GOP rising star alienates biggest supporters (volcano watchers)
04 Mar 2009, Posted by Jacob Wolff in Backpages, Jacob Wolff, 2 Comments
Ever since the blog world grew tired of talking about the famous press conference where a man threw his shoes at former President George Bush (you have to admit, it’s still hilarious) the liberal blogosphere has been longing for something humorous to talk about.
Well, on the morning of Feb. 24 apparently Republican Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal woke up and said to himself: “America needs some laughter, and I’m just the man for the job!” Jindal, widely considered a ‘rising star’ in the Republican party, was chosen to give the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s recent speech to Congress. As a young, up and coming Republican, many were looking forward to Jindal’s speech, perhaps hoping it would have a similar effect as Obama’s 2004 keynote address to the DNC had for the current president’s national popularity.
They say any publicity is good publicity, but don’t say that to Jindal’s face. Frankly, there are way too many hilarious things about the speech to bring up. But let me take you on a YouTube tour of the highlights:
- MSNBC’s Chris Matthews can audibly be heard saying “Oh God” as Jindal mysteriously enters the room from around a corner:
- Jindal offends volcano monitors:
- Does the tone deaf and happy-go-lucky even when saying things that are from from happy-go-lucky Jindal remind you of someone?
Is Matthews Nostradamus reincarnated? Could he foresee the hilarity that was to come? Probably not. Matthews should be saluted for keeping his reaction as muted as he did, as I literally giggled uncontrollably at Jindal’s tackiness and cutesie grin
Jindal talks about how the stimulus package included “$140 million for something called ‘volcano monitoring’. Instead of monitoring volcanoes, what Congress should be monitoring is the eruption of spending in Washington, DC.” This comment has scientists fuming (nice play on words, CNN). As one volcano researcher at the U.S Geological Survey, Marianne Guffanti put it: “We don’t throw the money down the crater of the volcano and watch it burn up.” Okay, Jindal, you’re right, let’s stop monitoring volcanoes like Mt. St. Helens, that’s a great idea! Remember the last society that decided to fire their volcano watchers? Yeah, that was Pompeii. That turned out realllllly well for them.
No, I’m not referring to your 3 year old nephew. It’s “Kenneth the Page” from NBC’s 30 rock. Even if you don’t watch the show (I don’t), you’re probably familiar with the lovable Kenneth. If not, watch the video and you’ll be shocked at how similar they sound. Not that Kenneth isn’t a nice boy, but I don’t think he’s the kind of person Jindal wants to be associated with politically. Though Page to President would make for a good Hollywood flick, Jindal picked a bad person to impersonate.
Even GOP titans such as Rush Limbaugh have come out against Jindal. Combine this with the new RNC Chair Michael Steele’s much ridiculed desire for an ‘off the hook’ GOP hip hop makeover, and it’s been a tough couple of weeks for the Republicans.
My suggestion to the GOP: just keep your mouths shut for a bit. It may be your best bet. Look, the country is in a tough situation now, and even with the best efforts from Obama and the Democrats, a lot of Americans are still going to be hurting come election time. It’s going to take a while for the economy to get better, no matter who is in charge. Perhaps the Republicans ought to just wait until they can play “Look, the Democrats controlled the Congress and the White House, and we’re still in a recession” card (knock on wood, come on economy, get well soon).
But by all means GOP, keep tossing Jindal and Stelle out there, America needs a good laugh in these tough times.
Let me start by saying, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with crying over Barack Obama’s election or his inauguration. In fact I tried to muster up a few manly tears of my own while I watched his inaugural address, but no dice. At first I thought maybe I was too icy-hearted. Then I figured maybe it just hadn’t hit me. But finally, today I realized it’s because I was—and am at the end of the day—a huge cynic.
A strange feeling came over me as I watched the inauguration this afternoon: a weird sense of being pleased by the outcome of a political event. As modern college students, we are contractually obliged to be cynical and jaded, detached and ironic. But for a small gap of time I didn’t feel any of that. It didn’t really have anything to do anything President Barack Obama said (not that his speech wasn’t good, just that it was what we’ve come to expect from him). It was the sense of actually having respect for a political leader, of being kind of (as pathetic as this sounds) in awe of someone I was “supposed” to be in awe of.
