Governor Landry is coming under increasing scrutiny from his conservative supporters for his refusal, thus far, to back legislation or take other actions that would significantly lower insurance rates in Louisiana, owing to his desire not to ruffle the well-feathered nests of the very wealthy and powerful trial lawyers that the latter have made for themselves here in our beloved Bayou State.

Such a course of action puts him at odds with the working class, to whom he has consistently sought to present himself as a defender.  He cannot continue to try to serve both the corrupt trial lawyers and the honest plain folk.  To try to do so would consume the remaining years of his administration in futility, along with the welfare of most of Louisiana’s citizens.  The moment has come for Gov Landry to decide:  Will he devote himself to the high-flyin’ trial lawyers or to the lower classes?

For his encouragement in making the right decision, he has the benefit of historical figures who have made heroic stands to break the power of oppressors and to uplift the downtrodden.  One of the most spectacular of those men is Basil II, the Emperor of Constantinople-New Rome from 976 to 1025 A. D.  Like Louisiana today, the Byzantine Empire in Basil’s time was plagued by a class of oligarchs who exploited the lower classes and spurned the legitimate power of the rulers of Constantinople.  Basil succeeded in subduing these powerful men and in prospering the working classes:

‘The ruthlessness and tenacity that served Basil II in his military and diplomatic activities were displayed in his domestic policy as well. Its keynote was the strengthening of imperial authority by striking at his overpowerful subjects, particularly the military families who ruled like princes in Asia Minor. The by-product of this policy was the imperial protection of the small farmers, some of whom owed military service to the crown and paid taxes to the central exchequer’ (Joan Hussey, ‘Basil II,’ britannica.com).

‘Basil was popular with the country farmers,^[105] the class that produced most of his army’s supplies and soldiers. To assure this continued, Basil’s laws protected small agrarian property owners and lowered their taxes. Despite the almost constant wars, Basil’s reign was considered an era of relative prosperity for the class.^[35][106]

‘Seeking to protect the lower and middle classes, Basil made ruthless war upon the system of immense estates in Asia Minor^[34]—which his predecessor Romanos I had endeavored to check^[49]—by executing a legal decree in January 996 that limited rights to property ownership. If the owner of an estate could prove that he claimed his estate prior to the Novels of Romanos, he would be allowed to keep it. If a person had illegally seized an estate following the Novels of Romanos, he would have his rights to the estate declared null and the legal owners could reclaim it.^[107] In 1002, Basil also introduced the allelengyon tax^[108] as a specific law obliging the dynatoi (wealthy landholders) to cover for the arrears of poorer tax-payers. Though it proved unpopular with the wealthier sections of Byzantine society,^[109] Basil did not abolish the tax;^[110] . . .’ (‘Basil II,’ Wikipedia).

In addition to these oligarchs, Constantinople was threatened for years by the Bulgars to her north.  Warfare between them was nigh unending during that time.  But Basil II, as alluded to above, was able to bring peace – not by capitulation to them but by a decisive victory over them:

‘From 986 until 1014 there was warfare between Byzantium and Bulgaria, interrupted from time to time by Basil II’s intermittent expeditions to settle crises on the eastern front. Basil II enlisted Venetian help in protecting the Dalmatian coast and Adriatic waters from Bulgarian aggression. Year by year he slowly penetrated into Samuel’s territory, campaigning in winter as well as summer. Finally, holding northern and central Bulgaria, he advanced toward Samuel’s capital, Ochrida, and won the crushing victory that gave him his byname, “Slayer of the Bulgars.” It was then that he blinded the whole Bulgarian army, leaving one eye to each 100th man, so that the soldiers might be led back to their tsar (who died of shock shortly after seeing this terrible spectacle). Thus the revived Bulgarian kingdom was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire’ (Hussey).

The legacy that Gov Landry will bequeath to later generations of this State is in his hands.  Will he succumb to the demands of the trial lawyer oligarchy and allow them to continue their plundering of Louisiana’s industries and the bankruptcy of her less wealthy citizens?  Or will he break the overbearing power of the trial lawyers and give relief to the working class he has pledged to help?  Through the prayers of St Martin of Tours, we earnestly hope that he will follow the example of Basil II, crush the might of the oppressors, and earn for himself a name that endures like Basil’s:  Landry the Lawyer Slayer.