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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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mahalapril
4:38PM 4:38PM Feb 26th 2009
Quack Dr. Mush - Did you already forget No. 2 Al-Qaeda leader Al-Zawahri ridiculing Obama by calling him a house negro because Obama is weak militarily
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Allstarace
4:13PM 4:13PM Feb 26th 2009
Speeches about the greatness of America will not accomplish a thing. To a young liberal college boy who wrote this article and probably pays no taxes and has no real responsibilities they are great. When the American people see the lackk of substance and true accomplishmet is Obama's past (and present), I believe the fall will be very hard and very real. Matt, don't get too ambitious. You may find yourself wealthy----and resented in Obama's America.
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hockeydc
8:24PM 8:24PM Feb 26th 2009
Must be short for "Not so Bright" Hall. He doesn't understand Jindal's straight forward speech and robotically falls in line with Obama's trillion dollar deficit. What a simpleton.
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Joseph
10:09PM 10:09PM Feb 26th 2009
Jindal is a lackey and a shill for conservatives. He is willing to hurt his poorer constituents to curry favor with the GOP brass. Extended unemployment benefits would help feed hungry kids, keep lights on and give a family hope. He is pathetic. He will never be president. He stands a better chance of being president of India. Besides Alfred E. Neumann can't fool me with that childish diguise. I knew it was him all the time.
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Cyrus Jan
11:57PM 11:57PM Feb 26th 2009
Wow. Republicans trying to sell us that they can fix things better. Its just like someone takes a baseball bat, smashes your car, robs you of your money and belongings and then tries to convices you that he is your real friend and can fix your totalled vehicle better than the guy at the body shop.
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bear4692
4:34AM 4:34AM Feb 27th 2009
Gov Jindal is a Republican crony and has no original thoughts.
He looks like someone in " The Lord of the Rings "
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Mark
9:53AM 9:53AM Feb 27th 2009
The republicans want more of the same old B.S. that Bush and Cheney dished out to us for the past eight years, which by the way is the cause of our troubles today. Always remember, the republicans are responsible for the mess America is in. Bush is an idiot and Cheney is a hater and so are all the people who voted for them. It's time to move on! President Obama is a smart man, imagine that, a smart President, who will lead us out of the darkness created by the irresponsible, torturous, and idiotic republicans. Don't be fooled by the "Party of no" America.
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mahalapril
11:07AM 11:07AM Feb 27th 2009
Michelle Obama is ugly.
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mcl449
3:43PM 3:43PM Feb 27th 2009
So is your mama.
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mcl449
4:16PM 4:16PM Feb 27th 2009
But she is still what you will never be - The First Lady of the United States.
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tim
1:21PM 1:21PM Feb 28th 2009
Typical red state trailer trash comment.
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carol
2:10PM 2:10PM Feb 27th 2009
For those of you who continue the "fear fest" of the Bush/Cheney rein by stating that we are ruining our grandchildren's future, you may want to pay attention to(prehaps read about) history and economics. Bill Clinton turned Bush 1st 3 trillion debt around in FOUR years! And nobody's grandchildren suffered after the proportionally larger deficit spending of the Great Depression. It resulted in one of the largest economic booms of this country's history.
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Ralph
2:19PM 2:19PM Feb 27th 2009
Governor Bobby Jindal. Why do people think he is one of the rising stars of the Republican party? Why did the GOP send him out to respond to President Obama's "Stimulation" speech? What is going on here?
If the Republicans don't get their act together soon, President Obama and his Obamamaniacs are going to do what no foreign country in the world can do. Destroy America. That will sure show us for being racist against the Afro-Americans all these years! After all, we are a "nation of cowards" and we deserve to lose our status as the most powerful, wealthiest, and freest nation in the world..."Our chickens have come home....to roost!" There doesn't appear to be anyone who represents us in congress or anywhere else, who gives a damn, and the only time the people will rise against injustice is when it is done to the poor Afro-Americans, illegal aliens, homosexuals, or women who demand their rights to abortion!
