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FAMOUS DECLARATIONS

Jindal ‘Not Easily Caricatured’

Tina Fey ruined Sarah Palin. She will now ruin Bobby Jindal.Michael Gerson very clearly sat down to write his column about the fantastic splendor of Bobby Jindal some time ago, before the hapless nerdsome twit was disowned by David Brooks and even some people on Fox. The word “Jindal” shall never again pass the lips of any conservative — not even the man himself, who will change his name to Theodore Ogelvie and leave Louisiana under cover of darkness.

Anyway, Gerson digs (dug) Bobby Jindal because he is exactly like Bill Clinton, in that he is a charismatic womanizing Rhodes Scholar from the South, minus the charisma and the womanizing and anything else remotely interesting.

Jindal also resembles Sarah Palin, except less pretty, and with no ovaries or sass, but with credentials that “elites” favor, such as a willingness to read books.

And Jindal’s résumé, intellectual confidence and command of policy make him the anti-Palin. Fairly or unfairly, media and intellectual elites (including some conservative elites) regard Gov. Sarah Palin as an inhabitant of another cultural planet. Jindal, while also religious and conservative, speaks the language of the knowledge class and will not be easily caricatured or dismissed.

They need to make a time machine for newspaper columnists so that they can avoid this problem of being completely wrong about everything.

The Jindal Phenomenon [Washington Post]


3:45 PM on Wed February 25 2009
By Sara K. Smith
9813 Views

  1. ManchuCandidate says at 3:51 pm, February 25th, 2009
  2. shortsshortsshorts says at 3:51 pm, February 25th, 2009

    The verdict is still out on “womanizing.” It could be easy to say that when he performed the exorcism on “Sally” it was actually a terrible sex-groping. He said himself that he held her down. Also. and Also.

  3. Cape Clod says at 3:52 pm, February 25th, 2009

    Christ, even K-Lo was lamenting how lame Jindal was last night.

  4. paparapapa says at 3:53 pm, February 25th, 2009

    Bobby Jindal was terrific. His response is the most effective I can remember since Ed Muskie’s fireside chat following Nixon’s State of the Union in 1970. The staging was beautiful — the old South governor’s mansion with the big magnolia tree in front leading in to his slender young son of immigrants serving as Governor. He presented an alternative vision that was not mean sprited, but optimistic. Will this do for Jindal what the 2004 keynote speech did for Obama?

  5. V572625694 says at 3:53 pm, February 25th, 2009

    He will not be easily caricatured, except in the photo accompanying this post. But seriously: he’s so loony it’s like picking on a retarded kid.

  6. GooseInANoose says at 3:53 pm, February 25th, 2009

    I had a nightmare last night that I was standing in my mansion and then, out of nowhere, Bobby Jindal strolled in from the billiard room to warn me about giving money to volcanoes.

  7. SayItWithWookies says at 3:53 pm, February 25th, 2009

    Oh, thank you for mentioning this — I read Gerson’s column earlier and was just floored. My favorite sentence was this one:
    Some have compared Jindal to Obama, but the new president has always been more attracted to platitudes than to policy.
    Is it possible that George Won’tSomeonePleaseSuffocateMeWithAPillow Bush’s ex-speechwriter doesn’t know the meaning of the words platitude or policy?

    Also, Gerson — give your poor mom a break and get a professional to cut your fuckin’ hair. Or else start wearing baggy shorts and suspenders so the rest of you looks like an idiot schoolboy too.

  8. ManchuCandidate says at 3:54 pm, February 25th, 2009

    paparapapa:
    Also?

  9. Jindal/Chris Brown 2016!

  10. SayItWithWookies says at 3:54 pm, February 25th, 2009

    paparapapa: Oh, god.

  11. V572625694 says at 3:55 pm, February 25th, 2009

    shortsshortsshorts: Shorts x 3, you are Trustee Inmate of the Wonkette Commentariat, but may it be respectfully ventured that the “also” joke is a bit fatigued from overuse?

    Now, Truck Nutz’ll never get old.

  12. Texan Bulldoggette says at 3:56 pm, February 25th, 2009

    That sound you heard last night was Gerson slapping his forehead after watching Bobby’s speech last night.

    paparapapa: No.

  13. No Rhodes Scholar talks like Bobby. Or Billz

  14. Serolf Divad says at 3:58 pm, February 25th, 2009

    Is Jindall a secret Scientologist? Maybe that’s why he’s afraid of volcanoes. Isn’t that where all the bad “engrams” that infest our corporeal self are supposed to have sprouted from according to the Sacred Writings of L. Ron?

