Despite hearing Bobby Jindal scoff at investing stimulus funding in the area of "volcano monitoring", I'm a big fan of keeping an eye on natural phenomena that might kill me. Now I'm wondering if any of that stimulus money is going to the expansion of NASA's near-Earth object tracking (aka "asteroid monitoring"). After reading this news yesterday, I think it might be a worthwhile investment.
If you want to know more about the Siberian incident, check this out. Of course, you can always just watch "Armageddon" if you want a cooler version.
Showing posts with label Bobby Jindal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bobby Jindal. Show all posts
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Liar Liar Pants on Fire (well, probably not because the levees had broken)
During his disastrous speech on Tuesday night, Bobby Jindal told the story of Sherriff Harry Lee who, with Jindal's support, went up against the bureaucrats who were preventing rescue efforts from continuing during Hurricane Katrina. It had everything -- stalwart man of the law, give 'em hell attitude, and a congressman right there providing critical support. Well, perhaps not everything.
What has now come out is that it was lacking one rather important element: truth.
Daily Kos and TPMuckraker have done a solid job of debunking this story. It turns out that the conversation Jindal reported took place days after the rescue attempts that were the focus on Jindal's tale. Sherriff Harry Lee did ignore the bureaucrats to get heroic volunteer rescue efforts underway but Jindal? He simply overheard Lee talking about it days later but in the telling, it certainly sounds like Jindal is placing himself at the center of events to burnish his credentials.
Jindal staff are spinning furiously to protect their golden boy. According to Politico:
A spokeswoman for Bobby Jindal says the Louisiana governor didn't imply that an anecdote about battling bureaucrats during Katrina directly involved the governor or took place during the heat of a fight to release rescue boats.
The spokeswoman, Melissa Sellers, said the story Jindal told in his response to Obama actually took place some days later in Lee's office -- though still in Katrina's chaotic aftermath -- as Lee was "recounting" his frustrations with the bureaucracy to someone else on the telephone.
Huh? Really? Because if you look at Jindal's speech, it sure doesn't come across that way:
During Katrina, I visited Sheriff Harry Lee, a Democrat and a good friend of mine. When I walked into his makeshift office I'd never seen him so angry. He was yelling into the phone: 'Well, I'm the Sheriff and if you don't like it you can come and arrest me!' I asked him: 'Sheriff, what's got you so mad?' He told me that he had put out a call for volunteers to come with their boats to rescue people who were trapped on their rooftops by the floodwaters. The boats were all lined up ready to go -- when some bureaucrat showed up and told them they couldn't go out on the water unless they had proof of insurance and registration. I told him, 'Sheriff, that's ridiculous.' And before I knew it, he was yelling into the phone: 'Congressman Jindal is here, and he says you can come and arrest him too!' Harry just told the boaters to ignore the bureaucrats and start rescuing people.
Hmmm...that certainly sounds like then Congressman Jindal was right in the middle of it.
Of course, we're all used to politicians embellishing stories, recounting the heart-warming or heart-wrenching stories of people who are "composites" of real people or that are just flat out lies (anyone up for landing in Bosnia under sniper fire?). However, being used to it and tolerating it are two different things. There's the old adage: how can you tell a politician is lying? His lips are moving.
It's too bad to all too often it's proven true.
What has now come out is that it was lacking one rather important element: truth.
Daily Kos and TPMuckraker have done a solid job of debunking this story. It turns out that the conversation Jindal reported took place days after the rescue attempts that were the focus on Jindal's tale. Sherriff Harry Lee did ignore the bureaucrats to get heroic volunteer rescue efforts underway but Jindal? He simply overheard Lee talking about it days later but in the telling, it certainly sounds like Jindal is placing himself at the center of events to burnish his credentials.
Jindal staff are spinning furiously to protect their golden boy. According to Politico:
A spokeswoman for Bobby Jindal says the Louisiana governor didn't imply that an anecdote about battling bureaucrats during Katrina directly involved the governor or took place during the heat of a fight to release rescue boats.
The spokeswoman, Melissa Sellers, said the story Jindal told in his response to Obama actually took place some days later in Lee's office -- though still in Katrina's chaotic aftermath -- as Lee was "recounting" his frustrations with the bureaucracy to someone else on the telephone.
