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Saturday, February 28. 2009
Alfred E. Jindal (And Other Oddities)
There was so much going on the past few days; the president’s big Bi-Cameral speech, Governor Bobby Jindal’s laughable response — you have to wonder just how desperate the Republicans are if Bobby Jindal is their best, shiniest hope — and then of course CPAC is taking place this week, capped off by the closing address from the Big Fat Liar himself, Rush Limbaugh; so much happening that Thursday’s entry had far more written than should be allowed, so it was excised. And it was still way too effin’ long.First off, I have to say this: Everyone on the Internets — especially YouTube and Twitter — were comparing Governor Jindal to some character on 30 Rock. The page, I forget his name at the moment, but we can Google it. After watching Jindal’s speech for the second time (and let’s be honest, who can really watch it more than twice?) and then the page’s response: yes, the governor did sound a lot like Kenneth the Page (Played by Jack McBrayer).
Interesting side note, if I can be obliged a small tangent: the Right is all atwitter after the panning — from all quarters — of Jindal’s response. The Weekly Standard mouthpiece news mag of the Right, even referred to the president’s speech as a “State of the Union.”
They came to the governor’s defense, calling it an “off night,” which it probably was. Everyone who thinks Governor Jindal will be the next president points to his moment on Meet the Press just two days earlier as the real Bobby Jindal.
But I had to laugh at their defense of those conservatives who panned Jindal, stating, “Conservatives, frustrated by years of Bush's inexpert speeches, McCain's evaporating charisma at the podium, and Palin's uncertainty under questioning, were looking for deliverance in Bobby Jindal on all fronts. They didn't get it.” Nice job of covering their ass!
My first impression though is that Bobby Jindal looks almost exactly like Alfred E. Newman. You know, the shining icon of Mad Magazine. Really. Look at the two side-by-side. That’s what I was thinking while watching Governor Jindal give his address. Oh, all right, it’s just the goofy grin that resembles Alfred. It should be mentioned, one of Jindal’s aids said — anonymously — the governor did just fine. Oh-kay!
Do you tweet? No, tweeting isn’t a new way of smoking or snorting crack cocaine, crystal meth, ecstasy or heroin. Tweeting is what you do when you use Twitter! I’m sure most people are familiar with the new internet-based communication program that is most commonly used by people who used to text all their messages from their mobile phones. Now you can tweet, if you have Internet through your phone.
What Twitter allows you to do is “follow” other tweeters, read their message and respond to their tweets. And of course others can “follow” you and do the same. Right now I’m following about three dozen people, mostly newsies who use it to talk about their programs. Quite interesting. You can actually tweet them with questions for guests, or, in one instance, I tweeted the wrong newsperson, Contessa Brewer, for spending yet more time talking about the “octomom.” She tweeted right back, I had the wrong person! It was Tamron Hall I needed to tweet! So I did after apologizing to Contessa Brewer.Some of the popular news people actually share bits of their personal lives as well. It’s nice to know they have human concerns, lives outside of their jobs. We should assume they do — most of them anyway — but listening and watching them on the television box we often take that for granted.
On Thursday, it appeared Norah O’Donnell made frequent guest Michelle Bernard angry. Bernard’s voice rose, something I’ve never heard from her, even when she was on a Hardball panel with the likes of Pat Buchanan, and when she and O’Donnell signed off on the segment, Bernard’s voice was quavering. So I twittered about it.
Only one person who follows me responded, some time later, and she wanted to know what they were talking about at the time. Like an idiot, I didn’t document what the segment was about and, sadly, can’t recall it now.Too bad Michelle Bernard doesn’t Twitter ‘cause I’d like to ask her. Norah O’Donnell Twitters so maybe I’ll ask her.
We also Twittered about Mayor Dean Grose of Los Alamitos, CA (just up the road sort of). What was he thinking when he sent out an e-mail with a picture of the White House, the Rose Garden replaced by a field of watermelons with the caption: “No Easter egg hunt this year.”
Could it be Mayor Grose is a closet racist? He says no …But it doesn’t end there. He sent the e-mail to an African-American businesswoman, Keyanus Price, someone he considers a friend, and when she expressed her … hmmm … displeasure? Mayor Grose apologized saying he didn’t intend to offend anyone and — this is where it gets rich — said he didn’t know it had any racial overtones. STFU!
He didn’t know it was a racial slur? What a liar. He got caught! Just fess up and admit it! Now he just looks like a liar, a stupid liar!
And a racist.
The electorate doesn’t elect the mayor of Los Alamitos, he’s chosen by the members of the city council. Gotta wonder how long Grose will remain in his job. Too bad the sports books aren’t featuring that in Vegas.
This week there’s a large event taking place in Washington, but there’s very little being tweeted about it. It’s the Conservative Political Action Convention: CPAC.The signature event of the Extreme Right, the speakers include some of the most prominent members of their tribe. People like John Bolton, Mike Huckabee, Sen. Bob Corker, Roger Hedgecock, Rep. Michelle Bachman (really!) and RNC Chairman Michael Steele. And that’s just a short list from the first day!
Oh! And let’s not forget the star from the first day: Samuel Wurzelbacher. “Who’s that,” you ask? Joe the Plumber! Yeah, the guy who really isn’t a plumber, hasn’t paid his taxes and doesn’t even use his real name has stretched his 15 minutes of fame into six months now.
We heard he had a book signing at a local bookstore — and sold less than 10 copies of his book. Maybe his 15 minutes are over and neither he nor the radical fringe knows it.
They say things you’d expect from the radical fringe of the Republican Party, like how the party deserted the core principles of Conservatism. Of course, only Michael Steele stepped up to the plate to accept any responsibility for it. All the others who were in lock step with President Bush and the Majority Republican Party all those years, they just bashed Bush.Then of course there are the ones who still float the lie that President Obama isn’t a natural born citizen, Jerome Corsi in particular. Then there was a forum entitled, Acorn and Al Franken: How Liberals Are Destroying The American Election System. Al Franken is destroying the American election system — by beating a Republican in Minnesota.
But the tour de force comes today, Saturday, February 28 when Ralph Reed, Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh are scheduled to speak. The funniest bit from today’s scheduled events: Limbaugh will be awarded the Defender of the Constitution Award. This is the same guy who vociferously defended President Bush and the Patriot Act when both were gutting the Bill of Rights and stripping the American citizenry of Habeas Corpus. You gotta love that bit of hypocrisy.Sadly though, I didn’t read many tweets on the event, the few coming from the Huffington Post. It got a lot of play on MSNBC, derisively so, despite two of that network’s prominent personalities being featured Thursday: Tucker Carlson and Joe Scarborough. They were on a panel entitled, Targets of the Fairness Doctrine. Carlson, truly a maverick, actually defended the New York Times. He’s okay, but it begs the question: will he ever be asked to speak at CPAC again? Not likely.
As for the dust up between Norah O’Donnell and Michelle Bernard: still haven’t received an answer from O’Donnell. It’s the weekend, Maybe she only tweets Monday through Friday.
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