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boston university
politics
What the Heck Was Bobby Jindal Talking About?
The Louisiana governor had a tough act to follow Tuesday night. But Bobby Jindal, decidedly another rising star among the GOP's ranks, gulped down his fears and strode through the hallways of his mansion to deliver the "Republican Response" to Barack Obama's pep talk for America.
Bearing resemblance to an essay I wrote in the fourth grade, Jindal's speech was titled "Americans Can Do Anything." Obama had just spoken about making the country stronger than ever, like a majestic phoenix rising from the ashes of the nation's collapsed banking system. On the way, Obama even promised to cure cancer. How is Jindal supposed to respond to that?
He did the only thing he could do -- or at least what his speechwriters had planned out for him. He talked about Obama's historic presidency. He spent an unusually long time talking about how his own parents came to Louisiana from India, and they couldn't pay for his birth delivery, but his dad worked out a deal with a doctor, and then one time he went to the grocery store with his dad, and his dad was awed by the amount of food on the shelves, and then he said, "Bobby, Americans can do anything."
At an apparent loss for a segue into his official response to Obama, Jindal opted to tell another anecdote -- this time about when he visited a sheriff during Katrina, and the sheriff was yelling into the phone, and Jindal asked him why he was so mad, and the sheriff said that volunteers with boats who came to rescue people on their rooftops couldn't get permission to save people because "some bureaucrat" forbade them from rowing without proof of insurance and registration. Then Jindal said that was ridiculous, and the sheriff yelled into the phone again, and --
Hey, Bobby, do you have any specifics about the economy, or anything?
After what seemed like hours later, Jindal finally got to his point: Republicans rightfully wanted to lower taxes to "create more jobs." But the darn Democrats axed the plan. Instead, he said, they passed a wasteful bill that puts aside $140 million for "volcano monitoring."
Hey, Democrats! What you "should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, D.C.," Jindal awkwardly quipped.
Jindal also highlighted other vague GOP principles: to "address the crisis in health care," "make sure every child in America gets the best possible education" and "promote confidence in America."
And for all his talk about Democrats' quibbling and misguided politics, he chided them for not being "bipartisan" enough. Everyone should "put aside partisan politics and work together," he said. No word yet on whether his fellow Republicans, nearly all of whom voted against the stimulus package, got that message.
Jindal, who gained political points among some Republicans when he said last week that he will refuse some stimulus money, also may have forgotten to look over his notes after Obama's address. One of the first things Obama said was, "We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before."
Yet Jindal for some reason countered with, "Don't let anyone tell you that we cannot recover, or that America's best days are behind her."
Jindal, whose tie matched the stripes on the American flag behind him, closed his national debut by invoking the abolition of slavery, the triumph over the Great Depression, victories in not one but two world wars, equalities gained from the civil rights battle, the extinguishing of the "Soviet menace" and the courageous response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"The American spirit has triumphed over almost every form of adversity known to man," he said, "and the American spirit will triumph again."
Bearing resemblance to an essay I wrote in the fourth grade, Jindal's speech was titled "Americans Can Do Anything." Obama had just spoken about making the country stronger than ever, like a majestic phoenix rising from the ashes of the nation's collapsed banking system. On the way, Obama even promised to cure cancer. How is Jindal supposed to respond to that?
He did the only thing he could do -- or at least what his speechwriters had planned out for him. He talked about Obama's historic presidency. He spent an unusually long time talking about how his own parents came to Louisiana from India, and they couldn't pay for his birth delivery, but his dad worked out a deal with a doctor, and then one time he went to the grocery store with his dad, and his dad was awed by the amount of food on the shelves, and then he said, "Bobby, Americans can do anything."
At an apparent loss for a segue into his official response to Obama, Jindal opted to tell another anecdote -- this time about when he visited a sheriff during Katrina, and the sheriff was yelling into the phone, and Jindal asked him why he was so mad, and the sheriff said that volunteers with boats who came to rescue people on their rooftops couldn't get permission to save people because "some bureaucrat" forbade them from rowing without proof of insurance and registration. Then Jindal said that was ridiculous, and the sheriff yelled into the phone again, and --
Hey, Bobby, do you have any specifics about the economy, or anything?
