I’m sure by now, many of you have seen this Drudge-linked ABC News report on the utter confusion in the federal response to the oil spill, to the point where the Coast Guard held up barges Gov. Bobby Jindal ordered with vacuums to suck up the oil. Meanwhile, Jindal’s operation to dredge up sand and build artificial islands to capture the oil and protect the coastline is underway, after he fought to gain approval from the White House. It looks like we could be seeing a repeat of Katrina — where Jindal is the one official who emerges with an improved reputation.

We should recall that Jindal was widely panned by the national media — including me — for his lackluster Republican response to President Obama’s first speech to a joint session of Congress. But in this current crisis, I think we’re seeing Jindal’s strengths. While Obama is giving a rambling national speech in which he’s talking about landing a man on the moon and our new energy future, Jindal is constantly coming up with ideas to at least mitigate the disaster at hand.