Huh? Really? Because if you look at Jindal's speech, it sure doesn't come across that way:
During Katrina, I visited Sheriff Harry Lee, a Democrat and a good friend of mine. When I walked into his makeshift office I'd never seen him so angry. He was yelling into the phone: 'Well, I'm the Sheriff and if you don't like it you can come and arrest me!' I asked him: 'Sheriff, what's got you so mad?' He told me that he had put out a call for volunteers to come with their boats to rescue people who were trapped on their rooftops by the floodwaters. The boats were all lined up ready to go -- when some bureaucrat showed up and told them they couldn't go out on the water unless they had proof of insurance and registration. I told him, 'Sheriff, that's ridiculous.' And before I knew it, he was yelling into the phone: 'Congressman Jindal is here, and he says you can come and arrest him too!' Harry just told the boaters to ignore the bureaucrats and start rescuing people.
Hmmm...that certainly sounds like then Congressman Jindal was right in the middle of it.
Of course, we're all used to politicians embellishing stories, recounting the heart-warming or heart-wrenching stories of people who are "composites" of real people or that are just flat out lies (anyone up for landing in Bosnia under sniper fire?). However, being used to it and tolerating it are two different things. There's the old adage: how can you tell a politician is lying? His lips are moving.
It's too bad to all too often it's proven true.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Katrina...the Republicans' Model for America?
Somehow, a Republican address to the nation built around the government's response to and lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina was just a bit too irony-filled, even for me and even if Governor Bobby Jindal is the Governor of Louisiana.
And are people really taking Jindal seriously? Did anyone else feel like an 7-year old after hearing his condescending tone? Someone also needs to strap his arms down or give the man a podium. Did an aide tell him to emphasize every syllable with hand gestures?
A few other random thoughts on the night of President Obama's big speech:
Nancy Pelosi would never survive "What Not to Wear" with that outfit. It was a horrible color on her and looked like it was made of burlap.
I also think she was spring loaded. She was bouncing up from her seat so fast to applaud that I expected her to vault over the President's head and land in Patrick Kennedy's lap at least once during the night.
Was Joe Lieberman sucking a lemon?
Got to love the Republicans who remained sitting on softball applause lines about children's health care and expanding aid so more kids can go to college. That's the spirit, guys!
I think Mitch McConnell is a Red Lectroid. I'll try to dig up a picture of Vincent Schiavelli from "Buckaroo Banzai" so you can see what I mean. Seriously. The man has got to be from Planet 10 and taking orders from Lord John Whorfin. It's the only explanation.
And are people really taking Jindal seriously? Did anyone else feel like an 7-year old after hearing his condescending tone? Someone also needs to strap his arms down or give the man a podium. Did an aide tell him to emphasize every syllable with hand gestures?
A few other random thoughts on the night of President Obama's big speech:
Nancy Pelosi would never survive "What Not to Wear" with that outfit. It was a horrible color on her and looked like it was made of burlap.
I also think she was spring loaded. She was bouncing up from her seat so fast to applaud that I expected her to vault over the President's head and land in Patrick Kennedy's lap at least once during the night.
Was Joe Lieberman sucking a lemon?
Got to love the Republicans who remained sitting on softball applause lines about children's health care and expanding aid so more kids can go to college. That's the spirit, guys!
I think Mitch McConnell is a Red Lectroid. I'll try to dig up a picture of Vincent Schiavelli from "Buckaroo Banzai" so you can see what I mean. Seriously. The man has got to be from Planet 10 and taking orders from Lord John Whorfin. It's the only explanation.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Nose, Face, I'd like you to meet my friend "Spite"
I'm a big fan of the Republican's hypocritcal approach to the stimulus package -- fight it like crazy, bitch about the spending (after 8 years of deficit expansion thank you very much), then applaud and fight for those bits of spending they didn't vote for but that will help their districts. Yep, that's the GOP bringing home the bacon for you.
Of course, you then get the Governors who are considering passing on the stimulus spending or picking and choosing like from an a la carte menu. Bobby Jindal better run for President because after deciding to decline $100 million in stimulus funding to aid more than 24,000 long-term unemployed workers, he might not be getting re-elected in Louisiana.
Of course, you then get the Governors who are considering passing on the stimulus spending or picking and choosing like from an a la carte menu. Bobby Jindal better run for President because after deciding to decline $100 million in stimulus funding to aid more than 24,000 long-term unemployed workers, he might not be getting re-elected in Louisiana.
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