  15. V572625694 says at 3:59 pm, February 25th, 2009

    ManchuCandidate: SayItWithWookies: I think we were just shown by paparapapa that Jindal will be easily caricatured.

  16. BeRightBack says at 3:59 pm, February 25th, 2009

    The “knowledge class”? What?

  17. parappatherapper: No, it won’t.

  18. I will never watch another episode of SNL ever again unless they get Jack McBrayer to do Jindal (WITHOUT any makeup or hair color)

  19. AngryBlakGuy says at 3:59 pm, February 25th, 2009

    …Mittens, Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal, damn Republicans are running out of Messiahs!

  20. shortsshortsshorts says at 4:00 pm, February 25th, 2009

    V572625694: I respectfully agree that the “also” mean should die in labor. Also.

  21. MathewBrooks says at 4:01 pm, February 25th, 2009

    poor piyush…

  23. Hooray For Anything says at 4:02 pm, February 25th, 2009

    That dead end at the end of conservatism is full these days that they’re going to have to use some of that stimulus money to try and build an annex.

  24. snideinplainsight says at 4:03 pm, February 25th, 2009

    So the story I read somewhere else (ok, I read other blogs, just occasionally, not meaning anything by it) is that ‘Bobby’ picked that name for himself after watching episodes of The Brady Bunch. You can draw your own conclusions about that. Me, I was only ever into Marsha.

  25. lennixlewis says at 4:05 pm, February 25th, 2009

    BUT COME ON! They are both SO BROWN! and SO YOUNG!! They are the saaame!!

    Kobe Bryant 2012!!

  26. smashtheduck says at 4:05 pm, February 25th, 2009

    Well, apparently there’s still hope for Piyush/Palin 2012. Hannity still hearts the Bobby and is having him on next hour. Of course, it could just be Kenneth pranking Hannity. That would be teh awesome. Truck Nutz and Butt Seks should never be retired. Also.

  27. “…biodiesel refineries, quality assurance centers, digital media…”

    And government meddling in these indusries is which part of a free market agenda?

  28. Suds McKenzie says at 4:06 pm, February 25th, 2009

    At least he remembered to put his pants on.

  29. HopeyDope says at 4:06 pm, February 25th, 2009

    I don’t think the members of the *guffaw* “knowledge class” actually call it the “knowledge class”.

  30. Kenneth the NBC Governor says at 4:08 pm, February 25th, 2009

    jagorev: Perfect. Like Dan Akroyd as Jimmy Carter with a mustache.

  31. twingonaut says at 4:09 pm, February 25th, 2009

    RIP “Also.” Remember that you were loved. Now you must return to the land of Butterstick and Macaca. Perhaps one day, like Cocktober, you will rise again but now it is time to rest with the knowledge that you served your purpose.

    Now where is that Campbell Brown?!?

  32. lumpenprole says at 4:12 pm, February 25th, 2009

    I don’t do so well with members of the “knowledge class” either. Something about being “an idiot.” I’m glad someone like Jindal, who shares my inarticulate religious urges and brutally paranoid worldview, can speak for me.

  33. Fox n Fiends says at 4:13 pm, February 25th, 2009

    twingonaut: add “really?” to that list

  34. cracksammich says at 4:13 pm, February 25th, 2009

    I wish that speech had embarrassed him enough to leave Louisiana under cover of darkness…

  35. Lascauxcaveman says at 4:16 pm, February 25th, 2009

    naveed: Cute picture, but both Hils and Locke are yer standard issue Democratic machine pols who knew each other from Locke being gov of Washington state, Locke was involved (semi controversially) in previous Clinton fundraising, so … what? It’s a cute picture?

  36. The Cold Sea says at 4:16 pm, February 25th, 2009

    paparapapa:

    Dear Piyush:

    It is very nice of you to start a Wonkette account. However, I don’t think it will do you any good to go from blog to blog and post such malarkey. You were bad. You were Iron Butterfly to Obama’s Led Zeppelin; the Bay City Rollers to Obama’s Beatles; Ernie Terrell to Obama’s Muhammad Ali. In short, FAIL! Even with the sound off, FAIL.

  37. smashtheduck says at 4:17 pm, February 25th, 2009

    Am I the only one hoping/praying that 30 Rock is frantically retaping this week’s episode?

  38. space stout says at 4:17 pm, February 25th, 2009

    i so called this last night- check the comments from Sara’s liveblogging. I was totally waiting for Jindal to start spinning tales about the Hill Witch… But really no reason to practice any impersonations cuz last night’s response was pretty much THE END of Jindal’s national ambitions. The End.

