Those were a few of the reactions to Gov. Bobby Jindal’s GOP response last night: Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and Ana Marie Cox, respectively.
The GOP has been searching desperately for its great new hope recently: first it was Sarah Palin, then Michael Steele, and most recently Bobby Jindal. The GOP, in addition to the media and a lot of pundits, desperately wanted Jindal to have a moment comparable to Obama’s 2004 Democratic Convention speech. Unfortunately, the speech left some pundits speechless in their horror:
There was general consensus last night on the blogs that Bobby Jindal’s “Kenneth the Page” performance will be receiving some love from SNL this week.
Well, now we know that Rep. Eric Cantor really knows how to rock.
If it wasn’t so ridiculous you’d have to feel a little bad for them. Let me see if I understand their logic. The House GOP loses badly in two consecutive elections. Then a Democrat is elected President. Then, the President passes what may be the most significant piece of progressive legislation affecting the economy since the New Deal. But nevertheless, because the entire Republican caucus in the House votes against this legislation, they are “back in the saddle.” Maybe this means: they are back to being the party of Hoover.
[Shout out to Fake Virginia for originally pointing me to this.]
UPDATE: Aerosmith didn’t like Rep. Cantor using their song “Back in the Saddle” without their permission and the video had to be pulled. It was fun while it lasted. Young voters: you really missed out. But don’t worry, Michael Steele has some plans for the GOP that he promises will be “off the hook.”
Through some anonymous contacts I have in Congress and in the Obama administration, I have new information on the miscalculation that caused ticket-holders to get stuck in the 3rd St. tunnel or “Purple Tunnel of Doom,” thus missing the swearing-in. Today Sergent-at-Arms Gainer posted a message on Facebook apologizing for previously dismissing the ordeal as caused by the “bulky or puffy” coats that people wore to the event. What he didn’t tell people is that the “puffy” coats were actually a serious miscalculation in a pre-inaugural analysis.
Tonight I’ve gained a top-secret formula that the PIC used to estimate the number of puffy coats that could fit onto the Mall:
(3) P (SCS”LoM” | SCGBAR) = Probability (Stuck Crowd Sings “Lean on Me” versus Probability Stuck Crowd Goes Ballistic And Riots)
(4) AABWG = All the Answers But Wrong Guy
(5) MC = Mall Capacity
(6) OTPR = Outdoor Toilet to Person Ratio
Now, it turns out that the magnitude of AABWGs was underestimated by several times. This error combined with a very high VBF…s and way too many toilets to human beings on the mall seems to have been the primary reason for the incorrect PCQ and thus the Purple Tunnel of Doom.
I’m going to generally keep this blog focused on Barack Obama’s administration, the new grassroots movement that is taking shape, and the significant policy challenges we face. But every now and then I would like to comment on some of the more bizarre and amusing stories that relate to this blog under the category “Trainwrecks”. There are a lot of distractions out there, and the media loves to give them a lot of attention. I’m going to try to give them a little bit of attention, just so this blog doesn’t get too serious.
Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (aka Joe the Plumber) was one of the more annoying characters to emerge from the 2008 Presidential campaign season. Sadly, it doesn’t look like he’s going away. PajamasMedia sent Joe the Plumber to Israel to cover the conflict in Gaza. I’m all for citizen journalism so I have no problem with him going over there. And although I’m really, really tired of seeing this guy on television, I didn’t really care.
I’ll be honest with you. I don’t think journalists should be anywhere allowed war.
I mean, you guys report where our troops are at. You report what’s
happening day to day. You make a big deal out of it. I think it’s
asinine. You know, I liked back in World War I and World War II when
you’d go to the theater and you’d see your troops on, you know, the
screen and everyone would be real excited and happy for’em. Now everyone’s got an opinion and wants to downer–and down soldiers. You know, American soldiers or Israeli soldiers.
I think media should be abolished from, uh, you know, reporting.
You know, war is hell. And if you’re gonna sit there and say, “Well
look at this atrocity,” well you don’t know the whole story behind it
half the time, so I think the media should have no business in it.
So, Joe the Plumber goes to Israel and Gaza and criticizes the entire practice of reporters covering a war zone…as a reporter covering a war zone. I’m not going to put him on my blog, but you can go check out Joe the Plumber contradicting himself here.