After years of struggling with those pesky liberals, it seems Gov. Bobby Jindal has finally secured an endorsement from the Louisiana Democrats.
“The Louisiana Democratic Party believes it’s time for him to resign as governor so he can leave Louisiana immediately to focus on securing the GOP vice presidential nomination,” a spokesperson told News Star. “Big Government Bobby has wreaked enough havoc.”
While the comment is snarky and about as ineffectual as the Louisiana Democratic Party itself, it plays into what may be the most harmful symptom of modern politics: posturing.
Jindal’s national ambitions are no secret. It becomes suspect, however, when illogical legislation takes the stage with each round of “Who can appear the most conservative?”
The two most immediate examples are the notoriously sweeping reforms in motion for education and gun carry laws.
In terms of posturing, these policies are a conservative win-win for Jindal – especially the education reform.
Jindal’s education reform may be summarized as expanding avenues for public school students to enroll in private schools if their
public school has an unsatisfactory rating and the student’s family cannot afford an alternative.
With this policy Jindal may simultaneously extend a hand out – or handout – to the less fortunate while also endorsing private schools over public, as the Republican Party is wont to do.
But what becomes of the lagging public schools as students are offered an institutionalized means of escaping the school system’s ineptitude?
If the government is to supply a service to its people, and that service encounters major problems, one would expect a solution rather than shirking the responsibility onto other providers.
Public education is crucial to our state, and for the government to so blatantly admit its own shortcomings by helping its people avoid the problem is lazy betrayal.
Similar logic flows through the firearm carry reform, which seeks to bar any restrictions against the carrying of firearms.
What encourages someone to carry a firearm?
Security is the primary concern, especially in the wake of various shootings which have taken place this year. But a movement to discourage restrictions concurrently encourages vigilantism.
Vigilantism is unnecessary under the protection of efficient law enforcement.
The legislation is another patch on the government’s inefficiencies.
It covers the holes and fixes nothing, like counteracting the bad press of oil on our beaches by recommending residents find prettier beaches elsewhere.
The infringement clause in the Second Amendment may be
interpreted in many ways, as is the case for much of the Constitution, but the fact that this recent proposal has resulted in a state up in arms sheds light on the polarizing effects of political posturing.
And frankly, even the guns bill is a give and take of personal freedom: While giving rights back to the people is an inherently Republican ideal – though contemporarily attributed more closely to Libertarians – this legislation forbids private businesses and institutions from disallowing firearms on their grounds.
A business owner should be able to prohibit lethal weapons on his property just as he can prohibit smoking. This right should be regarded just as inalienable as the right for self defense.
But rash proposals and sweeping policies will always meet a
welcome public when the problems the public faces become obvious, such as Louisiana’s crime rates and national reputation for poor education standings.
Louisiana, however, should be accustomed to populism by now.
The truth is change does need to occur, and it should occur sooner than later. President Obama rode a similar wave after former President Bush left the White House.
“Change we can believe in” was all he had to say.
Anyone who promised big change at that point would receive ample support, just as the Republican camp has done with this election cycle and just as Jindal has done with this state.
When this happens, logic is thrown out the window with any clear concept of results. It’s the
mentality that anything would be better than now, and such blind heaving will only spell further disaster.
Jindal governs from a black kettle, appealing to the fear of losing individual freedoms while imposing big-government rulings.
Eventually, though, the patchwork will fray, and we will face the same problems beneath it once more.
 
Clayton Crockett is a 20-year-old international studies sophomore from Lafayette. Follow him on Twitter
@TDR_ccrockett.
 
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Contact Clayton Crockett at [email protected]