This weekend a Louisianan won his 2nd Emmy for daytime soaps: Christian LeBlanc for his performance on the Young and the Restless. (Ellen Degeneris also a winner).
Anyways, Louisiana politics is never far away from soap opera drama so the turnout at the Emmy's is quite fitting.
Warning, this diary is childish...but yet entertaining in a Paris Hilton in prison kind of way. The protagonists are those at the helm of the Louisiana GOP and the christian right (wrong?) in Louisiana. So indulge me.
links first:
nice, quick summary on the divorce and initial drama
http://www.nola.com/...
ex-wife's political career is left to dangle
http://www.nola.com/...
oy! slapping of a child is alleged...
http://blog.nola.com/...
meanwhile patrick quinn exploits immigrant workers
http://neworleans.indymedia.org/...
and blocks harlot/wife from attending GOP christmas party where Mitt Romney is guest of honor...boo-iss
The punchline is that Julie Quinn, who was a rising star in the Louisiana GOP, has not been endorsed by the state GOP for a potential 2nd term in the Louisiana Senate.
The underlying story is juicy, juicy. So grab your morning cup of coffee and enjoy....
So the story is - we have a developer, Patrick Quinn, who is just a firecracker. He can't sit still, always looking for the next big investment. He is constantly buying and building, weathering bankruptcys, lawsuits, acquiring new partners, etc. etc. He's the original pop up doll. Knock him down, he pops back up in another direction.
Patrick Quinn is already divorced with grown children from a previous marriage. He meets Julie, who is the daughter of a fomer GOP parish councilman for St. Tammany parish (parish is a county in US speak) that is across the lake from New Orleans. The sprawl area if you will.
Julie is young, blonde and beautiful. Republican and fervent believer in living the christian life. A GOP's wet dream.
Patrick Quinn constantly has everything mortgaged up to his underwear for all of his deals, but the Quinns built a nice home in Old Metairie and did some serious rounds in the philantrhopy circuit. They had a couple of kiddos and then Julie runs for Jefferson Parish city council on the "bring prayer into schools" ticket. She does 2 terms there and then has the fight for her life and wins a seat in the state senate on a special election when the popular and beloved John Hainkel passes away.
It was quite the race, complete with commercials featuring tap dancing cigarettes (her opponenet's name was Diane Winston). A real republican women cat fight. The run-off ended up being between two republicans for this conservative district - sort of like a primary/general election in reverse. It was a photo finish to the end, but Quinn was able to pull it off.
I can't speculate on what Patrick Quinn may have done to help that along, but his son James Quinn (from previous marriage) is currently the Executive Director of the Louisiana GOP.
Somewhere between the inception of her political career and the recovery post-Katrina, Julie Quinn finds the time to have an affair with the guy who filled her parish council seat: John Young who himself was also going through a divorce....from a Christian journalist, Mary McCall!
I couldn't have written this for a hollywood script even if I had tried.
After the storm, Patrick initially is on fire, buying everything that is for sale, but then a year later his business dealings take a hit and then mix in a lawsuit with immgrant workers and the bankruptcy of one of his biggest investments: The Astor Crowne on the corner of Canal and Bourbon.
...and then his wife, Julie, is found out to be a cheater and the divorce ensues. Let the games begin!
After the storm, the little picket signs that lawncare people or computer repair people put at intersections into order to advertise are suddenly EVERYWHERE. Every available space of gras on all of the neutral ground (medians in US speak) from the Westbank to the airport are COVERED. Neighborhood stores trying to let their customers know if they are open or relocated, new contractors trying to get their names and numbers out there, etc. etc. The signs were so out of control that they were spoofed on many a mardi gras float for the first mardi gras after Katrina.
So around thanksgiving last year - the prime neutral ground advertising area by Lakeside Mall in Metairie has these little picket signs with "Julie Quinn is a Whore" or some other reference to her infidelities. It was hysterical! and there were some put in front of the quinn children's schools - ok, not so funny.
But Quinn claims that it was the work of his friends and he knew nothing of it.
Then it's time for the annual GOP gala: Red, White and Roux. Quinn hosts it at his Astor Crowne. His son, James is head of the Louisiana GOP, so guess who is barred from attending? Julie Quinn and John Young. And the ball is headlined by Mitt Romney. All kinds of articles and comments are flying about the slight.
...and now the latest is that the GOP has announced all of its endorsements for incumbents...and Julie Quinn is not on that list.
in between there Julie manages to get her father, the elder GOP statesmen from the neighboring parish, to somehow have Patrick arrested for trespassing on a restraining order she had secured....and then now the Times Picayune is suing to have John Young's divorce records unsealed and rumor is that in there Mary, John's estranged wife, is accusing Julie of slapping their (Mary's and John's) children.
Read the links above for all of the drama, it is quite the story.
and this other blog is a good read too on the topic:
http://bayoustjohndavid.blogspot.com...
UPDATE: please read DocGonzo's comments below for putting this story in its rightful perspective. Thanks DocGonzo!