Wither the Republic?

Governor PBJ's courageous decision to be pressured into deciding something about the CRITICAL issue of legislative pay raises has earned him the prestigious Louisiana Pundit's Medal of Courage from the wizards behind the editorial curtain at the Times-Picayune There was no comment from the Editorial Wizards regarding the courage Jindal displayed in breaking the back room promises he made to legislators (Update: More on the back room deal here)in order to earn this medal. Instead, the Wizards found the root of the drama to be Jindal's "mistake" of "being too disengaged" from the legislative process. Anyone who reads sections of the T-P not written by the Editorial Wizards might find this analysis lacking but the Wizards are great and powerful and work in mysterious ways

But let's not begrudge them their narrative so long as the wicked pay raise remains melted. That way we won't have to spit our coffee too far when we read Jarvis DeBerry compare the CRITICAL pay raise controversy to the political unrest that led to the overthrow of British rule over the thirteen American colonies. But if we are to accept this strange equating of a sensationalized and pointless political game with the birth of the American Republic, what then are we to make of the "firebell in the night" sounded by Jindal's refusal to veto the even more ridiculous pay raises for his executive staff?

Can we expect the proud militia of the Louisiana internets to rush back in and defend the citizens' hard won freedom from... distasteful compensation schedules once more? Or do we have to wait for them to finish "reloading"?

Upperdate: This morning on WWL radio, Clancy Dubos did an excellent job of explaining the Governor's deal with legislators as well as the politics of school vouchers. He also pointed out that "some people might" find PBJ's refusal to veto the pay raises for his staff hypocritical.