After what seemed like hours later, Jindal finally got to his point: Republicans rightfully wanted to lower taxes to "create more jobs." But the darn Democrats axed the plan. Instead, he said, they passed a wasteful bill that puts aside $140 million for "volcano monitoring."
Hey, Democrats! What you "should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, D.C.," Jindal awkwardly quipped.
Jindal also highlighted other vague GOP principles: to "address the crisis in health care," "make sure every child in America gets the best possible education" and "promote confidence in America."
And for all his talk about Democrats' quibbling and misguided politics, he chided them for not being "bipartisan" enough. Everyone should "put aside partisan politics and work together," he said. No word yet on whether his fellow Republicans, nearly all of whom voted against the stimulus package, got that message.
Jindal, who gained political points among some Republicans when he said last week that he will refuse some stimulus money, also may have forgotten to look over his notes after Obama's address. One of the first things Obama said was, "We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before."
Yet Jindal for some reason countered with, "Don't let anyone tell you that we cannot recover, or that America's best days are behind her."
Jindal, whose tie matched the stripes on the American flag behind him, closed his national debut by invoking the abolition of slavery, the triumph over the Great Depression, victories in not one but two world wars, equalities gained from the civil rights battle, the extinguishing of the "Soviet menace" and the courageous response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"The American spirit has triumphed over almost every form of adversity known to man," he said, "and the American spirit will triumph again."
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Tammy
8:45AM 8:45AM Feb 25th 2009
What about the last eight years with bush? What did the republicans do then? NOTHING!!!! They got us into this mess, they did nothing to help the American people, they worked against everything any other party wanted to do, they followed their little big shot do nothing ex-president around like a puppy dog, and now all of a sudden they want to work together and make everyone believe the republicans are for the American people....you have got to be kidding???? Republicans had eight years to do something and all they did was sit on their a**, start a war and spend money, well, now it is the Democrats turn, sure they will make mistakes too, but so far they are at least trying to help.
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salome
9:52AM 9:52AM Feb 25th 2009
oh please.at least be informed that HUD/FHA are diM managed,FHA sets the rates,agencies were repeatedly told to check their actions of loaning out money to the unqualified,bad accounting practices,zero accountability,etc.
Now,if you were capacble of the minimal amount of thinking,you'd have a clue and at least see that being th FHA sets the rates for THEIR subprimes....when it became obvious and public knowledge that there was a prOblem....they could have at the LEAST-adjusted,lowered THEIR rates.
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salome
10:08AM 10:08AM Feb 25th 2009
How come you're unaware that the FHA and HUD are diMwitt management ? and that the FHA sets the rates for their subprimes ? And at the least,know who started this bs and who supercharged it.
Both agencies cited multiple times since andy cuOmO was there,absolutely no accountability,millions missing.
Can you add 1+1 and arrive at 2?
FHA sets the rates. Subprime industry's going bad.
Why didn't the FHA simply lower the rates ?
and taxpayers are supposed to believe that this is all simply a helluva coincidence that this happened right before elections and as usual.....100% dimOgenic,therefore among the minions....only the dems have the solution.
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Angiebaby
9:44AM 9:44AM Feb 25th 2009
Good morning, Grasshopper. Today's lesson: Measuring two by one stick.
Hey, Bobby/President Obama, do you have any specifics about the economy, or anything? Same same.
President Obama: Yes we can! Governor Jindal: Americans can do anything. Same same.
Governor Jindal: Don't let anyone tell you that we cannot recover. President Obama: (last week) America may not recover. This week: (post-Bill Clinton version of Reconstructionism) Uh, yes we can. Same same.
Political rhetoric sound like braying of ass when fill wise ears. Braying of ass sound like perfect 4-part harmony when fill ignorant ears. Wise Grasshopper think on these things before aspire to become 5th Eagle.
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dale
3:17PM 3:17PM Feb 25th 2009
Go eat some more mushrooms.
