Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill is a protege of past malaka of the week Gov. Jeff Landry. She served as his solicitor general before being elected AG last year. Even though she’s wearing pants in the featured image, she’s best described as The Clownfish in a frock. And that is why Liz Murrill is malaka of the week.
Murrill is following her predecessor’s example of butting into New Orleans’ business. They hate having a gay friendly, gun agnostic blue city amidst their ruby red empire. I’m not sure if antipathy to the Crescent City inspired her lone gunman style outfit but her pointy shoes are as disturbing as the pistol strapped to her hip.
Murrill is knee deep in all the horrendous legal issues her mentor favors including the Ten Commandments bill. It’s a test case to see if the Supremes will overrule the 1980 decision in Stone v. Graham barring that religious display in public schools. Given the current makeup of SCOTUS, it looks like a win down the road for the malevolent malakatude of Ms. Murrill.
Our focus in this post is not on social issues but on guns. Murrill is a champion of the Gret Stet’s open carry law. She got into it recently with NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick over a second line shooting incident. In addition to their role in jazz funerals, second lines are a joyful expression of New Orleans Black culture bringing music and dance to the streets. Guns have no place in these celebrations.
Here’s the colloquy between Chief Kirkpatrick, who reminds me of my third grade teacher Mrs. Frederick, and Attorney General Murrill who evokes no fond memories in me whatsoever.
“Kirkpatrick says new statewide gun laws allowing people to keep their weapons on them during events like these make it harder to prevent deadly crime in a large crowd.
“I understand Constitutional Carry, and that is why it might be OK in one part of Louisiana, but we are not all the same. You cannot say that certain parts of Louisiana reflect what is true for New Orleans. And when you have huge amounts of people who are enjoying themselves, but where you mix alcohol and all other kind of dynamics, the risk level goes up, it goes higher,” Kirkpatrick said.
Attorney General Liz Murrill rebutted those sentiments, saying the law isn’t to blame.
“Since when do violent criminals who shoot multiple people follow our laws? I wouldn’t classify them as ‘responsible gun owners.’ Let’s talk about the NOPD consent decree – $150 million has been spent so far, and kids are shooting each other because police aren’t allowed to enforce the law, and gun-carrying criminals aren’t facing consequences. Now is the time to focus on capturing the criminals responsible for this lawlessness, not place blame on a state law that received overwhelming support by the people’s representatives in the Legislature.”
The mendacious malakatude, it burns. In typical right-wing fashion, Murrill sets up a straw man then proceeds to knock it over with lies. Kirkpatrick said nothing about responsible gun owners, her focus was on public safety and removing guns from a situation they can only make worse. It’s called law and order.
I refuse to use the term Constitutional Carry. It sanitizes a deeply stupid law that endangers public safety. It fetishizes the gun love felt by a section of our society without consideration of how it impacts innocent bystanders: 14 of whom were wounded in the second line shootings. 3 people died. What does that have to do with the Constitution?
SCOTUS has sanctified guns in a string of cases beginning with Scalia’s 2007 opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller. Subsequent cases have conferred a quasi-religious gloss on the Second Amendment. Clarence Thomas thinks an armed nation is a safe nation. Former Chief Justice Warren Burger vehemently disagreed in a 1990 article for Parade Magazine of all places:
“We see that the need for a state militia was the predicate of the “right” guaranteed; in short, it was declared “necessary” in order to have a state military force to protect the security of the state. That Second Amendment clause must be read as though the word “because” was the opening word of the guarantee. Today, of course, the “state militia” serves a very different purpose. A huge national defense establishment has taken over the role of the militia of 200 years ago.
Some have exploited these ancient concerns, blurring sporting guns — rifles, shotguns and even machine pistols — with all firearms, including what are now called “Saturday night specials.” There is, of course, a great difference between sporting guns and handguns. Some regulation of handguns has long been accepted as imperative; laws relating to “concealed weapons” are common. That we may be “over-regulated” in some areas of life has never held us back from more regulation of automobiles, airplanes, motorboats and “concealed weapons.”
A Nixon appointee, Burger was no liberal. But he understood the Founders’ intent on this issue in a way that the so-called originalists never have. Liz Murrill only understands owning the libs. And that is why Gret Stet Attorney General Liz Murrill is malaka of the week.
A quick closing note about Murrill’s t-shirt in the featured image. She should keep Warren Zevon’s lyrics out of her lying mouth and off her chest. Treading on WZ during his lifetime was a risky business.
The last word goes to Asia:
100%! Thanks for this. And, as always, FTD