re: Former Gov Edwin Edwards has died at 93

To compare Edwin Edwards to Pablo Escobar is rank stupid hyperbole. No doubt he was ethically challenged at times but he did not kill people or threaten their safety.

You should read Maginnis' book The Last Hayride to get a better feel of who he was and how he operated politically. Also I was reading another poster in here that mentioned his box suite in the Dome and the Saints / Falcons playoff game. You don't have that game without Edwards. You don't have the Super Bowls in the 80s and 90's without Edwards. You would have a giant eyesore that would no doubt be in horrific disrepair without Edwards' involvement. He saved the Saints from leaving in the mid 80s when John Mecom was getting ready to pick up and move most probably to Jacksonville.

By the way, that suite that the poster spoke of was not Edwards' suite. It belonged to the Superdome itself and for use by the Superdome Commission which was lead at the time by Mark Delesdernier . I know, I used to bartend those games in that suite and I distinctly remember bartending that game in 1991.

Sentries, good government types back then would bitch and complain about him,, but they never offered up any concrete proposals in the legislature. They would do nothing even when Edwards or for that matter Roemer would invite them to the table to see where there could be common ground. Guys like Vitter would do nothing but bitch and throw up roadblocks. The black caucus would make ridiculous demands. Oil men out of Shreveport wanted shite. Lumber interests would try to screw with people's property rights. No one wanted to compromise on budgetary issues.

Yeah he did things for South Louisiana that may have been ....gratuitous, but he understood that South Louisiana was the economic engine that drove the state and New Orleans was in the driver's seat. As goes New Orleans, so goes the state. I remember a Lt. Governor telling me one time that if we did not keep the Saints and we did not keep NOLA halfway operational, Louisiana would be a place that you drove through to get from Houston to Florida with state troopers collecting money from motorists.

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Louisiana would be a place that you drove through to get from Houston to Florida with state troopers collecting money from motorists.

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Good news. Now it’s just a long desolate stretch between two Bucees.

"A lost opportunity": As noted in an earlier thread, the State had Texaco by its balls for gross underpayment of oil & gas royalties from the mineral rights the State owned. It was a slam dunk, no question about it, Texaco got caught with its pants down & all the documentation was there in the 100's of depositions taken & Texaco's own documents. Texaco, though, was able to drag it out, till EWE was re-elected. This was between his 2nd & 3rd terms . When he got back into office, the State, for no known legal reason, settled with Texaco for pennies on the dollar. The oil & gas industry & the legal community was shocked. Hundreds of millions of dollars was involved. Lost. EWE in turn had a 10'high brick fence built by Texaco, completely around his huge Texas ranch. Debartolo, in copping his plea with the Feds over kickbacks he got from EWE, openly complained about the corruption, tied to EWE, that was La.s reputation. How much money did the State lose when EWE & his Lebanese mafia cronies took over the running of Evangeline Downs? How much money did the State lose in buying right-of-ways, for I-49 through St.Landry Parish? The term kick back comes to mind. I know a part of the oil industry that only did not love EWE, it hated having to deal with him. Related to EWE's control of the State Mineral Board which controlled the leasing of the State's mineral rights.I have never heard, from any source, that La. did not suffer economically because of its corruption reputation.

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I've talked to big business guys around the country about Louisiana for years and graft/ corruption is far down the list.

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This is the exact opposite of my experience. I’ve been told by 3 of the largest investment institutions in the world not to put any Louisiana assets in their portfolio. These covered multiple energy sectors. Why? The corruption and culture of theft creates too much instability. To put that in perspective, 2 of the 3 are ok with investing in Argentina.

I suspect he'll run again anyway and will probably get elected again.

I'll stand by my sources, you will as well I am sure. My father was a landman for over 30 yrs & much to his distaste, had way too many dealings with Edwards, as did associates of his in the industry as well...they all told the same stories. Bottom line, EWE got out of bed each morning looking for money to steal.

I didn't care for his policy or ethics but GOT DAMN I bet he was fun to hang out with!!!!!!!!

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Same here. I talked with several developers interested in a shuttered industrial site and when they found out Louisiana, all interest ceased immediately

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lolz if you baws think La has the market cornered on that, we're not even lose

A chimp could have looked good with the economy in the 70's. McDermott was paying 50% above union scale and popping out jackets, caissons and production platforms like puppies from Amelia. Anyone could get a job. Even during still largely segregated Gulf Coast, black men were getting paid union scale by smaller companies in the Morgan City/Amelia area. Everyone was making money, everyone.

He was making bank as well as those who supported him in 1971. An uncle was among that group, via one of his partners made a deal to furnish a pair of twin engine planes to Edwards campaign for use. After he won, they were able to pick and choose which wells to provide drilling fluids for with every major oil company operating in the state. No play no lease or drilling permit. They sold the company near the end of Edwards' 2nd term while sales volume was artificially high. All of them lost their money, my uncle lost his in a scam real estate tax shelter in Texas, and his investment when real estate collapsed in the early 80's.

A friend here in BR owned an auto dealership where one drawer in his desk was for Edwards biz. Men came with with brown paper bags and someone from Edwards office came by once a week to collect the bags.

Then there was the poker game weekly at the governor mansion where men went to lose $10k plus inorder to get state contracts. Edwards claimed all of this as gambling winnings on his taxes to launder it. He publicized trips to Vegas was to play up that he liked to gamble make the poker winnings look legit.