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Tom
8:42AM 8:42AM Feb 27th 2009
I hate everything about you, Angiebaby. You think you know so much . . but you're just as ignorant and brainless as the rest of the Repubs out there. Obama's been outlining economic recovery policies for the past month and a half, if you haven't noticed. You know, the stimulus plan, the budget . . .
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Angiebaby
9:03AM 9:03AM Feb 27th 2009
Sound like June Bug baby of family still sleep in Mommy's bed. Or maybe lurk under bed.
President Obama has talked many time in big circle about economy, not offer specifics. This neither Rep or Dem opinion. Just fact. But teacher think you also hate Independents, Libertarians and members of Green Party. June Bug probably very lonely on private island of ignorance.
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OLKE
9:45AM 9:45AM Feb 25th 2009
EVERY TIME EVERYONE SAYS ANYTHING ABOUT OBAMA IS AUTOMATICALLY CALLED REPUBLICAN AM NOT A REPUBLICAN BUT I HAVE LIVED IN A COUNTRY THAT WENT DOWN TO COMUNISM...AND BELIEVE ME IT'S WHERE THIS COUNTRY IS GOING FASTER THAN THE OTHER..THAT HUGE EXPENDING IN ONLY 1 MONTH IS SCARY IS MUCH MORE THAN KATRINA IRAQ AND EVERYTHING DURING BUSH TOGETHER AND MOST OF THE MONEY TO BE GIVEN AWAY TO OTHER COUNTRIES LIKE GAZA (900MILLIONS) AND EXECUTIVE ORDERS TO BRING PALESTINIANS HERE..COZ NO OTHER COUNTRY WANTS THEM..AND THE MAINSTREAM PRESS OBSCURING EVERYTHING YOU HAVE TO READ BBC OR WND.COM OR OTHER COUNTRIE'S PAPER TO KNOW ....
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mcl449
4:12PM 4:12PM Feb 27th 2009
It must be time for you to move on to another country.
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Tasha Tchin
5:14PM 5:14PM Mar 3rd 2009
It is not communism we are headed toward, but corporatism, and we are already there. Under communism, the state leads the way. Under corporatism, the corporations lead the way. Both are socialistic and will destroy us.
You will note that be it Bush or Obama, both march to the beat of the corporate drummer. Both were most interested in bailing out their corporate masters (backers) before seeing to the needs of We the People, the Citizens of these United States. Even Obmam's overly pricey "stimulus package" has no guarantees to require the hiring of American workers on any of those peskey pork projects, those were conveniently removed in the dead of night, behind closed doors in the House-Senate conference. We wouldn't want to guarantee jobs for Americans when we can guarantee them unemployment insurance checks for a few month instead of honest work, now would we? Obama thinks this is a wonderful idea and signed the bill. He also gave the go-ahead to import 65,000 new H1B visa applicants this Spring. I guess there aren't any qualified Americans looking for white-collar jobs among the tens of millions of un- and under-employed Americans.
The "battle" between the "Left" and the "Right" is just "bread and circus" meant to distract an already distracted populus from discovering the scam that is being perpetrated against them. The propagandists feed the illusion that there is a significant difference between the two socalistic camps. "When two elephants fight on the lawn, the grass suffers." The propagandists are so caught up in covering the fight that they fail to notice the suffering of the grass. And, so too, does the rest of the country.
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Dottie
10:08AM 10:08AM Feb 25th 2009
WOW! Wasn't Jindal exciting and intelligent sounding? Can't you just see a Jindal/Palin ticket in 2012??? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I can't wait! NOT!!!
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dale
3:09PM 3:09PM Feb 25th 2009
I liked Dottie's comment about the Jindal/Palin ticket for the 2012 presidential election!!!! How comical could that train wreck be?!
