Kathleen Parker : "Jindal is the intellectual equivalent of a nuclear power plant"

[rainbow4321]

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-parker_02edi.State.Edition1.2936b3e.html

I liked the old Bobby Jindal better – the one whose brain moves so fast, he's already indexing questions his interviewers haven't thought of yet.

(snip)

The real Jindal is the intellectual equivalent of a nuclear power plant. The real Jindal has actually read the stimulus bill and can recite its contents. The real Jindal is the sort of politician who promises ethics and education reform, and actually delivers.

(snip)
In fact, Jindal did not write his own speech, and he's on a choke collar by some well-meaning people who helped him win the governor's race. What worked in Louisiana in 2007 may not work on the national stage in 2016, when Jindal is most likely to run for president.

(snip)

It's a shame that Tuesday was Jindal's first introduction to many Americans, who won't have a clear picture of the man. It's also a shame that he and Obama aren't on the same team. Although they differ strenuously on social issues and the role government should play in problem-solving, they are temperamentally similar. Most important, both are pragmatists who promise to seek solutions that work, rather than be bound by ideology. It would be heartening to watch these two serious thinkers craft real bipartisan solutions to our economic troubles. One can fantasize.

[leftyclimber]

1. Three Mile Island, maybe. nt

[Matariki]

2. I was surprised to read that he was a Rhodes Scholar

He probably is smart, but not smart enough to realize that he's being handled by morans.

[mckara]

25. Me too! Are You Certain He Wasn't a Roads Scholar?

n/t

[spiritual_gunfighter]

42. He was a Rhodes scholar?

I didn't know that, he most definitely isn't as smart as Rachel Maddow or Bill Clinton.

[3waygeek]

3. She didn't say WHICH nuclear plant...

I think it's this one.

[tanyev]

4. Oh, sure, it's not Jindal's fault, it's how he's being handled.

Palin tried that excuse, too.

[JerseygirlCT]

30. I was going to say that

where have we heard that one before? hmmmm...

[Warren DeMontague]

5. But he wasn't smart enough to figure out that he sounded like a total fucking moron?

Does. Not. Compute.

[Bluebear]

6. Chernobyl. nt

[Demeter]

7. The Man Is Voluntarily a Member of the GOP

He's obviously had a lobotomy.

[JerseygirlCT]

31. Not only that - but an extremely right-wing

radical member of said GOP.

[liberal N proud]

8. And just as radioactive

[Hello_Kitty]

9. Ya know, I just watched the 60 Minutes segment about him.

I have to say, that while I find him very impressive in some aspects...how the FUCK does someone as smart and educated as he is advocate the teaching of so-called "intelligent design"? I mean, I really want to know what transpired in his personal development to make a young man who was accepted at Harvard Medical School fall for that claptrap. And until someone can explain that to me, I just can't take him seriously.

[spanone]

12. yes, how does a rhodes scholar reject evolution and embrace 'intelligent design'

great question

[burning rain]

39. I doubt he believes ID, I suspect he just...

professes belief in it to please the ignorant fundy wing of the GOP. Which would make him worse -- a dishonest cynic.

[iamjoy]

16. That's Why He's Scary

If we figured he wasn't too bright and then he started talking about how he doesn't believe in science, we could just shrug and attribute it to his not being too bright. But, when you know some one is a Rhodes Scholar and was accepted to Harvard Medical School less than average intelligence is not a valid explanation. Governor Jindal is very smart, possibly a genius. That is scary on two levels

1) By advocating intelligent design, he is placing his faith above judgment based on reason and science. We have no reason to believe he won't govern differently.

2) He's smart, he can get things done. Bobby Jindal is anti-choice, anti-gay rights (supports writing discrimination into our Constitution) and takes a hard view of drug use. He's for more offshore drilling of oil. Basically, he's with the Conservatives on most if not all of the major issues and he's smarter than the average elephant.

I wouldn't underestimate him.

[tonycinla]

20. The answer is............

He wanted to be in power in Louisana one of the most conservative states.It alone wouldn't keep him from being elected president.It's called politics.

[spanone]

35. no, it's called no principle....change your ideals to get elected...we've had enough of that shit

[Ex Lurker]

33. Political opportunism. He doesn't really believe it IMNSHO

the guy knows who his audience is and he's playing to it.

[Hello_Kitty]

34. Yeah, but there's that story about him performing an exorcism on a college classmate

I tend to want to believe that these upper-echelon religious nuts are just faking us out but I'm not so sure. We have SCOTUS justices who are in Opus Dei and several members of Congress who take part in a secret fundamentalist cabal called "The Family" so why wouldn't a weirdo Reagan-worshipper like Jindal be a True Believer?

[Viking12]

44. ...and a biology major too

He either (a) isn't as smart as he's given credit for and didn't really learn anything during his studies or (b) is a lying sack of shit that will say anything to feed red meat to the base. I'll wager on (b).

[spanone]

10. sorry ms parker, 'that guy' was bobby brady jindal

[SoCalDem]

11. He's changing his name again? Cher Nobyl

BTW..Cher's famous song Cherokee Nation was not about YOU, Bobby:)

[gratuitous]

13. Yeah, right

It's always somehow Republicans not being able or allowed to express their true selves. Yet a throwaway line by any Democrat is assumed to be reflective of the "real" whoever it is. So, when Al Gore misstates which FEMA official he accompanied on his third trip to a disaster area (out of five trips), he's a serial liar and exaggerator who can't be trusted. When Bobby Jindal lies to America's face with a detailed story that never happened, oh, if only Bobby Jindal could be the real Bobby Jindal!

