Former Governor John Bel Edwards was soft on crime and Governor Jeff Landry aims to be tough on crime. In terms of contrast for a Deep South state like Louisiana, there couldn’t be much more difference.

Unless the new government wants to see outmigration increase even more than it did with Edwards, Landry’s aims must become a reality and not just an agenda deferred. It must become a reality because people not only learn, but more importantly hope, through contrasts.

Contrasts of action, not just words.

On the national stage as we speak, these contrasts are showing Americans, not just telling them, the difference between a Trump Presidency and a “Biden” Presidency–with everyone doing a little reverse engineering of their memories to realize that this Biden administration is actually the same as that of Obama and Bush. Nikki Haley and others like Lindsey Graham are providing the “Republican” side of things, as much of a foil to Trump as Biden, Obama, and any Democrat pushing their America Last filth on citizens.

Such reverse recollection is now injecting people with hope that Trump will indeed be in the White House again and, at the very least, do what he did the first time around–make America prosperous and respected again. This is the bare minimum, of course. I am of the belief that if he beats the inevitable theft attempt in November, it will mean scorched earth on the illegal immigrants, on the pedophiles, on the satanists, on the money-launderers, on every single individual who has sold out this country for a fat check.

I hear you chuckling at my optimism, reader. I understand, for sure.

That hope in a future Trump Presidency, whether it be on the conservative or generous end of the spectrum, is the same thing the people of Louisiana need right now. Because if I were to venture to guess, I’m not sure that many even have much belief yet, much less hope.

Louisiana Wants Different

The Legislature’s First Extraordinary Session in January would be one reason for the disappointment. There were three primary issues on the docket, and by and large as you already know, the whole thing was a dying balloon. Here is some of Nathan Koenig’s take on it:

Overall, Louisiana First patriots gave Republicans a super-majority in both Legislative chambers and every single statewide elected office. Yet, all we get is more of the same: failed promises and excuses.

The Louisiana Legislature’s special session was a disappointing start to the new year, and I am fairly skeptical about our so-called “Conservative leadership” in Louisiana.

That being said, our Republican politicians in Louisiana have an opportunity to redeem themselves. The Regular Legislative Session starts in March, so let’s hope that our Republican elected officials achieve Conservative, “Louisiana First” victories going forward.

Redemption is the key goal here as we focus on the Second Session and beyond. And redemption is by virtue connected to that all-important word again–hope.

Edwards’ soft-on-crime agenda is one key reason why Louisiana is being destroyed by the most degenerate among us. Instead of catering to the innocence of victims and their families, leaders like Edwards offer hackysacks instead of handcuffs. Contrasting this is Landry’s tough-on-crime agenda, which includes an emphasis on the death penalty. Victor Skinner opined on the topic on Thursday:

[House Bill 6 by Hammond Republican Rep. Nicholas Muscarello] would expand options available to carry out the death penalty from lethal injection also to include nitrogen hypoxia and electrocution, with the preferred method remaining lethal injection. The state has not executed any death row inmates since 2010, due in part to complications obtaining the necessary drugs and Wayne Guzzardo explained what that reality has meant for his family.

Death row inmate Todd Wessinger killed Guzzardo’s daughter Stephanie in 1995 and her family has been fighting for justice for nearly three decades since he said.

“We’ve been through north of 25, way more than that, appeals,” Guzzardo said. “We went to the Supreme Court in New Orleans and we went all the way to the Supreme Court in Washington.”

The nation’s highest court voted 8-1 to execute Wessinger, he said, but a moratorium on the death penalty imposed by former Gov. John Bel Edwards blocked the move, Guzzardo said.

“Todd Wessnger is on death row. He gets to see his mother and father. He gets to talk to them,” he said. “Me and my wife go to the cemetery to talk to my daughter’s grave. And guess what? She doesn’t talk back to us and never will again.”

Family members of other victims testified in favor of HB 6, as well….

“I support the death penalty and I support House Bill 6,” Attorney General Liz Murrill wrote in a statement Tuesday. “I was glad to see it move out of committee to the House floor. Victims of crime and their families deserve justice.

“If the legislature passes a bill to expand the ways we execute violent thugs who have brutally murdered people, I will defend it in the courts.”

The violence in Louisiana has raged to an embarrassing level. New Orleans, for instance, was ranked as the murder capital of the nation in 2022. Other major cities, such as Baton Rouge and Shreveport, have absurdly high rates of violent crime as well. This, along with rising crime in other cities all over the state, has of course created a high incarceration rate.

Unfortunately, Edwards was of the opinion that the rate needed to be reduced, so he worked overtime to release back into civilized society some of the most violent criminals from prison. He signed a series of “criminal justice reform” bills in 2017 that released hundreds of inmates from prison early. In the waning months of his term, Edwards pardoned 40 murderers, including a killer who fatally stabbed his victim 39 times.

“For as long as I can remember, Louisiana reflexively responded to an increase in crime by putting more people in prison and keeping them there longer,” Edwards said. “We’ve never been made safer as a result of that. There is no data to suggest that an increase in crime here was because of the reforms.”

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In stark contrast, here is Governor Landry’s opening remarks in the Second Extraordinary Session this past Monday:

As Attorney General I warned that the goal of criminal justice reform should not be about letting people out of jail, but how to keep people from going to jail.

Those warnings went unheeded.   Last year I promised the people of this state, if elected Governor, I would do everything within my power to improve the safety of our communities through both legislative and executive action.  Today we continue that process.  Everyone in this room is aware that crime has put a national spotlight on our great state.

In 2021 Louisiana had the highest violent crime rate in the nation.  In 2022, three of our cities were in the top 10 most dangerous cities in America. 280 people were murdered that year in New Orleans alone, earning that city the title of “murder capital” of the country.

Last year more children were murdered in New Orleans than any year in the past decade.

While these statistics are sobering, they can seemingly be just numbers, or a passing news story.

However, for the victims, it is life altering.  The effect of being a victim of crime does not end the day after. For most, the nightmare only begins.

While these victims carry the burden of loss, they are also thrown into the unknowns of a criminal justice system that has forgotten them.

Landry and Edwards are worlds apart, and that is obviously a good thing for those of us clamoring for law and order to return to our cities. But at this point the contrast is only being dangled in the face of the people. At this point it is only a campaign promise. One couldn’t blame someone for not having any hope right now, not when they’ve been let down so often before.

Landry has consistently sided with the victims of Louisiana’s most heinous crimes, even organizing a hearing at the State Capitol so that loved ones of those tortured, raped, and murdered could tell their stories and express their views. After the darkness, they finally had their voices heard. Still, more needs to be done. The state needs these promises, agendas, and leadership, yes, but it also needs the full force of the government to do what it was elected by the people to do. We must stand up for the most vulnerable of our citizens and protect the rule of law, not allow some poisonously misplaced sense of compassion or psycho-babble to cater to the mob. If we cower and compromise in the name of politics, it’ll be the same ol’ same ol’ and you can forget hope. The people just won’t believe in the good guys anymore, or they’ll just leave.

May everyone named directly or referenced indirectly ask forgiveness and do penance for their sins against America and God. I fight this information war in the spirit of justice and love for the innocent, but I have been reminded of the need for mercy and prayers for our enemies. I am a sinner in need of redemption as well after all, for my sins are many. In the words of Jesus Christ himself, Lord forgive us all, for we know not what we do.

Jeff LeJeune is the author of several books, writer for RVIVR, editor, master of English and avid historian, teacher and tutor, aspiring ghostwriter and podcaster, and creator of LeJeune Said. Visit his website at jefflejeune.com, where you can find a conglomerate of content.