LA Governor John Bel Edwards calls for federal investigation

[redstateblues]

In the death of Alton Sterling. Lots of DUers didn't like Edwards because he didn't pass the purity test. I'll take a Democrat over a R any day.

[elleng]

1. Sure as hell's been doing the right things!

'Purity' is in the eyes of the beholder, I guess.

[Thinkingabout]

2. And he did this immediately.

[63splitwindow]

3. VERY GOOD (and, in South, BRAVE) thing to do! Gotta give credit where due.

[Ex Lurker]

4. West Point alum, Paratrooper, Ranger School grad.

Bravery is a given. DU may not always agree with him, but he will do what he thinks is right, without fear or favor.

[TexasBushwhacker]

5. Especially when the alternative was diaper boy

David Vitter. Louisiana is still quite religious and quite Catholic. A pro choice candidate cannot win there.

[Chakab]

6. So I'm supposed to like the fact that he was actually pandering to the "cops can do no

wrong" crowd a month ago by signing a bill that can lead anybody charged with resisting arrest to being slapped with a hate crime charge?

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/26/us/louisiana-blue-lives-matter-law/

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/05/blue_lives_matter_bill_1.html


He played a role in the creation of the political environment that led the cops who murdered Alton Sterling to believe that there would be no consequences whatsoever for their actions.

[63splitwindow]

7. You are saying that the...

"cops can do no wrong" crowd, IN LOUISIANA, welcome a FEDERAL investigation of Louisiana police actions? I don't think that suggestion passes the giggle test.

[Chakab]

8. I pretty clearly wrote that he was "pandering to them," which is exactly what he was doing

by signing that bill when he had political cover to veto it.

Sorry, but I don't reflexively support elected officials because they have a "D" next to their names, especially when they spend most of the time acting like they're members of a different party.

[63splitwindow]

9. Don't you "pander" to people...

by doing something they like? Are you not thereby saying that the "cops can do no wrong" crowd in Louisiana welcomes a federal investigation of Louisiana police actions in this instance?

[Chakab]

10. Look, if you want to play stupid, fine by me. Doesn't change what Edwards did in May.

He did what they liked by signing that bullshit bill, which means that somebody who gets charged with "resisting arrest" after being beaten by the police without cause (not an uncommon occurrence), can also be slapped with felony hate crime charges at the discretion of the local yokel prosecutors.

Sorry, but calling in the feds after the fact does not absolve him of his actions before. He was playing along with the false narrative that criticism of the cops is creating a dangerous environment for law enforcement when, in fact, the number of cops killed in the line of duty is at an all time low.

[63splitwindow]

11. If want to act stupid it's OK, that's your right.

Did he do the right thing calling for a federal investigation? That happens to be what this thread is about, not his entire career.

[Chakab]

12. The OP specifically took a swipe at Edwards' critics as if all of our

complaints about him were frivolous. I pointed out that he was deserving of that criticism.

Calling in the feds doesn't change the fact that he was playing to the crowd that was trying to marginalize the movement for police reform less than a month ago, nor does it change the fact that the "Blue Lives Matter" law is on the books in Louisiana.

[63splitwindow]

13. We found common ground.

I agree that the swipe at his critics was unnecessary.