I once was a passionate member of Krewe du Vieux. It’s the satirical krewe I used to write about every Carnival season. I even wrote a de facto love letter to KdV for Bayou Brief. I had a sentimental attachment to my sub-krewe because my late blogger buddy Ashley Morris brought me into it. Those days are long gone: Krewe du Vieux has named James Carville as royalty for an ostensibly progressive group. In the past, they’ve named local musicians, media members, activists, chefs, and do-gooders. This is the first purely political figure to be selected. They’ve gone from all hail to all fail.

I left Spank, the sub-krewe I helped to form, a few years ago. The last time I marched was 2023: I came up with Spank’s anti-racist theme. It was the same year that the Mother Krewe allowed racist and sexist floats to roll. Along with some internal issues, that was a  factor in my exit: The last straw was my sub-krewe co-captains’ ignorance of current events.

Our theme was That’s Not How We Bowl. We took aim at a bigoted New Orleans MAGA mini-magnate who owns the Rock-n-Bowl. We costumed in bowling outfits. I was The Dude. One member of our krewe dressed as the Q’Anon shaman. I am not making this up.

Krewe members were NOT supposed to dress as right-wing characters but this bozo did. It gets worse: when I complained to our co-captains they had no idea who or what the Q’Anon shaman was. It was only 2 years after the Dipshit Insurrection and I was gobsmacked that the leaders of a satirical krewe did NOT know this guy:

I explained that it was like marching with a Nazi stormtrooper. I was never sure if the message landed because there was no follow-up. 3 years later, I can be more charitable and write their reaction off to ignorance, not malice but at the time I was appalled.

Shorter Adrastos: They were clueless, not Trumpers.

I told that story as an example of what could be called Krewe du Vieux’s creeping Carville-ization. The funky and cool krewe I joined has gentrified with some officers who seem to be as ignorant of current events as my former co-captains. King Carville is a symptom, not the disease.

I realize most people don’t pay as much attention to politics as I do. Unlike Carville, I have no interest in fighting with the DSA or other Democrats. I know who the real enemy is, MAGA not the DSA.  It’s time for a self-quote from a post called The Big Tent:

“I’m a firm believer in the Big Tent. Anytime Democrats go into lockdown mode, we lose. Anytime we throw the tent open to new voters, we win. I prefer winning to losing. I don’t even want to kick James Carville’s ass out of the party for this:

🤔 James Carville: “I’d rather Republicans keep the house by 5 than Dems win by 5… Because then they’re hostage to DSA, and Hakeem can’t move.”😬Bill Kristol: “Good point.”So afraid of DSA folks who want M4ALL, etc. they’d rather Republicans hold power. Unreal. True colors.

— The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social) 2026-10-19T02:24:49.394Z

Carville is a has been who made his bones 34 years ago. He should stop focusing on internal disputes and remember who the real enemy is. He should STFU but remain in the Big Tent. I don’t believe in excommunication for stupidity.”

Why is KdV honoring someone who doesn’t understand the gravity of the moment instead of a local do-gooder? It used to be a progressive krewe, what is it now? Spouses usually ride with the royalty, Carville’s wife is the dread Mary Matalin, former Bush-Cheney hatchet woman and Trump voter. Queen Matalin? Really, Krewe du Vieux?

Repeat after me: Krewe du Vieux has gone from all hail to all fail.

Carville’s nickname is the Ragin’ Cajun. The last word goes to Nick Lowe: