Landry win over woke EPA perhaps his biggest

The way Louisiana Republican Atty. Gen. Jeff Landry keeps racking up wins, you almost wish he would say “no thanks” to running for governor and attempt to stay on in his present job, especially after posting his biggest W to date.

Several times in his present term Landry, in conjunction with any of another to over a dozen other state attorneys general have won key cases against federal government overreach (as well as picking up some corporate settlements). Last week he and Missouri’s put another notch in their belts by having a federal district court rule that several federal government agencies and officials had to desist collaborating, if not pressuring, social media companies over constitutionally protected speech.

Their lawsuit argues that the federal government overstepped in its efforts to convince social media companies to respond to or deemphasize, if not block, postings containing information about vaccinations for the Wuhan coronavirus or that could affect elections. Evidence continues to mount that agencies and officials coordinated with several social media companies to influence news content or sources that likely affected the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and suppressed validated information critical about government policy concerning the pandemic.

Board wants to buck Court, waste taxpayer bucks

From clown show to freak show, perhaps only the Cypress Black Bayou Recreation and Water Conservation District Board of Commissioners could pull off such ignominy in a span of just over a week.

The regular Jun. 21 meeting featured comedy, doubtlessly unintentional on the part of those who provided it, that for most viewers in Bossier Parish turned surreal upon realization this was their tax dollars at work. It occurred a couple of months after the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that lower courts had to judge whether Executive Director Robert Berry, who also serves as the appointee of the Bossier Parish Police Jury to the Board, was in violation of dual officeholding law by having both posts – with the majority opinion issuing stern instructions that made clear any lower court would have to rule that he was.

That meeting demonstrated several things:

Independence Day, 2023

This column publishes every Sunday through Thursday around noon U.S. Central Time (maybe even after sundown on busy days, or maybe before noon if things work out, or even sometimes on the weekend if there's big news) except whenever a significant national holiday falls on the Monday through Friday associated with the otherwise-usual publication on the previous day (unless it is Thanksgiving Day, Independence Day, Christmas, or New Year's Day when it is the day on which the holiday is observed by the U.S. government). In my opinion, in addition to these are also Easter Sunday, Memorial Day and Veterans' Day.

With Tuesday, Jul. 4 being Independence Day, I invite you to explore the links connected to this page.

Edwards salutes LA with middle digit once more

As a parting gift to Louisianans, Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards gave them the middle-fingered salute that forever cements his reputation as Gov. Nyet.

It’s not so much the volume of vetoes, contrasted to his predecessor Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal who in his first term vetoed 74 regular session non-appropriations bills and 50 in his second term, while Edwards vetoed just 29 in his first term and wrapped up with 78 in his second. In part, it’s because Edwards cast nearly half his vetoes in just the past two years while Jindal cast only a few in his last quarter of service.

But mostly it’s because Jindal’s vetoes only rarely struck anything but low-profile measures while Edwards’ have gone against some subjects of considerable popular and newsworthy concern. So much so that Edwards looks to have triggered a third veto session in an annual row, where these meetings to overturn vetoes had been unprecedented prior to his time in office, and where one override became the first to succeed.