I know lots of folks have been taking secret and not-so-secret pleasure in watching the various twists and turns of the David Vitter situation. And last night he emerged from his self-imposed and temporary exile to again apologize. I’m sure he feels like a shitheel and all — particularly since he and his wife had thought they’d moved past it. But here it is again — all dredged up and thrown out there and whatnot. Life can suck, can’t it Dave?

I absolutely love seeing moralizing twits being hoisted high on their own namby-pamby potards for all to see. I was over in Florida for a while last week and noticed they actually have a Family Values license plate. I wanted to stop the car, knock on the driver’s window and ask, “whose family?” I wanted to rag on the guy about why he thinks his family values are better than someone else’s and to ask where in hell does it say he’s got a right to impose his on others? But I fought off the urge and, really, all I’d have been doing is doing to him what he’s doing to me — obnoxiously imposing my opinions and denegrating his. There’s been too damn much of that going on in this country over the past several years — so I figure it’s just best the high-minded cook in their own juices as I have in mine. Actually, the view from the gutter ain’t that bad.

Speaking of cooking, it’s good to see a local is going to take over the La Madeleine spot at Jackson Square. As much of a free-trader as I can be, I didn’t want Starbucks (or any other bigass national chain) to go in there.

Matter of fact, if I had my way (here I go moralizing again), I’d ban all national food chains from anyplace except the access roads of the interstate highway system. If Dick The Traveler leaves his home in Des Moines and goes to, say, Bloomsburg PA, he should have to eat scrapple and chicken and waffles and sauerkraut and potatoes just like the locals. Maybe it’ll broaden ol’ Dick’s palate a little bit. Or at least make him a lot more appreciative of his steak and corn or whatever the hell it is they eat in Iowa when he gets back home. Give him a story to tell. Make the trip a little more exotic, kinda like an Anthony Bourdain episode. I’ve never understood how folks can come down here to New Orleans and always want to go eat what they eat back in Sandusky or Portland or wherever. Jesus Roosevelt Christ — put some adventure in your mouth.

….and construction continues on our restaurant on Magazine St. There’s still some work to do — something about the city’s insistence on an additonal restroom and a few other issues. We’re hoping to actually break ground this week, now that we’ve adopted a contractor. But first we have to overlay the city’s rules with what the HDLC says about what changes are allowed in such a historic building. It’ll all shake out in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I’ll keep my opinions to myself.