HITHER AND YON: Shoulda Passed Johnson’s Bill Last Year

We don’t often agree with stuff Mike Huckabee says, because there’s a certain lack of sincerity and a dumbing-down of message that comes from him we’re not fans of, but on this score he’s substantially correct…

The executive order John Bel Edwards signed did one thing which isn’t all that controversial – namely, affirm that state government in Louisiana and its departments and local subsidiaries won’t discriminate against people of exotic sexualities – and then something else which should not have been done.

That something is dissolving Edwards’ predecessor Bobby Jindal’s executive order which prohibited governmental agencies from going on the attack against private individuals who engage in what the Left might term “discriminatory” behavior against the people in question. Naturally, the Times-Picayune is slathering him with praise, but that doesn’t mean good public policy or the protection of First Amendment rights has been made.

Put simply, whether you think a Christian serious about his or her faith is being unpleasant or mean toward a gay couple who wants to have a wedding, that Christian ought to have the right not to bake a cake for that wedding, or take pictures, or provide floral arrangements. If they think a gay marriage is a sin they should have the right not to participate in it, and they shouldn’t have to live in fear that some local-yokel Human Rights Commission will have the power to ride in and destroy their business.

And before you poo-poo the idea this might happen in Louisiana, look at New Orleans and what the Left is doing to the city’s historical monuments with a brain-dead corrupt leftist mayor’s gleeful participation. Do you really believe there won’t be an attempt to attack a Christian baker or florist with lawfare at some point in the near future?

It’s a virtual certainty that will happen. It’s likely that Jindal’s executive order probably stopped it from having already happened.

But Jindal’s executive order, which pinch-hit for the bill authored by Rep. Mike Johnson that would do the same thing, is gone now. The road is clear for local governments in places like New Orleans to discriminate against their religious citizens by imposing a politically correct/cultural Marxist agenda with gay and transgender rights as the tip of the spear.

Louisiana’s Republican-majority legislature had a governor who would have signed Johnson’s bill last year, and instead they allowed the Democrats to kill that bill in a House committee.

A year or two from now the odds are excellent there will be a Sweet Cakes by Melissa story coming out of New Orleans or one of Louisiana’s other Democrat-run cities. And while the major hue and cry will be against the local Democrats who made it happen, with a nomination of John Bel Edwards as a supplementary villain for his supporting role, we should not neglect our Republican state legislature in blame for what’s to come.

———————————–

LSU finished second at the NCAA gymnastics Super Six championship over the weekend. Not bad at all. That was the top highlight of a pretty good weekend for the school’s athletic department – the rather beleagured softball team got back to its winning ways against Mississippi State, the baseball team went on the road and swept Missouri in impressive fashion, and Saturday’s spring football game showed off a number of interesting items.

Most notably among the latter is how stout Dave Aranda’s defense is. These guys get after the quarterback. Davon Godchaux and Arden Key in particular are frightening. And Aranda would blitz a funeral or a child’s birthday party, which lends a level of aggression LSU has lacked for quite some time going back to perhaps Bo Pelini’s time as LSU’s defensive coordinator. Pelini was the last defensive coordinator at LSU to earn a national championship ring, of course.

———————————–

Would it shock you to learn Louisiana’s Department of Corrections is a money-wasting joke?

Probably not, huh? Well, it is.

The audit revealed that the Department of Corrections did not always know if an offender was transferred to another work release facility or back to local jails. The audit also says there were also 254 escapes from work release facilities during 2014 and 2015.

The Louisiana Legislative Auditor also says that almost half of the work release positions in the program were not filled, costing Louisiana an additional $7 million in missed savings.

The auditor also says providers failed to collect victim restitution money to a tune of $5 million. Overall, the report says work release does save the state money, but not as much as it could if it was run correctly. Auditors suggest more oversight by the Department of Corrections over the providers that run work release.

———————————–

And now for Today’s Last Thing. It seems that some of you even at this late date don’t actually know what Poverty Point is. Fine. We found a video for you.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Interested in more news from Louisiana? We've got you covered! See More Louisiana News
Previous Article
Next Article

Trending on The Hayride