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The Spectacle Blog
Bobby Jindal continues to talk a better game than he delivers -- and I say this as a longtime supporter of his. This link is from the web site of C.B. Forgotston, a conservative tax and budget expert who spent seven years as a top aide for the state House Appropriations Committee. C.B. is no fan of Jindal's -- because, he says, Jindal doesn't actually walk his conservative talk. C.B. always has been mighty uncompromising, but then again, he usually lets actual facts do the talking, and facts don't compromise.
This isn't the first time Jindal has disappointed. His vaunted ethics reforms did indeed strengthen the RULES against ethical violations, but while he wasn't looking, the bad-ol'boys changed the STANDARDS governing ethics investigations to make it more difficult to bring charges in the first place. So Louisiana ended up with tougher rules that were, unfortunately, tougher to enforce.
My point here is not to slam Jindal. I actually think he is a sincere, reformist conservative. And he really is incredibly bright. But he (and his administration) are far from perfect, and if conservatives want Jindal to become a serious candidate to be their standard-bearer in the future, we must insist that he continue to improve his performance, in the details where it counts. He's awfully good at national PR. But he needs to continue to seek real excellence and live up to the standards he claims to profess -- because otherwise, if he is put forward as the Golden Boy but turns out to have feet of clay, he'll never survive the meat grinder of national media attention. It's a lot easier to pop the balloon of people whose whole reputation is based on being purer than newfallen snow than it is to drag down somebody who already is seen as a hard-nosed pol.
So conservatives must hold Jindal's feet to the fire. For our sake, and for his. His potential is almost limitless. His performance needs to stop lagging behind.
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More Blog Posts by Quin Hillyer
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Ignatius J. Reilly | 1.26.09 @ 5:09PM
Quinn, I'm holding YOU accountable for mixed metaphors:
" ... if he is put forward as the Golden Boy but turns out to have feet of clay, he'll never survive the meat grinder of national media attention. It's a lot easier to pop the balloon of people whose whole reputation is based on being purer than newfallen snow than it is to drag down somebody who already is seen as a hard-nosed pol. So conservatives must hold Jindal's feet to the fire."
cath| 1.26.09 @ 6:17PM
When is the media ever going hold Jindal accountable for the fact he's a muslim who claims to have converted to Christianity. It's the big secret the media won't tell about their new golden boy. Why are they pushing these muslims?
G. McCluskey| 1.26.09 @ 6:27PM
Jindal? A Muslim?
Good grief! What kind of stuff are you smoking?
Jindal was raised as a Hindu!!!!
Daniel Z| 1.26.09 @ 6:51PM
Not only did Jindal sign into law a bill that made it harder to convict people of ethics violations. Bobby Jindal also signed a bill into law that eliminated his office from the public records law (after he campaigned on increased transparency in government).
The only thing I would correct you on is this. Don't assume for a second that Jindal was clueless about the "bad ole boys" putting that higher burden of proof requirement in. Jindal knew it, was warned about it, and signed it anyway. He was complicit in the signing of that law and should be held accountable for his part in it.
All Jindal did in Louisiana is change the window dressing, nothing has changed behind the window.
ConservativeWanderer| 1.26.09 @ 7:17PM
Cath, I am sure you can come up with some *RELIABLE* links that provide evidence for your assertion that Jindal is "muslim."
Here's some evidence that he was originally Hindu but changed to Catholicism as a teen:
http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/campaign-2008/2008/05/22/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-bobby-jindal.html
http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=14740
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-01-13-jindal-christianity-hindu_N.htm
http://blog.nola.com/updates/2008/01/jindals_faith_rooted_in_openmi.html
http://www.deoomnisgloria.com/archives/2008/07/from-hindu-to-catholic-bobby-j.html
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2008/01/converting_bobb.html
I'm sure you can find at least one link there from a source that you'd trust, Cath.
Just because someone is dark skinned doesn't automatically make them "muslim," and such blatant stereotyping does a lot more harm than good.
Okie| 1.26.09 @ 8:01PM
The conservative movement will continue to lose the support as long as persons claiming to be conservative spout ignorant, intolerant remarks such as Cath's.
Bobby Jindal is no Muslim; as others have pointed out, he was born into a Hindu family, and he converted to Catholicism when he was young. Moreover, to quote Colin Powell, "...so what if he is [a Muslim]?"
Thomas| 1.26.09 @ 8:08PM
Since Tammany Hall disappeared from view in the 1950's, the two most corrupt political machines in the US have been firmly ensconced in Chicago, Illinois and New Orleans, Louisiana. Nobody stays in office in either state without the support of the "machine".
ConservativeWanderer| 1.26.09 @ 8:11PM
Okie, I wouldn't worry too much. Chances are, Cath is a lefty troll trying to make it look like we're all anti-"muslim" bigots.
StraightupG| 1.26.09 @ 9:39PM
Bobby Jindal has done wonders for the state. He's tremendously talented and won't mess up in the ways that the liberal media grilled Palin for. He's even more intelligent and better speaking than McCain and 1) McCain is a pretty good speaker to begin with and 2) The media wasn't able to grill him on that like they do Bush and Palin. He's the REAL change we need, in my opinion.
Daniel Z| 1.26.09 @ 11:46PM
Bobby Jindal is a Catholic, even though he campaigned in North Louisiana that he was a "Born Again Christian" during the last election for Governor.
StraightUpG: What wonders has Jindal done for our state?
Quin| 1.27.09 @ 12:45PM
Ignatius,
You got me!!!! Those mixed metaphors of mine are embarrassing. I tend to apply lower standards to blog posts than to formal columns, but even so, for me to throw so many cliched metaphors into one short paragraph is a sign of going beyond bloggish colloquialisms and into utterly sloppy modes of expression. Thanks for holding me to higher standards!! :)
sidnee| 12.12.09 @ 12:55PM
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