Honore Says He's Not Running in 2010

Last night, retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore spoke in Shreveport at the NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet. I'm quoting the bulk of the local paper's coverage of his speech:

"On this day, 9-11, we saw some eight years ago what happened when the enemy attacked our country and killed over 3,000 of our citizens," he opened his talk. "Shortly thereafter, the president of these United States opened a big old cap of whup-ass to go out and deal with the people who came to this country and indiscriminately killed our people.

"And these people we are fighting, we fight them today," Honore said. "Listen to me here: They are our enemies. If they were here tonight, under sharia law, first of all, none of the women would be in this room. And none of you would have the opportunity for education. So don't get confused with some of the things you hear on why we're doing what we need to do in Afghanistan, although it may be a little bit late."

Honore noted that soldiers of 200 years ago fought for a promise of freedom and equality in the Declaration of Independence, even though many were not free.

"Some were indentured, some were slaves, but they fought for a promise that took over 200 years to even come close to fruition. They fought for a promise, an idea, of freedom."

He contrasted that to today, where problems on Wall Street and Main Street have whalloped the elderly, poor and disadvantaged on what he called "Railroad Street."

Honore pointed to the drugs and lack of discipline that have left people today ill-equipped to work.

A video of him in action during Hurricane Katrina drew applause, especially when one segment noted how he had noticed a mother with young twin babies and had ordered the youngsters airlifted to safety.

But in his talk, Honore gave a somber backstory. He said that woman, only about age 18 or 19, had children with blood streaming from their faces; and another woman in the same incident had children in distress.

"What I wanted to know was where were those children's daddies? And who raised them?"

His tone assured that had he met those absent fathers who had abandoned women and children to the ravages of a killer storm, the result would not have been pretty.

Honore also peppered it with admonitions to elected leaders to take initiative to provide jobs, encourage education and prod people and businesses to take basic steps to assure their own survival in the wake of the next inevitable crisis, be it a hurricane or a tornado.

One thing city leaders could do, he pointedly told Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover, is require pharmacies and gas stations to have emergency generators so two basic building blocks of society don't go belly up when the lights go out. "Mr. Mayor, you can make it happen."

Louisiana Weekly, one of the local sources who suggested Honore might challenge Vitter in 2010, reported this week that Honore has no intention of running against Vitter. In fact, Honore tells Louisiana Weekly, "I am not running for office...I never delcared myself as a Republican during the Reagan administration. I have never lived in Zachary [Louisiana]" as initial reports claimed.

In the end, it seems as if Vitter's only challenger is Melancon who is no challenger at all.