If you are interested in watching the Republican response to President Obama's speech last night, I suggest the C-Span version. It's an uncut, unbiased version of Gov. Bobby Jindal's remarks.
As I watched Gov. Jindal walk to the microphone, I was struck by a couple of things. First, why does the Republican party insist on perpetuating the myth that it's a multi-racial organization? To refresh your memory, I suggest you watch highlights of the 2008 Republican National Convention--I haven't seen a crowd that white since, well, probably the 2004 Republican National Convention. I find it offensive that the power in the GOP insist on digging up the few members of color in their organization, thinking they will fool us all into believing they are truly a representative sample of their membership. We are not that stupid.
Then Gov. Jindal began to speak. My mind immediately flashed an image of Mister Rogers--this guy sounds like he's addressing a group of preschoolers. I tried to get over his delivery style, and focus on the substance, but it was difficult. The following are some notes I took while I listened to his remarks:
1) Talked about his father, having to pay off the hospital bill in installments after the birth of Bobby. Ummmm......most middle and lower class families have to pay hospital bills in installments--health care is so appallingly expensive that it's the norm, not a glowing exception. What kind of health plan does Gov. Jindal have? Could we all have that one, please--you know, the one that leaves nothing to be repaid?
2) He told another story; this one about a sheriff, standing up to the incompetent bureaucrats during Hurricane Katrina. Does Gov. Jindal not realize that those bureaucrats were appointed by George W. Bush, a Republican? And that most of America knows for a fact the Bush Administration contributed to the suffering after Katrina by mishandling and mismanaging the crisis?
3) I'm getting very tired of hearing the same lie over and over again--from McCain, Palin, and now Jindal. To paraphrase what President Obama said in his speech last night: he is NOT, I repeat NOT going to raise taxes on the middle class. Perhaps the Republicans think the middle class somehow includes people who earn more than $250,000 a year--if that is the case, they truly do live in their own little world. People in the middle class would be over the moon if they could earn that much in a year, or even in 2 years.
4) Democrats did NOT "reject the Republican plan". First of all, there wasn't a "plan" from the Republicans, and secondly, I can't count the number of times that President Obama reached out to Republicans in the days leading up to the discussion of the Stimulus Plan. Just 2 days ago, President Obama invited over 130 leaders, of all political persuasions, to a Summit on Fiscal Responsibility. He made a point of calling on Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), an obnoxious, outspoken critic of the Stimulus bill. President Obama asked for Cantor's input, for his ideas. Cantor's response? It was the biggest show of ass-kissing and boot-licking I have seen in a long time. Nothing of substance, no ideas, just "Thank you, Mr. President, for inviting us here today." Reminded me a little of Golum in "The Lord of the Ring" movies.
5) Jindal had the hilarious audacity to criticize the Stimulus plan for including money for volcano monitoring. Huh? God forbid we would want to know when a volcano would erupt, thus preventing another natural disaster. No, that would be bad.
6) Further, he decries money for high-speed rail. Then, in the next breath, he says the Republicans are all for energy conservation. Isn't mass transportation a way to conserve? And wasn't he listening to President Obama's speech? The part where he states the three most important areas to focus on are: energy, education, and health care? Jindal makes it sound like the Republicans were the ONLY ones to think of that.
7) It was especially gratifying for me, a blogger, to hear Jindal throw out that well-worn Republican argument for school choice. Here's the thing about school choice--if your child is not handicapped in any way, parochial and charter schools will welcome them with open arms. However, if your child has any kind of disability, that school is not required to teach them, nor will they be equipped to do so. Public schools are required to teach each and every child that comes through the door, no matter what. The United States is almost the only country in the world with this requirement, and we should be proud of this policy. Wonder why children in countries like Japan do so well on standardized tests? Kids with any kind of disability do not take these tests. In some cases, they are discouraged from attending school. It's easy to score well on tests if none of your students are ESL students, from an impoverished background, deaf, blind, or non-verbal.
8) Finally, I'm getting tired of the GOP mantra of "tax cuts", as if "tax cuts" will be the magic fairy dust that will turn the economy around. I'm no economist, but don't income tax cuts help only if you're actually working (i.e. earning an income)? Income tax cuts also don't help the poor or the elderly, who don't pay income taxes. Ditto for those individuals who are wealthy enough to move their money out of the country, or wealthy enough to hire a tax attorney to figure out ways to avoid paying those pesky income taxes. Over the past 20 years, tax cuts in general HAVE helped the upper class, and now the divide between the upper and middle class is a much wider chasm. Maybe the Republicans welcome this gap; if so, then by all means they should keep pushing their "plan" of tax cuts. But me? I'm putting my money on the other guy, and the other party. And I have economists who are giving me hope about the success of the Stimulus bill.
I really, really don't want to offer any advice to the Republican party, but if they are thinking about offering up Gov. Bobby "Mister Rogers" Jindal as their candidate in 2012, they might take to heart the words he sings every day in the neighborhood. You know:
"So, let's make the most of this beautiful day.
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?
Won't you please,
Won't you please?
Please won't you be my neighbor?"
The best thing the Republicans could do right now is to reach out, unselfishly, to their neighbors the Democrats, and get to work for this country. Politics be damned.
2 comments:
Hi, Gail; I enjoy your blog as a regular reader.
I'm concerned that, as liberals - progressives, we are still too hung up with what the right wing fringe thinks. They were finally, and soundly, repudiated in the last election and have lost power. We now set policy in Congress and the White House. Our energy should be going into using that position to create the better social and economic world that we all talk about. Our conversations and debates should be about what to do and how to do it, explaining why it is good and just, and how it will make life better for everyone in the future.
But we still seem hung up on debating a noisy fringe that is out of power and crying for attention. When Rush whines that he hopes Obama fails, we debate it and give him a platform rather than ignoring him. When Jindel says stupid things, we argue with him rather than smiling patronizingly and moving on with our agenda. In the process, we distract ourselves and engage in meaningless discussions about their failed positions and policies.
Lets move on and govern! If the Republicans want to drop out of the discussion and refuse to participate in crafting bipartisan legislation in congress, it's their loss. It's not our obligation to humor them and try to drag them to the table.
In the long run, engaging them in debates about their partisan positions only propels them back onto the public stage. I worry that if we seem to give their positions the credit of a reply and prominance in our conversations, then we confuse the public onlookers into thinking that they might actually be making some valid point.
In reality, they are just making noise.
'not a criticism of you at all, but a plea to liberals in general that we have to move on from the Bush years and create the change we've talked about.
I totally agree. It's just that some things are just too juicy not to comment on.
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