It's almost like Ms. Parker doesn't think Jindal's a big boy who can make decisions for himself. I wonder why that would be???

[hedgehog]

14. So the guy is real smart, but he decided to introduce himself to America

by pretending he was just another guy. Isn't that what they call lying?

[givemebackmycountry]

15. Hi! I'm Bobby Jindal and Happy Mardi Gras!

What a way to start off your BEEG speech.
Especially when you have to follow one of the most extraordinary addresses to the American people ever delivered.

Way to go Bobby.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

17. Someone on 'Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" said that Jindal

sounded like he was reading "Goodnight, Moon" to the country. Not an auspicious debut.

[Horse with no Name]

18. The GOOP can have him

Here is a man who sold out his heritage, his religion and for fuck sake, even his name to get ahead in the republican party.
Who the fuck could TRUST that?

[Captain Hilts]

19. One of the WashPost's 3 newest op-ed columnists - ALL right wing. nt

[JeffR]

21. Same play, same playbook, same old same old.

Just a few scant months ago weren't all the lame rightwing pundits squawking about how the McCain campaign should "Let Sarah be Sarah"?

As for me, Kathleen Parker, the only fantasy about Jindal and the President that I have is watching Mr. Obama kick his bony ass around, either in the voting booth or better still, live and for real.

[Confusious]

22. The one reason why

Though he did graduate with a degree in biology and public policy, he didn't GO to medical school. He went and got a masters in political science ( not really a science )

I don't think he has much of a background in science, so --> raving right wing loon.

[LynnTheDem]

23. The REAL Jindal is a PROVEN LIAR. The REAL Jindal can't even tell intelligent

lies.

[Bozita]

26. An intellectually dishonest bullshitter. He be da man, alright!

I'll bet Parker and Bachmann visit the same pharmacist.

[Metta]

24. He's a traitor to America, just like all conservatives.

:hi:

[sendero]

27. One can fantasize?

Try fantasizing how anyone still touting the detax and deregulate policies that have brought us to the brink of the Greatest Depression is relevant?

Same old tired SHIT THAT DOES NOT WORK.

Intellectual equivalent of a tape recorder, replaying the same tired phrases endlessly.

[dkf]

28. I would have appreciated hearing the real Bobby Jindal, if that wasn't the real him

Isn't it time we had a high minded debate on two opposing views of Government?

Instead we got this laughable, simplistic, cartoon presentation.

He did no service to himself or to his country with that ridiculous rebuttal.

[Demeter]

40. What You See Is What You Get WYSIWUG

[JerseygirlCT]

29. I'm certainly not fantasizing about the

sort of "bi-partisianship" that she'd like to see.

If Jindal's views play any part, that's not an outcome I'd want, I can be certain of that.

And why in the world would finding some sort of compromise with Jindal's brand of extremism be a good thing?

Honestly.

[saltpoint]

32. Of course the difficulty in nuclear power is that its waste shelf-life is measured in

the many thousands of years.

Who would want it in their backyard?

There's an anti-Republican allegory in there somewhere.

[unkachuck]

36. piyush....

....might be smart for a repug, but he's no Barack Obama....to me, he comes across most of the time as a gibbering child espousing the usual republican jibberish....

....and then there's the fact he's walked from much of his own heritage (name, religion, customs) just to become one of the good-ole boys in the good-ole Southern USA melting-pot of Louisiana....he's a fake....

....Barack Hussein Obama became an Illinois State Senator, a US Senator, a presidential candidate of the Democratic Party and then President of the United States without changing one letter of his name....genuine.

[TheCowsCameHome]

37. Haha. Chernobyl Bob - he's going continue the GOP meltdown.

Go to it, BJ.

[Political Heretic]

38. All these people swearing that Jindal is really so much better are actually making it worse.

The more they protest, the more they drive it into American consciousness that he is a pathetic nub.

If they were smart they would just SHUT UP and it would all blow over.

Of course, I'm glad they're not so smart. :)

[varkam]

41. Sorry, Ms. Parker, but Jindal lied.

He didn't have to write his own speech to know that the one he was given contained falsehoods about his own purported experiences.

Epic fail.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

43. How smart could he be if he allowed himself to be handled so poorly? That shows he's

not a true leader but a wrong wing tool.

BTW.... he is also a frigging liar.

[union_maid]

45. Letting them put you on that leash is part of the test. Fail.

McCain might have won if he'd been the old McCain. He wouldn't have gotten our votes and he would have had to demonstrate that he had a clue about the economic situation, but as it was, his demeanor was scary. It seemed that his body was inhabited by someone else. Maybe the same is true of Bobby Jindal. That's Leadership Fail right there.

[PVnRT]

46. Kathleen Parker is the intellectual equivalent of a AAA battery

[many a good man]

47. Two oxymorans:

Conservative Intellectual

Modern day Republican Party

[goforit]

48. Jindal reminds me of outsourcing.......unfortunate for him.

[Orsino]

49. Out-of-date, poorly-maintained and toxic. n/t

[Javaman]

50. would that be chernobyl or three mile island?

:rofl:

[TwilightGardener]

51. Um, no thanks--Obama and Jindal are not "colleagues" of equal standing.

I love watching these Republicans try to tie nothingburger idiots like Palin and misguided weenies like Jindal to Obama, as if they're ALL cut from the same cloth. Obama is head and shoulders above them, they're not his equivalent.