Bobby Jindal is Kenneth the Page

[Anonymous]

This is hilarious:

http://gawker.com/5159908/bobby-jindal-channels-kenneth-the-page-in-gop-response

[Anonymous]

Does he always talk like that!?

[Anonymous]

Kenneth the page? Yes. Bobby Jindal? No. Somebody on his staff must have thought that speaking to the American public like we were morons was a good idea. Methinks that someone is getting fired today.

[Anonymous]

Thanks OP! LMAO!

On a serious note, did anyone else think it was kind of sad that Jindal was spouting on about how evolved Louisiana is when that very afternoon 6 people got shot, including a child, during Mardi Gras?

As a DC resident even during the 80s drug wars, I am not passing judgement. Just seems like it was a little presumptuous to hype LA as some type of model for America.

Jindal seems like pretty impressive as a person (hokey comments aside). And of course he's proud of his state, but the RNC has a waaaays to go if this was the best they could do from a media stand point.

Agree that somebody's getting bounced for the "volcano monitoring" messup.

[Anonymous]

Wow. I found that clip so odd I thought I would go back and listen to the whole speech, just in case the clip was doctored. But the man did really spend a good part of his speech talking to us like we were in elementary school. I'm stunned by this.

I try hard to be fair and understand where people are coming from even if their politics are very different from mine. But it's really hard to interpret that delivery as anything other than insulting the nation's intelligence. Does he talk to the voters of Louisiana that way? If so, Blanco must have been really bad for them to choose him over her.

[Anonymous]

To get an idea of how out of character his speech was, skim down the page at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/, and take a look at some of the cuts from his appearance on Meet the Press.

[Anonymous]

15:11 again. Thanks, pp, for sharing that link. I see that maybe his delivery was just an ill-advised approach -- like Bill Clinton at the Democratic National Convention in his governor years. But the response to Obama still worries me -- as a US voter, does Jindal think he has to talk down to us? Would be interesting to see how he campaigns in Louisiana.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:as a US voter, does Jindal think he has to talk down to us?

He may have to talk down to reach the current Republican base. Remember, that's the group that believes foreign policy experience is gained by being able to see Russia from one of the most remote areas of your state.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:He may have to talk down to reach the current Republican base. Remember, that's the group that believes foreign policy experience is gained by being able to see Russia from one of the most remote areas of your state.

I have a friend who is a very bright guy, and has been very helpful to me in situations I was really unfamiliar with. He is a gun-loving ex-cop, and also a savvy ex-lobbyist for the Teamsters Union. He hates Obama and likes Palin. He is part of the Republican base, but nobody needs to talk down to him. I will never understand his politics, but I have a great deal of respect for him.

[Anonymous]

here's the kenneth impression:

http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/blogs/2009/02/the-jack-mcbrayer-response-to-the-internet-response-to-the-republican-response-to-the-presidents-add/#more

[Anonymous]

I find him to be very odd and wonder why the Republicans keep saying he is their new great leader. They are in more trouble than I thought if this is the best they can do. To me he seems to completely lack any charisma which is what the Republicans seem to think he has going for him. Oh, well they also thought women would flock to Palin.

On the dumbing down though, keep in mind some politicians do better with trying to simulate a plain spoken quality. However Jindal doesn't do a very good job. Some voters outside the larger metro areas don't trust people they can't understand. Its weird that the a segment of the US voters don't want someone smarter than them in political posts but true. You have to ask whether they would someone who wasn't smarter then they are and who they would like to have a beer with performing surgery on them. Probably not but leading the country? Well that's OK.

Clinton and Reagan did the best balance in being able to communicate with language that was accessible and meaningful to all but not idiotic and dumb as "W" and now Jindal is trying.

[jsteele]

On top of everything else that was wrong with Jindal's response to Obama, it turns out his story about bureaucrats preventing rescue boats and Jindal's challenging them to arrest him was not true:

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0209/Jindal_aide_Story_was_set_after_Katrina.html

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:On top of everything else that was wrong with Jindal's response to Obama, it turns out his story about bureaucrats preventing rescue boats and Jindal's challenging them to arrest him was not true:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0209/Jindal_aide_Story_was_set_after_Katrina.html

I read that piece and I see your point, jsteele, but the story only loses a little being placed after the storm blew through. I don't care for Jindal's politics but I can't see how this is a big correction of the story.

What I find amusing is how he has gone on elsewhere about how the levees are "Federal" levees and so the Feds should fix those. This suggests that New Orleans and Louisiana didn't get anything out of having those levees built. Frankly if he is so damned anti-government assistance, I think they should just pull the damn things down and let the state of Louisiana cope without all that terrible Federal assistance. (probably would have been better off without the levees to begin with but a bunch of developers wouldn't have been so happy!)

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
I read that piece and I see your point, jsteele, but the story only loses a little being placed after the storm blew through. I don't care for Jindal's politics but I can't see how this is a big correction of the story.

Since Jindal now says that he heard the sherif recounting the story -- rather than witnessing it -- Jindal couldn't have said he was willing to get arrested too. Actually, there are a lot more holes in Jindal's anecdote and I expect he will be walking this back further. But, I think it is significant that Jindal put himself in a story in which in reality he wasn't in.

I agree with you on the levies.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I read that piece and I see your point, jsteele, but the story only loses a little being placed after the storm blew through. I don't care for Jindal's politics but I can't see how this is a big correction of the story.

Since Jindal now says that he heard the sherif recounting the story -- rather than witnessing it -- Jindal couldn't have said he was willing to get arrested too. Actually, there are a lot more holes in Jindal's anecdote and I expect he will be walking this back further. But, I think it is significant that Jindal put himself in a story in which in reality he wasn't in.

I agree with you on the levies.

Oh sorry, I read it too fast and missed the part about the sheriff recounting the story. Whoops! Starting to sound a little like Burris! Perhaps more is to follow.