A New Day for Louisiana

By Woody Jenkins, Editor, Central City News – Baton Rouge

After eight years of Democratic rule, which brought massive violations of civil liberties, illegal lockdowns, an unprecedented economic slowdown, and a disturbing rise in crime, Louisiana voted overwhelmingly for conservative change in the Oct 14 primary.  

Republican Attorney Gen. Jeff Landry won 52 percent of the vote, surprising the pundits and avoiding a costly and potentially divisive runoff on Nov. 18.  

Three runoffs for statewide office will be on the ballot that day — Secretary of State, Attorney General, and State Treasurer. Each of the runoffs will feature highly-favored Republican candidates against Democrats. 

Here in Central, the big race Nov. 18 is the runoff for State Representative between Republicans Brandon Ivey and Lauren Ventrella.

A Revealing Speech

Gov.-elect Jeff Landry is busy putting together his transition team, and many people are wondering what the new Governor believes and where he will take the state.

The Governor-elect revealed much about his political philosophy in a speech at Louisiana Health Freedom Day in Central earlier this year. The event was held at Life Tabernacle Church, and Attorney 

Gen. Landry used the occasion to remind conference attendees that Life Tabernacle’s pastor, Rev. Tony Spell, was targeted by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards in March 2020.

Edwards had Rev. Spell thrown in jail for holding church services and he tried to close Life Tabernacle.  However, the pastor was released on bail and the church never closed or stopped having services.

The Attorney General played an important role in protecting freedom of worship in the midst of Edwards’ attacks on the church.  Landry appeared at the church, made public statements supporting Rev. Spell, and filed briefs on behalf of Life Tabernacle in the state Supreme Court.  

With the support of the Attorney General, the Supreme Court ruled that everything Edwards did to Rev. Spell and Life Tabernacle was “illegal and unconstitutional.”

In his remarks to the Louisiana Health Freedom Conference, Gov.-elect Jeff Landry said,

Claw Back Every Inch Taken. “I want to thank each and every one of you all for being here, for staying in the fight, because we are absolutely going to make Louisiana a great state. We’re going to make it a safe state and we’re going to show the nation how we claw back every inch that the Left has taken from us…”  

“I make very, very few promises on the campaign trail because it has been littered with the lies of politicians who promise everything and deliver nothing. But when I was running for Attorney General, the one promise that I made to people was that we were going to create a Solicitor General’s office. What I had seen in many states around the country like Texas and Oklahoma and Wisconsin at the time, other great states, Wyoming, they were being led by attorney generals who were pushing back against the federal government. Because our system is so broken today, policies are being made in our courts…”

The Tip of the Spear. “Today the Solicitor General’s office is the absolute tip of the spear that we use to protect our liberties — our individual liberties and our business liberties. What foresight we had! Think where we would be if we had not had that office when COVID struck. Think where we would be if a scholar like Liz Murrill had not been running it. It has been an unbelievable ride!” 

We Cannot Trade Liberty for Safety.  “At our Attorney General’s office, we believe the great quote by Thomas Jefferson who said — A society that will trade a liberty for safety will lose both and will deserve neither. We understand and respect that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are limiting documents that limit the government both at the state and the federal level. Our pledge to you is that no one will encroach on that liberty. I was elected to Congress in 2010 in a big Tea Party wave that swept Congress — 95 new members of the House of Representatives, the largest class since 1927…”

The Patriot Act Opened the Door for Spying on Americans. “The first bill I had to vote on was the reauthorization of the Patriot Act. Now look, I’m a veteran and I spent 11 years in Louisiana National Guard and a year of active duty during Desert Storm.  I was a police officer and sheriff’s deputy. But I had a problem with the Patriot Act and so did some others. Of course the Obama administration kept telling us, don’t worry, we are not doing the things that you think we’re doing.  We said really? Of course, we were all freshmen.  You have to remember something. Please realize I had never been in the United States Capitol until the day was sworn in…”

“I love my country and I believed in my Government.  So they marched in the Joint Chiefs and the 

CIA director. It was all so unbelievable.  They sat there and they told us, Congressmen, we are not doing these things. Congressmen, we are not listening in on the American people. We are not infringing upon the rights of American citizens. We are not collecting metadata. So they convinced us. And we voted for it.  Then lo and behold, some months later Edwin Snow released files showing that everything they told us was a lie. Now let that sink in. I will never, ever forget that. In fact, someone asked me in an interview, is there anything that you regret when you were in Congress? I said, yes, that’s the vote I regret! That’s how it starts.”