  39. grevillea says at 4:22 pm, February 25th, 2009

    Not easily caricatured? He’s a fundie Southern cracker. I mean poppadom.

  40. The Titanic makes it safely into port, eh? And Dewey beats Truman as well.

  41. snideinplainsight says at 4:24 pm, February 25th, 2009

    Jindal 2012: the inarticulate religious urges and brutally paranoid worldview you deserve.

  42. smashtheduck says at 4:25 pm, February 25th, 2009

    paparapapa: Yes. Yes it will. IMO that speech made Obama’s keynote seem so, well, amatuer in comparison. BWAHAHAHAHAHAA Oh fuck, I can’t. I’d tell you to go back to freeper land but even those knuckle-draggers have abandoned Piyush. Maybe Malkin’s site? Maybe she missed the speech and is still supporting him.

  43. Atheist Nun says at 4:30 pm, February 25th, 2009

    paparapapa: Why, you don’t seem to understand snark at all… Are you, by chance, named David Denby?

  44. Jukesgrrl says at 4:30 pm, February 25th, 2009

    V572625694: [Screaming and crying] NO!! NO!!! How can you be so mean to also? What did also ever do to YOU??? Leave also alone!! Sob, sob. LEAVE. IT. ALONE. Also. Too.

  45. sagaderisa says at 4:31 pm, February 25th, 2009

    I fully encourage the Republican party to embrace Jindal the Castrator/Page and Moose Girl as their new messiahs. I mean many of us have recognized for years that they are wingnuts, but these icons help spell it out for the rest of the country. It also sounds like many conservatives, including Bobby Jindal, wrote their pieces before actually hearing what they were supposed to be responding to.

  46. Mr Blifil says at 4:33 pm, February 25th, 2009

    paparapapa: Stop you’re making me cry.

  47. norbizness says at 4:35 pm, February 25th, 2009

    They could, in the alternative, develop a manned spacecraft that deposits Gerson, Will, Kristol, Krauthammer, and the NRO Funky Bunch into the heart of the sun.

  48. assistant/atlas says at 4:37 pm, February 25th, 2009

    V572625694: Actually, the rule is that also should be used only when one references Sarah Palin’s mental abilities. Also, it is almost required such as also.

  49. smashtheduck says at 4:38 pm, February 25th, 2009

    Hannity thinks Piyush’s big problem was the back drop and that he “could have waved his hands more”. But his substance was teh perfect. I think Hannity=paparapapa

  50. assistant/atlas says at 4:42 pm, February 25th, 2009

    assistant/atlas: The hope being, of course, that Sarah Palin goes away and thus, also goes away also. Also is part of her presence, like little boys for Republicans. I think they call those “memes” or perhaps “classics.” Or maybe “cliches.”

  51. IceCreamEmpress says at 4:42 pm, February 25th, 2009

    Don’t bring me down…PIYUSH!
    Don’t bring me down…PIYUSH!
    Don’t bring me down…PIYUSH!
    Don’t bring me down

    What happened to the Gov who seemed a star
    You rambled weirdly and you acted bizarre
    Don’t bring me down
    No no no no no,
    Your party’s a wreck
    And you have misplaced your neck
    Don’t bring me down.

    You’re always talkin’ ’bout that free market crap
    Just give it up because you sound like a sap
    Don’t bring me down
    No no no no no,
    You’re a figure of fun
    Your fifteen minutes is done
    Don’t bring me down, down, down, down, down
    So get off the stage
    You broke-ass Kenneth the Page
    Don’t bring me down.

    Electric Light Orchestra, not Emerson, Lake and Palmer as I suggested last night. (The codeine cough syrup bottle says ‘DO NOT USE MACHINE CAR’ but should probably say ‘DO NOT USE MACHINE COMPUTER’ considering.)

  52. grevillea says at 4:43 pm, February 25th, 2009

    “Tech support, this is Pi…, ah, Bobby.”

  53. paparapapa: the most effective I can remember since Ed Muskie’s fireside chat following Nixon’s State of the Union in 1970.

    You mean his fireside chat on the eve of the House elections in November 1970, not the response to the January 1970 SOTU address, to which Muskie’s contribution was but one of a compendium and did not earn the notability of his November speech.

    You people . . . *shakes head*

  54. snideinplainsight says at 5:02 pm, February 25th, 2009

    Stormy Daniels - now there’s an upcoming politician with legs, if you know what I mean!

  55. Monsieur Grumpe says at 5:03 pm, February 25th, 2009

    They better put some extra guards around Ronald Reagan’s grave. This desperation might drive them to try reanimating his corpse.

