Monday, December 2, 2013

Governor Allain just passed.

JJ just received word that former Governor Bill Allain just passed away.

Updates: Here are press releases on the Governor's passing:


Governor Phil Bryant:


“Deborah and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Gov. Allain, and we are praying for his family and friends. We appreciate his many years of service to this state and are also grateful for his service in the United States Army.”

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann: 


“We mourn the loss of Bill Allain, a veteran, Attorney General, Governor and a strict  constitutionalist.”

Rickey Cole:

JACKSON-Rickey Cole, Chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party, issued the following statement on the passing earlier today of former Governor Bill Allain:

“Once in a while Mississippi politics will produce a leader who has the courage and the talent to make a real difference for the working people of our state. Never has there been a better champion of the common man than the late Bill Allain. Both as Attorney General and as Governor, Bill Allain made it his business to keep the interests of the average Mississippian as his primary consideration in crafting public policy. Whether battling to keep utility costs affordable, insisting upon frugality in state government, or fighting to open up the closed doors of insider politics, Bill Allain always made it clear that he was the people’s advocate, without hesitation or apology.

His was one of the most tremendous legal minds of his generation. He knew the federal and state constitutions better than just about any other member of the bar. He could see into the future in ways that too few politicians can. In constitutional reform, in government accountability, in consumer and taxpayer advocacy and in fiscal responsibility he was decades ahead of his time.

It was my privilege to know and seek the advice and counsel of Bill Allain over the last several decades. He had an agile mind, a rapier-sharp wit, a wry sense of humor, and a devotion to the public good that never wavered. He was truly one of a kind, and Mississippi is much the better place thanks to the service of her talented son and faithful servant Bill Allain.”

26 comments:

Respectfully said...

R.I.P, Guvnah........

Anonymous said...

I admired the Governor for demanding equal treatment from the feds with our sister state, Louisiana, which had received a veto on nuclear waste dumps.

Anonymous said...

attorney spell, sr., just got assigned to dance on hot rocks for the mourning period.

Just me said...

He was a fine man and had one of most brilliant Constitutional minds in the bar.

Anders Ferrington

Anonymous said...

Passed what? He died. Say it. He's dead Jim!

/pet peave #1-the media refusal to admit people die...they pass

Kingfish said...

He knows, Jim, he knows.

Anonymous said...

pet peave #2 - idiotic commenters who go anal about using passed versus died

Anonymous said...

He was born in Natchez and reared in Jackson

Rosencranz said...

The captious, niggling, and gloriously "anal" Paul Fussell, in his ubertext *Class*, rightly points out that it's an indicator of one's social stratum and upbringing---the way we refer to dead people. Broadly: the upper clahss prefers the simple "he died," the middlers tend towards, "he passed(away)" and the "proles", every time, will lay on even more euphemistic verbiage: "he received his Angel Wings and went to be with his Lord and Saviour," or "Paw Paw had his Heaven Date." (This group is also quite fond of capital letters.) But, the dead are in their graves in any case, and "oh, the difference to them"!

Anonymous said...

What that group of oil men did to Allain is probably on a long list of what they have done or attempted to do to others.
I hope their unforgivable deeds remain deeply embedded in their regrets of things they have done to others in the past, that is, if they are honest even with themselves.
They set out to destroy, as the article states, Bill Allain both personally and professionally. These men will be held accountable one day no matter how many times they have tried to convince themselves that they did a good thing.
I never met Bill Allain, but I do remember that he was an outstanding Attorney General and leader as Governor.
RIP, Gov. Allain.

Anonymous said...

With apologies to the governor, I enjoyed the picture of the ever-rotund Steve Holland standing behind him in this morning's paper. If you consider the forehead standing behind Holland to be Holland's headwear, he resembles a rather Rubenesque Grande Fopaw of Mississippi Secrets.

Anonymous said...

Allain was a breath of fresh air after the segregationist Winter.

guildenstern said...

Yes, what a (*snort*)(*titter*) dreadful thing those waggish oilmen did! Just awful! A roast in Hell awaits! But I must be truthful: as an all-agog innocent young girl reading the VERY FIRST INTERESTING POLITICAL STUFF ever in the papers---man-oh-man, that there was some first-rate entertainment! My equally snarky friends and I quickly worked up a routine, in which a gay friend of ours played the gubernatorial candidate, denying in fine Southern-stentorian bluster that these were LIES...and three giggling girls did what we imagined was a fine imitation of a black tranny whore. I believe the one I played was "Devia Francine," and my best friend was "Nicole Toy." I forget the third faux-prostitute's name, but her line was taken straight (!) from the Channel 3 interview: "Yaaaaahyess, Ah dates Mistah Allain, yayess indeed Ah does."

