Posted by Hardy Parkerson, Atty. - Lake Charles, LA on 12/07/06

More | Report Post

Chapter 2 - Our Inauguration

Once we have been elected, there will come the
swearing in. It really will not be my Inauguration, but
the inauguration of the little people of Louisiana. I plan
to study the inauguration of Andrew Jackson and make ours
match or outdo his first inauguration as much as possible.
I recall studying about Jackson’s inauguration when I was
a student at McNeese and taking American history from Dr.
Donald J. Millet. Dr. Millet was a great professor, and
in those days at McNeese he taught his classes in an old
Army barracks moved onto the McNeese Campus and converted
into a classroom. In those days, many of the McNeese
classes were held in such old Army barracks. Dr. Millet
taught much more than history. He taught about the
Catholic Church and about Christianity as well. His
lectures just came across in such a way as to let us know
that his calling was more than as a history professor.
And although I had gone to church all my life, and in my
years prior to college, I had pretty much gone to church
three times a week: Sunday morning, Sunday night and
Wednesday night; nevertheless, I never learned what the
Doctrine of the Trinity was until I heard Dr. Millet
explain how St. Patrick had gone into England and had
taken the clover leaf to explain to the indigenous natives
how that the Godhead could be and was “three in one,” by
demonstrating how the cloverleaf was “three in one.” It
was strange to me, even early in my college years, to
realize that I had learned such an important tenet of the
Christian Faith as the Doctrine of the Trinity from a
Catholic, as I had been brought up in a church and in a
society which was pretty much “anti-Catholic.”

As a young adult, I once had a serious problem,
and I sought out for spiritual advice a friend of mine who
was a retired Catholic priest. We had never discussed
religion before, only the fact that he was a retired
Catholic priest. When I approached him about my problem,
I had the presence of mind to call him “Father”, although
all of my life I had been taught to “call no man ‘Father’
but the father who was in Heaven.” Nevertheless, I said
to my friend the retired Catholic priest, “Father Gobeil,
I am not a Catholic, but….” He heard my initial
introduction to him and said, “Son, let me ask you some
questions!” When I had answered all of his litany of
questions affirmatively, he said, “Son, you ARE a Catholic…
according to Vatican II.” This came as a real surprise to
me; and, I must add that since that time it has always
been a comforting thought to me. Sometimes when I am
asked if I am a Catholic, I answer, “No, but I am a better
Catholic than a lot of them I know.”

What has this got to do with the Inauguration?
Not so much; but I plan to have the Bishop of Louisiana
for each of the the religious denominations in the state
of Louisiana be a big part of the people’s Inauguration;
for, after all, there is only “one” religion and I do
believe it is the “catholic” religion, whether it be
Baptist, Methodist, Assemblies of God, Pentecostal, Church
of Christ, Episcopalian, Roman Catholic…whatever it is.
There is more to it all than this, but this is something
to think about.

I was brought up in a church that did not believe in
dancing. However, I have come to believe over the years
that dancing is not as bad as it was made to seem to me
when I was a boy growing up. So at the Inauguration,
there will be “dancing on the Capitol Grounds,”
and “dancing in the Streets of Baton Rouge.” We will have
good Cajun music and good Cajun bands there to play and
sing. Also, we will have good Blue Grass bands and
vocalists there and good Country and Western bands and
vocalists there and good Gospel bands and Gospel vocalists
there. If we can afford him after the election, we are
going to have Willie Nelson and Governor Kinky Friedman
there…singing, as usual. The Parkerson Administration is
going to be a musical one. I am going to have Jimmy Smith
and Leonard Grissino and Brother Murrell Ewing and…you
name him, or her…if he or she has musical and/or vocal
talent, he or she is going to get a chance to perform at
and be a big part of the People’s Inauguration and on the
grounds of, and in the Lobby of, the State Capitol and on
the grounds of and inside the Governor’s Mansion, and all
during the four years of the Parkerson Administration.

And if we can afford to pay their plane fares and
hotel bills--or maybe we can let all of them stay in the
Governor’s Mansion during our Inauguration week; for sure
I’ll be staying in my R.V. parked in the parking lot at
the Governor’s Mansion--we will have former First Lady
Nancy Reagan and her and President Ronald Reagan’s family
there; and also former First Lady Rosalyn Carter and
President Jimmy Carter there too; and President Gerald
Ford and former First Lady Betty Ford; and President Bill
Clinton and former First Lady, Hillary Clinton there. And
if I am failing to mention somebody special that you would
like to see be there and to be a big part of our
Inauguration, you just let me know who it is, and I will
do my very best to get them there.

There is more to it all than this, but this is
something to think about and to look forward too. And you,
if you desire to be, you are going to be a big part of our
Inauguration too. You just let me know!

From MY FIRST DAYS IN THE GOVERNOR'S MANSION, 12/07/06, by Hardy Parkerson, Atty. - Lake Charles, LA.

Attorney Chatboard

LATEST POSTS | BY TOPICS | SUBMIT A POST