Dear Louisiana House of Representatives,
I just wanted to say thank you. Not for helping find a way to reduce cuts to higher education and health care, but for something much more important — your resolution honoring rapper Hurricane Chris.
On Wednesday, the Shreveport native and Godson of Rep. Barbara Norton even performed his hit “Halle Berry (She’s Fine)” on your floor, a spot typically reserved for the democratic process.
The video of Chris’ rap is bouncing around the Internet like a beach ball at an LSU football game, and plenty of ridicule is being thrown your way. But don’t worry, it’s not like you had anything better to do during those 10 minutes. I mean, we’re only in the middle of a financial downturn, and critical funding decisions were in your hands.
And don’t listen to The Cajun Boy on New York’s wildly popular blog “Gawker,” who wrote, “unparalleled in the history of American political corruption is the backwards collection of scoundrels, scallywags, hooligans, rascals and charlatans collectively known as the Louisiana State Legislature,” after posting the video. He’s just jealous he didn’t get to see Chris’ exclusive performance in person.
What you did was great for Louisiana’s image. Just when I thought the country looked at you as mere political laughing stocks, you decided to add being hip-hop connoisseurs to the mix, taking a few minutes to listen to rap music instead of those boring bills. There was only one day left in the session, and the budget was still up in the air — but hey, so were your hands.
In all seriousness, while Hurricane Chris is enjoying success — he's had the No. 5 single in the country and will be performing at the BET awards tonight — the Legislature is not the place — and the day before the tumultuous 2009 session ends is certainly not the time — to honor him.
Thanks to Youtube — have you heard of this Web site? — thousands of people have seen your hip-hop blunder, making Louisiana the butt of jokes once again.
So thanks for the embarrassment. I can’t wait to cover the Legislature next spring. Can I make a suggestion, though? I say we just postpone Voodoo Fest and have it at the Capitol next session. We’ll sell T-shirts. It’ll be great.
Sincerely,
Kyle
P.S. Here’s the video of Hurricane Chris performing the clean version of “Halle Berry (She’s Fine)” on the House floor Wednesday:
It's encouraging to see a student-aged person know what dignity, integrity and responsibility are. Lord knows the bozos at Huey's House don't. Quality of Life issues are being given short shrift by our 'leaders' and Kyle was courteous and justified to mock those self-interested hacks.