Anonymous said...

My time in government left me with disdain for politicians in general and a distaste for both parties, but there were seven politicians I came to respect.
I respected them because they were committed to doing the best job possible for all the people and could put their egos and personal interests aside for the betterment of our State. They were always well-informed and cared about facts and were politically courageous.

Governor Allain is tied with Gil Carmicheal at the top of my list of seven. They are two of the most personally and intellectually honest men I've ever known.

I fear we will never see their likes again.

Susan Purdy

Anonymous said...

I had thought maybe KF was blocking some comments to keep the thread classy, but nope.

Anonymous said...

If what the oil guys did was a lie then it was terrible. If the oil guys told the truth then they did the public a favor.

Anonymous said...

9:18
Nobody would be talking about the tranny prostitute story today, if Sam Hall (wasn't he the head of the Democrat Party in Mississippi) had not seen fit to print that, and the C-L to put that in the byline. True, or not, it was neither Republican or Tea Party that shoved that story in everyone's face. Now WHY would Sam Hall bring that up?

Anonymous said...

WHY would Sam Hall bring that up?

Funny how ol' Sam failed to mention to the C-L reading audience that he, Sam, was 7 or 8 years old in 1983 when this political hit job was done on Allain.

Hall's story leans so heavily on Nash because Nash planted the story to run now at the time of the Governor's death.

ophelia said...

Oh, 11:04, you widdle puddy tat, "keep the thread classy"??? By whose definition? "Classy" can also mean, letting everyone have their fun when it all gets too goddamn serious. And by golly by gosh, there are some commenters here who would not know "funny" if it bit 'em on the ass.

Anonymous said...

Ophelia, this thread is about the death of a man, who, by most accounts, was an asset to our State.
Letting you have your FUN means to many that you desperately crave attention by any means.
By golly by gosh, has anyone ever mentioned to YOU that your rear-end looks "funny"?
I usually don't reply to blog warts such as yourself, but this was hard to resist.
Entertaining oneself with grammar school techniques when no one pays attention surely must be disheartening.
Carry on. You and all your other screen names, that is...

Anonymous said...

That Bill Allain and Gil Carmichael are neck and neck among courageous political visionaries is, if not laughable, certainly representative of delusion. Both had silver hair and visions of a national network of government subsidized rail cars. Both were failed politicians. Both wore thousand dollar suits and wingtips and ate regularly at Piccadilly.

Anonymous said...

4:45 is a perfect example of a remark that tells little about its subject, but all too much about the small person making it.

Anonymous said...

4:45 pm Obviously you did not work on any issues facing our State with either man. Nor do you have detailed knowledge of the transportation visions both shared. Nor have you any facts about the benefits a national rail transportation system would have impacted , not only our dependence on foreign oil, but our economy had their vision been implemented 3 decades ago.
As for those of you who shockingly never learned the reasons well brought up Southerners learned not to speak ill of the dead or to find amusement in the death of a fellow human, let me enlighten you. The deceased will always have family and friends who are not responsible for the deceased's human flaws and their mourning should be respected.
And, we know that we, too, are imperfect and hope if we respect others, perhaps we will earn respect. If you expect your friends to be perfect, you won't have any.

Publius said...

Carmichael and Allain both had the revolutionary idea that the 1890 constitution should be replaced. The Bourbon Democrats put the 1890 document through and the current political establishment(Republican Party, Winter/Molpus/Mabus/Musgrove Democrats, Yellow Dogs/Holland, etc) is completely satisfied to keep it.

Why throw the legal doors open to the People when the keepers of the government have pocketed the whole apparatus for themselves?

Anonymous said...

Yes, 9:37 pm and legal scholars can't make heads or tails out of some of the State Constitution. Mississippians would be shocked if they actually read the entire document. Some sections are completely incomprehensible.
Brad Dye led the opposition.
When you compare our Constitution to that of other states, it's really an embarrassment and truly a large part of the reason we haven't progressed and have such problems with political corruption.

Anonymous said...

When we elect a Guvnah, are we really looking for the 'best constitutional scholar' out there? And if we are, why and to what avail? Do we intend him to represent us on Jeopardy?

"Boards and Commissions" for 500, Alex.

R.I.P Bill



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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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