Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not the . It makes me want to holler when some of you who can't say more than two or three sentences without including a four-letter word. Actually, it's the five-letter "b" word that especially galls me because it references women who I prefer to call by a five-letter "q" word that means royalty. And don't get me started about people using the "n" word.
There are — and even abbreviations — that you won't catch me using. Well, not on the regular in any given day, week, month or year. Certainly, there have been those moments in the many decades of my life when I stunned myself when one somehow crossed my lips in a moment of losing-it anger.
Gov. Jeff Landry put this post on X the day Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as the nation's health and human services secretary. Louisiana Public Service Commission Vice Chair Davante Lewis was offensive and called the governor an "asshole" in an X post. Lewis lost the vice chair role Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025.
I think it was some level of anger that caused to call out the governor on social media, using the "a" word that is a synonym for butthole. For that offense, Lewis on Wednesday lost his commission role as vice chair. Frankly, there are a few perks, but it's not even a ceremonial job. There are no clear duties and responsibilities — except one: If for some reason the chair is unable to do the job, the vice chair steps up.
That's happened only twice in recent years. Once when former GOP congressman Clyde Holloway was serving as commission chair when he died in October 2016. The vice chair served as chair for a few weeks. Another time when a commission chair moved to another state.
Lewis was vice chair when started at 9:12 a.m. He was not vice chair when the meeting ended at 12:21 p.m.
There wasn't a lot of notice. The agenda was distributed on February 10, about two weeks ago. A supplemental agenda, including an item to remove Lewis as vice chair, was added Friday and . Lewis posted his comment in response to an unnecessary post from Landry about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. being confirmed for his role as health and human services secretary. Lewis told me that he had a scheduled meeting with Commission chair Mike Francis on Friday but the chair canceled it an hour before it was scheduled to start.
There's no part of the , state law or board policy that says members can't cuss. There's no part of the constitution, state law or board policy that regulates board functions such as electing leaders.
In a Jan. 15 X post, Lewis proudly announced that he had been reelected commission vice chair. He didn't say that it was a unanimous vote. He didn't say that he and the other commissioners unanimously reelected Francis, a Republican, as chair.
In a Wednesday X post, Lewis, a Democrat, denounced the Republican Party as "full of hypocrites" after a majority of his colleagues voted to withdraw the vice chair honor with a nonunanimous vote, 3-2.
To be fair, Lewis didn't simply use that word to criticize Landry. On Feb, 13, the governor supported the confirmation of Kennedy as the nation's Health and Human Services secretary, calling him a "major upgrade" from ٰ. a trans woman pediatrician who is the first female four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
Oh, and she wasn't our health and human services secretary. She was an assistant health and human services secretary.
Lewis posted his Landry comment the same day. According to Lewis, that day Francis sent him a text using the same word.
After being demoted from vice chair on the Louisiana Public Service Commission Wednesday, Commissioner Davante Lewis shared a text he said Commission Chair Mike Francis sent to him the night of Thursday, Feb. 13.
Take Commissioner Eric Skrmetta's November public comment when Lewis was asking for his respect as a duly elected public official and commission colleague. Skrmetta's response: "Not a chance."
Skrmetta got the vice chair job Wednesday.
When he delivered his "Seven Words You Can't Say on TV" monologue in 1972, comedian George Carlin said "Be careful with words. I like to think that the same words that hurt can heal. It's a matter of how you pick them."
Yesterday decided I didn’t deserve the respect as an elected Commissioner. When I asked to be respected, he blurted out “NOT A CHANCE!”
— Commish. Davante Lewis (@davantelewis)
If you are going to disrespect me, you better be ready to expect me. I will not allow this type of behavior to go unchallenged.
I like to think we should be careful with our words and not use obviously offensive words or even non-offensive words strung together to be offensive.
It's one thing for a majority of the nation's voters to elect as president someone who is so vulgar that he regularly spews foul language. It's another for Republicans to go low, low, low with him. It's another thing for a Democrat to get in the mud and aim to outdo the cussing GOP leader of the country and nasty GOP colleagues.
Lewis and supporters said his Landry comment had free speech protection. What about free decency?
Landry was wrong. Lewis was wrong. Francis was wrong. Skrmetta was wrong. The commission demotion was wrong.
Enough said.
