Posted on 10/23/2007 11:34:41 AM PDT by JZelle
Bobby Jindal, who was elected governor of Louisiana last Saturday, may not be a freak of unnatural Louisiana politics, but he's an unsoiled anomaly. The temptations of office, which flower in abundance along the bayous, lie still ahead.
That's the cynical view, but one widely held in Louisiana, a state battered by nature (most recently Hurricane Katrina), and human nature (the examples never end). "Corruption in Louisiana," a one-time agent in charge of the FBI office in New Orleans once said, is "epidemic, endemic and entrenched." Graft three ways, as it might appear on the menu at a Chinese takeout. Louisiana is always ready for a party — "Laissez les bon temps roulez," as the locals say. Let the good times roll. But now Mr. Jindal insists the party's over.
He promises to throw out the rogues, rascals, scoundrels and scamps, and maybe he will. If he does, George W. should send him to Baghdad. Louisiana is not really Southern, the author A.J. Liebling shrewdly observed, but Middle Eastern. Intrigue is the state sport.
The governor-elect is a technocrat, and a bureaucrat as well, born of immigrant parents from India, where bureaucracy is the national sport. He vows to make war on sloth as well as rot, to banish evildoers to the unemployment lines if not to prison. "They can go quietly or they can go loudly," he said during the campaign, "but they're going to go."
He intends to call in the Legislature, which is not reform-minded insofar as anyone has ever noticed, to enact a code of ethics. He's likely to invite more resistance than repentance. "You might find an ethic in the Legislature," a former governor once said, "and you might find a virgin in a bordello. But it's a heckuva place to look for either one."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Now hopefully they have a shot at turning New Orleans into something other than a drunken mess. Congradulations for Jindal. FInally a Republican in there to do a job the Democrats won’t: Kick out the trash deadbeats, unemployed losers etc. When things turn around for the better, I wonder if Blanco will thank him or will she still act like if she made a difference? She is one of those idiots that just does not get it, same with Nagin.
If he succeeds even in part, we have to start looking at him as serious presidential material down the line. He's conservative, smart and articulate. Plus, it'll drive the rats crazy if someone with brown skin is fronting a future Republican ticket.
Look at the inroads John Bolton made in the UN ambassador position he held. Is it any wonder they didn’t want to give him a full term? They knew he was going to tear down the walls so to speak. This same kind of fear, is what I see for Fred Thompson, they can’t allow him to overshadow Rudy McRomney.
My John Bolton / UN analogy, was to say, sure Jindal is fighting an uphill battle, but he will make a difference, he’s not going to lie down and be a democratic lap dog. His morals and upstanding nature won’t allow it. He is going to rock the boat and the shiesters and crooks in the Loisiana government aren’t going to like it one bit. Heck we might even see a death thread on him or an assassination attempt by these Democratic cronies in the govt in Loisiana
It’s becoming a long ways from the days of the Kingfish - and thank God for that!
Mary, calling Mary, your turn girl is a coming. Can’t wait to see how she spins this one.
And while I have hope for “Bobby” he his a mountain to climb to overcome the corruption and we all must understand that “Bobby” is not a true conservative.
How can you call him a Conservative when he said he would vote to override the Bush Veto on S-Chips?
The corruption kingdom alligators will chew him up as an appetizer.
Nonsense. There is no evidence Bobby expected race to be a significant issue in North Louisiana in 2003 and absolutely no evidence that he "avoided" the area for this reason. Bobby himself has explicitly and repeatedly refuted this narrative, stating instead that it was the voters' unfamiliarity with him that was decisive. Bobby simply took the naturally more-Republican areas for granted in 2003. In 2007 he took nothing for granted, campaigned everywhere, and improved his results almost everywhere in the entire State.
Four years ago, 121,841 Orleanians cast ballots in the gubernatorial race; this year only 75,880 did so. This reflects not poor turnout but vanished voters. Many who voted four years ago now live in Houston, Atlanta, Memphis and other Southern cities and aren't going home.
The author suggests that it was demographic shifts caused by the hurricanes that allowed Bobby to win. Again this is nonsense. David Freddoso has crunched the numbers on this narrative (which is all over the leftist blogs, btw) and has shown it to be utterly false. Bobby won statewide because he improved his results almost everywhere compared to 2003. Even if N.O. had voted in the numbers and in the percentages it did in 2003, Bobby would still have won handily. That is a plain, simple fact.
Bobby may or may not accomplish a lot, but I am certain he will not become corrupted.
Maybe MB lives in some sort of crazy world where nobody's perfect.
Yeah most of that trash is living in Texas wreaking havoc on our cities and causing all kinds of crime. My area is loaded with Katrina refugees who spend most of their time causing trouble and free loading.
Maybe I can move to Lousiana.
He's too bony.
If you truly believe this then how and why do you choose from among them?
1) His name is Bobby, not "Bobby".
2) Here on planet Earth, today, Bobby is a conservative.
Then why is it on the ballot he was listed as “Bobby” Jindal?
For example?
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