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falling
6:16PM 6:16PM Feb 25th 2009
Obama is definitely a masterful speaker, but I would rather have a leader who told me the truth in less than a perfect manner than a leader like Obama who stands up before the country and lies in flowery phrases! Obama cannot do what he says he is going to do without socialising every part of our country. I'd much rather that the economic hit now, than increase the size of our lower class through increasing handout programs with money stolen from the pockets of our hard working middle class! Obama has never progressed past his community service idealogy, where the poor can be "saved" if they are just given enough money. It has never worked and will never work...people like my neice who has six children by five fathers will just keep popping out more children in order to get increasing handouts! BTW, why wasn't welfare phased out once women were given control of their reproductive systems through "choice"?
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Appalled in Louisiana
11:25PM 11:25PM Feb 25th 2009
I find it fascinating that a person who seems to be a college student and feels entitled to criticize others can't be bothered with using proper spelling or other grammatical rules!
Negrin pounds on my governor -- seemingly for being the child of immigrants who appreciate this nation! Wow -- to be so blessed and fortunate to be able to look down one's nose at hard-working, appreciative Americans -- while attending university without basic knowledge of the English language! Your parents must be so proud!
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r. richard fusilier de la claire
10:31AM 10:31AM Feb 25th 2009
Yep,. we've over loaded the lifeboat with deadwood in this formerly great country of liberty and of the brave. Where are we going now?
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Bob Ganny
11:18AM 11:18AM Feb 25th 2009
It was apparent that the speech by Mr. Jindal was written WAY before the Obama speech. Another out-of-tune move by the GOP. That Jindal speech was an insult to anyone who has a modicum of brains in their heads.
Obama has done more to help this country than GW did in eight years. If you believe that the intervention of the government is too much speak to your neighbors who have lost their homes, or their jobs.
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mahalapril
3:23PM 3:23PM Feb 25th 2009
Jindal's speech is the real solution to our financial crisis caused by the democratically controlled Banking and Finance committees. Obama is so cool under pressure even while lying that people still like his style of speaking and people forget that these arec the hallmarks of a pathological liar. Jindal is not charismatic but Sarah Palin is and that is why the democrats are so afraid of her because she can energize the 70% silent christian majority of the US. She was able to debate Biden but was insulted by the questioning of these liberal- biased anchors.If Palin debates Obama, Obama will be saying ah,ah ,ah before answering.I bet that Sarah Palin read and know more newspapers than anybody because she is a journalism major graduate . She is a successful Alaska Governor having made budget decisions ,running the state, standing up against the corrupt politicians even in her own party and reducing spending reducing spending. Obama was a senator for one year and all he did in the senate was vote present. He had no accomplishments at all. According to Biden and Hillary during the primaries Obama is naive ,inexperienced and not fit to be commander-in-chief. Remember his talking with the terrorist and rogue nations without preconditions and Iran is a small country and not a military threat ? Do you know that Sarah Palin has more national security experience than Obama ? Palin is the commander-in-chief of the AlASKA NATIONAL GUARDS and Palin is briefed frequently about national security because Alaska has both offensive nuclear and defensive nuclear shield missiles and early warning systems because of it's close proximity to Russia.What does Obama know about national security and foreign affairs.Obama even said the US troops surge in Iraq won't work and now Iraq is a democracy.Our US troops in Iraq wiped out thousands of multinational islamic fanatics who went to Iraq and are now assembling in the safe haven of Pakistan because of a better chance of survival. Obama,Pelosi and Murtha were wrong and failed to surrender our troops in Iraq.
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KUNZSP
12:08PM 12:08PM Feb 25th 2009
Bobby Jindal was brillian, dynamic --
and slick. He blew me away with the
annoucement that Pres. Obama's father
is from Kenya which renders Obama ineligible from the presidency. On
prime time at that.
And Supreme Court Justice Scalia was
a no show. Hmmmmm.
Phyllis Kunz
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dale
3:16PM 3:16PM Feb 25th 2009
I have it on good authority that Justice Scalia has been placed in charge of the Supreme Court's broom closet and that he now works night shift. That's why he couldn't show up.
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billybob
12:34PM 12:34PM Feb 25th 2009
hey matt just out of curiosity?.?.?.? do you put on knee pads when writing articles about obama and have plenty of towels handy? just wondering!!
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