The special session of the Louisiana legislature failed to over ride Gov. Edwards' veto concerning the carrying of concealed weapons and transgender rights. The democratic governor stood tall with his veto of the harmful legislation and received enough votes in the state house to sustain the veto. The governor's leadership spoiled the republicans attempt to satisfy their base with their divisive tactics.
Louisiana does not need more guns on the streets and in the hands of those who attempt to do harm. Law enforcement people across the state opposed the gun measure and rightly so. The transgender issue was an attempt to discriminate against certain people and governor Edwards realized just how harmful both measures would be to the state and its people. The republican's liberal stand on gun safety and their many attempts to support discrimination is documented over the years.
Governor Edwards is in the right position at a time of republican extremism both in state and at the federal level and has guided the state out of the pandemic at its worse hour, reversed the trend of deficit spending and debt and the malaise of the Jindal years. His leadership has confused the so called conservative opinion writer Garey Forster and Forster takes it out on his own republican party in an opinion column dated 7/20 in the New Orleans Advocate.
In his opinion column Forster takes aim at his own party for not standing up to Edwards since his election in 2016. He calls Louisiana a blue state even though Trump won the state twice by wide margin. Forster said in his column he wants to see the republicans stand up and over ride the governor's veto.
The real problem for Forster, the state GOP and the national GOP is they do not govern with policy or plans. They govern with an extreme ideology of division with an anti-American attitude and there fore fail on the issues facing the state. In other words they fail at governing. The legislation the republican controlled chamber passed that Edwards vetoed was a good example.
The bottom line is Governor Edwards is so much more competent than any republican state legislator, republican opinion writer or any republican who tries to define himself as leader. The people of Louisiana my have voted for Trump twice, but enough voters with courage decided a democrat would be best to lead Louisiana and its people. And that really says it all.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
