Russell B. Ramsey Denise F. L'Hoste |