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Ralph
2:31PM 2:31PM Feb 27th 2009
Governor Bobby Jindal needs to focus on the business of Louisiana and leave comments for the President's speeches on his economic "stimulus", to the grown-ups in the GOP. If this is the best we can do to rail against Obama and the Democratic congress' irresponsible spending sprees, then we as a nation are in big trouble!
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jbl
2:45PM 2:45PM Feb 27th 2009
Jindal looked like Apu who owns the quickie mart on the simspsoms I was waiting for him to finish his pathetic speech by say thank you come again.
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ddoddtop1
3:18PM 3:18PM Feb 27th 2009
Poor Gov. Jindyl, he couldn't see he was beening used just for the color of his skin to give remarks and that a regular republican (none ethnic)especially that wants to run for president in 4 years will not go towards a mic until he decides to run so no one will know he has never planned on trying to work with the president. As poor as his state is, he should except all the money he can get.
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Le WIlhelm
3:50PM 3:50PM Feb 27th 2009
the confusion of this writers actually mirrors my confusion when I read his leftist propogranda from time to time. We'll see. Maybe he can go espouse his theories in Burma or Tibet in a few years. If he and his ilk don't turn us into a Burma. Yes I know mayanmar.
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mcl449
4:40PM 4:40PM Feb 27th 2009
If everybody would just stop trying to insult each other and work together, life would be better for all of us. No matter what you say, Barack Obama IS the President of the U.S. and will be for the next four years.
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mahalapril
6:03PM 6:03PM Feb 27th 2009
mcl449- Don't bet on it. The incompetent,corrupt,islamic terrorist sympathizer, dishonest, militarily weak democratic Obama administration is leaving our homeland and the American citizens vulnerable and defenseless against outside islamic terrorist attacks by downsizing our military budget,troops,advanced weapon and fighting machines,intelligence gathering especially prohibitng waterboarding when the 3,000 innocent American civilians were mercilessly massacred on 9/11, 17 US sailors killed in Yeman and the beheading of 5 American innocent civilians and soldiers in Iraq.How could Obama be sympathetic to the islamic terroristS by dropping charges against the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing,closing Gitmo and releasing most islamic terrorists , some of whome already went back to killing our US troops. The US military, for the first time in US history may be forced to take over the gov't and hold a new election right away to give the American people an honest,honorable,uncorrupt,strong national defense minded,moral value even without religion, fiscally responsible US Government Administration free of tax cheaters,liars and corrupt politicians. It is possible.
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Jon Brooks
10:17PM 10:17PM Mar 4th 2009
Mr. Negrin's response is an insult to intelligent and rational discussion. The offensive and unusually conspicuous use of colorful adjectives to demean Jindal and praise Obama do a disservice to both.
After reading this self-absorbed and thoughtless garbage, I was left wondering only one thing; what caused the degeneration of Negrin's essay writing abilities since his claimed mastery in the 4th grade?
Matt, I will do you the favor of explaining what it means to be bipartisan: It means setting aside political agendas and taking action based on rational thought. If Republicans have largely rejected the stimulus package because it doesn't make sense, it doesn't imply the decisions were necessarily partisan. Ironically, the most partisan diatribe I've encountered all day has been reading your entirely substance-lacking response to Jindal's speech.
I applaud Jindal's respectful address to Obama, as apposed to your nonconstructive pandering to the weakest of thinkers. Perhaps your 4th grade writing ability will return, like a majestic phoenix rising from the ashes of your collapsed mind... speaking of awkward quips.
Sometimes government intervention is the best course of action, and sometimes allowing the invisible hand of the market to solve problems is best. Having a knee-jerk reaction without seeking to understanding the situation, while easier, is less constructive. Why don't we leave fiscal policy concerning our economy to those that devote the most effort to understanding economics instead of worshiping particular politicians?
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