  56. twingonaut says at 5:31 pm, February 25th, 2009

    And not one person going for the obvious Parappa the Rapper reference? Either I’m incredibly old or incredibly young for this crowd.

    “Really?” works well in very limited uses. It finally worked for Seth Meyers with the whole PotHead McOlympian Scandale!

  57. Sarah Palin (vp@whitehouse.gov) says at 5:34 pm, February 25th, 2009

    OK, also. Back to my original name.

    paparapapa was stupid anyway. also.

    -SP

  58. paparapapa: Oy vey, at least put some quotes up around the copypasta, eh?

  59. keepinitrealyo says at 6:09 pm, February 25th, 2009

    Tina Fey will keep the country Republican-free for decades.

  60. Dean Booth says at 6:21 pm, February 25th, 2009

    Jindal “will change his name to Theodore Ogelvie.” Like “Bobby”, his choice of name will depend on what he’s watching on TV when he decides to change it. I’m hoping for Wink Marindale.

  61. Speak
    Speech
    It’s all in the mind.

  62. SayItWithWookies says at 6:33 pm, February 25th, 2009

    Sarah Palin (vp@whitehouse.gov): Aw, bummer — I was so hoping for a troll.

  63. slinkimalinki says at 7:18 pm, February 25th, 2009

    IceCreamEmpress: that cough syrup is clearly good shit. more use machine computer!

  64. Lascauxcaveman: She looks like she’s about to eat him.

  65. Red Zeppelin says at 7:22 pm, February 25th, 2009

    paparapapa: Hey, don’t worry. I got the irony. The rest of this bunch is too young to remember who Ed Muskie was and/or are completely hungover.

  66. shortsshortsshorts says at 8:26 pm, February 25th, 2009

    paparapapa: Good form, Sarah Palin.

    - SP

  67. billy rubin says at 8:47 pm, February 25th, 2009
  68. problemwithcaring says at 8:52 pm, February 25th, 2009

    paparapapa: When Bobby Jin told that St. Olaf-esqu story about a crazy sheriff who despite an entire force of deputies was getting his ass so punked by a single bureaucrat over the phone, that he had to fucking name-drop Piyush, I near about died laughing.

    So in that one way, yes, it was not mean-sprited.

  69. myheadsexploding says at 9:31 pm, February 25th, 2009

    Kenneth the Page. Droopy Leiberman Dawg. Foghorn Fred Leghorn and Egghead Cantor Jr.. Spike/Rush the Bulldog. Daffy Boner Duck. Olive Oyl Coulter. Sara Fargo Palin.

    Is there a fun comedy character that is NOT represented in this fun GOP??

  70. smellyal8r says at 10:28 pm, February 25th, 2009

    I was just shocked it was so bad. I’ve actually met Gov. Jindal and in person, he doesn’t sound like Ellie Mae Clampett (or her ‘09 counterpart, Kenneth the Page). I mean, he’s smart (for reals) and won a pretty good race in Louisiana (granted, New Orleans was washed away, meaning all the Ds had moved to other states). But, boy did he suck last night. I mean, end of the career suck. Clinton came back from that 200 minute convention speech in ‘88, but that was before the blogesphere or Darrel Hammond. This will run for years on SNL (and, indeed, it should be the cast of 30 Rock as Jindal/Palin).

  71. smellyal8r says at 10:30 pm, February 25th, 2009

    SayItWithWookies: Sayit, I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: you are the funniest person on this blog (OK, Lionel Hutz and Shortshorts are funny too, but you make Diet Coke shoot out of my nose nearly every time).

  72. NebraskashireGentry says at 10:57 pm, February 25th, 2009

    strange then that Wonkette has effectively done both.

  73. Valentine Flintheart says at 12:46 am, February 26th, 2009
  74. lulzmonger says at 4:41 am, February 26th, 2009

    twingonaut: Yeah, good move there … now we’re going to have Zombie Also to deal with. Also.

  75. QuestionEvil says at 11:00 am, February 26th, 2009

    paparapapa:

    You’re being sarcastic right?

    Jindal looked like Kenneth the Page, made a Mr. Rogers speech and looked like he was wearing candy cane tie which would be an open invite to make a reference to Willy Wonka.

  76. mjwilstein says at 12:01 pm, February 26th, 2009

    Jack McBrayer responds to the Jindal comparison on Jimmy Fallon:
    http://gotchamedia.blogspot.com/2009/02/jack-mcbrayer-on-bobby-jindal.html

  77. HedonismBot says at 12:21 pm, February 26th, 2009

    Jindal looks like a 12-year-old boy and talks like Gomer Pyle. Gollee!

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