Bobby Jindal wants to redefine Republican party
Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal finally got another shot on Thursday to deliver a formal response to President Barack Obama’s vision for the country.
In 2009, Jindal was nearly laughed off the national stage when he delivered the official Republican response to Obama’s first address to a joint session of Congress. Jindal’s “response,” consisting of restrained rhetoric spoken awkwardly into a single camera, was universally panned as a dud. Some even called it a career killer.
Flash forward to 2013: Obama has been re-elected to his second term as president. At his inauguration ceremony, he delivers one of the most ambitious defenses of liberalism from an American president in modern history. With Mitt Romney out of the picture and the Republican Party in temporary post-election disarray, Jindal sees an opportunity for redemption and to position himself as the alpha in the party.
The circumstances seem perfect for a politician who harbors national ambitions. His venue is the winter meeting of the Republican National Committee, where the top party activists from every American state and territory have gathered to chart the GOP’s next move. They’re nervous about the party’s future and worried about their ability to bring minorities into the fold. They’re looking for a leader. Jindal, the son of Indian immigrants, sees a chance to make an early impression on the party faithful, and boldly calls for change.
“We’ve got to stop being the stupid party. It’s time for a new Republican Party that talks like adults,” he said. “We had a number of Republicans damage the brand this year with offensive and bizarre comments. I’m here to say we’ve had enough of that.”
Jindal is the governor of the state that I happen to be from and live currently. I think about as much of him as I do most politicians–and that’s not much at all. There are so very many problems in the US that cannot and will not be solved by a Republican or a Democrat, a liberal or a conservative. It won’t be solved by an Independent, either.
Here’s the truth: our entire system is broken. The bankers own big business and the government, run off to make wars with places all over the world in order to fill their pockets while millions of innocents die and suffer as a result. Our leaders are nothing more than warmongering, slave-owning profiteers. Our economy WILL collapse, it is inevitable, and it’s going to be very bad. It is my hope that a new system arises out of a desire for humanity–for peace, unity, love–for all mankind….not one of fear, as is the trend of history. The US government rails on us to be afraid of some made-up or imagined boogeyman in order to get us to back their murderous actions, all the while the majority cannot see that behind the curtain, it is they who are the monsters.
Hopefully, our society will transcend this ridiculous political theater that we’re shown on the indoctrination box (TV) and move our country toward some real answers that help all of us–including the world–sooner rather than later.