It Starts with a Little Lie. “It starts with a little lie and taking away some of our liberty.  That was a decade ago. When COVID came upon these shores, the government sprang into action, trying to never let a great crisis go to waste to strip your liberties. But our Louisiana Attorney General’s office stood strong with you. We were the only ones that consistently sent letters to the Board of Medical Examiners and the Pharmacy Board saying, you all are out of bounds.”

Big Pharma Intruded on Doctor-Patient Relationship. “Being a good Catholic, I have to go to confession for something.  Oh man, the things that I told a good friend of mine who was the general counsel of one of the major big box pharmacies! My wife said, you can’t talk to a person like that! You know what they were doing? If Dr. McCullough is licensed and has a DEA number, he has the authority to write a prescription.  But, during the pandemic, the big box pharmacies decided to play doctor and not fill prescriptions they didn’t like. They don’t know anything about you or your patient history, but they weren’t filling your prescription. That was a sad day in this country.” 

Fear Kills Freedom.  “Never before in the history of this country have we ever been afraid of a disease. Never have we tried to make a one-size-fits-all healthcare decision for how we attack a healthcare problem in this nation? We are great because we are not afraid. We do not fear because we believe in the Lord. We do not fear because when you allow fear to take hold of you, you become a slave. You become a slave to that fear and to whoever it is that is emanating that fear as well. And then when they moved it into the election cycle, we were the only attorney general in the entire United States that sued Mark Zuckerberg.”

The Left Takes Freedom, Retreats a Little, Then Takes More. “Make sure you understand the game. The game is that the Left decade after decade comes after our liberty. And they know when to stop. When you push, they stop. But you see they’ve gained an inch or a foot or a yard, so then they stop again. You get relaxed and comfortable. Then they come back again for more of our freedom. Then you roar and they stop. But guess what? They have taken away more of our freedom. Let me tell you something. When you elect me as your governor, we’re going the other way. We’re going to stop them plain and simple.  For example, we will ensure that there will never be a patient left alone. A family member will always have access to their loved ones.  We will make sure parental rights are protected. We will make sure that the health care choices will be between you and your doctor…”

Each Citizen Must Be a Watchman on the Wall. “You know, the Army Rangers have a Latin saying, sua sponte, which means “of your own accord voluntarily.”  The essence of that motto requires that the individual recognize that when no one else is doing something that needs to get done, they do it. It does not matter their rights. They go do what needs to be done without being told.  Understand that real leadership is doing the right thing at the right time, irrespective of what your position is. Whether you feel like, well I’m just a citizen, or I’m just a mom, or I’m just a dad, or I’m just a, you know, whatever. I’m not an elected official. In America, every citizen is a leader.  He is called to do the right thing. It takes courage to do those things. That’s why I came today.” 

Thank You to You Who Stood. “I came today to say thank you — because the people in this audience have an tremendous amount of courage. You know that sometimes stepping out and doing the right thing when no one else is doing it takes courage.  That’s why no one else is doing it, right?  You can say I might fail. I might make a mistake. But I promise you this. The mistakes of acting are far less consequential than the mistakes of not acting.” 

We Must Stand! “If we stand, then this country will continue. When you sit, when you stop acting, when you think that you are safe, they will snatch liberty from us like a whisper!  And we will wind up as slaves and no longer citizens.”

Not Everything Is Despair. There is Hope! “I want you to know something. Not everything is despair.  We are going to take our government back. We will bring truth back into it. And I want you to know something else. We fix this country when we fix our states. One by one by one.  This is a big year. This is the opportunity for us to stand up. This is the opportunity for us to show America. This is an opportunity for us to show the world that this great state is not going to stand by while they strip our liberties.”