In light of the fact that Edwin Edwards is finally in jail, and that I don’t have to live under the governance of the Louisiana legislature, I feel a certain nostalgia for the colorful politicians my home state produces. Here’s a fine example . It’s the website of an obscure U.S. Senate candidate, an independent called Live Wire Landry. Were I in Louisiana, I would vote for the Republican who stood the best chance of making the runoff with Mary Landrieu, the Democratic incumbent. But admiring Live Wire’s manly mullet, his unironic stare, and his martial campaign slogan (“Let’s drop a bomb on Saddam”), I would have been tempted. Anyway, south Louisiana has a tradition of electing politicians with nicknames. I remember driving the future Mrs. Dreher around the bayou on her first trip to the Great State, and we passed a raggedy sign tacked to a telephone pole, reading: VOTE NEEDLENOSE FONTENOT FOR POLICE JURY. “Needlenose?” she said wryly. “Hell yeah!” I said. “If he used his real name, nobody would know him.” Needlenose Fontenot, God bless you wherever you are.