Free speech in Bobby (well, it’s actually Piyush, but he’s ashamed of his roots) Jindal’s Louisiana? Surely you jest. Of course you can freely expose your tata’s, booze and sex it up at Mardi Gras to your heart’s content in this fine state, but don’t you dare put up a billboard exposing Jindal’s refusal to allow the expansion of Medicaid, thereby leaving hundreds of thousands of citizens in an insurance hole and at risk of death.
The activist group, MoveOn, erected billboards in a number of red states denouncing the opt-out of Medicaid expansion. One of those states was Louisiana. A billboard was strategically placed along highly-traveled Interstate 10. From the Times-Picayune, here’s the wording: “LOU!SIANA Pick your passion! But hope you don’t love your health. Gov. Jindal’s denying Medicaid to 242,000 people,” The sign is a play on the words of the state’s tourism slogan, “Pick your Passion.”
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Jindal’s reaction was quick in coming and quite undemocratic. He had his Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne quickly put together a cease-and-desist order for MoveOn. The organization was asked to TAKE DOWN the billboard. Apparently Jindal doesn’t hold the first amendment in nearly the esteem he does the second, considering he spends most of his free time signing stacks of new NRA-favored legislation perpetuating all things that go boom!
The move didn’t intimidate MoveOn. Quite the contrary; they were delighted. Here’s exactly how they put their reaction in their email. “Now that we know this campaign is getting under Republicans’ skin, the way to win this is to go all-in by vigorously defending MoveOn against any potential lawsuit, doubling down on our campaigning, putting up more billboards, running more ads, getting more press, and doing what it takes to make our voices heard. In fact, this threat of legal action could be a golden opportunity: It could earn a ton of press for Medicaid expansion and shine a spotlight nationally on the real human costs of Republican extremism.”
Personally, I’d like to see these billboards every other mile or so on Louisiana’s highways and byways.
Jindal’s an interesting guy. His last name from his family’s native India surprisingly survived his purge of all things Indian, including his Hindu religion. He was in college when he figured out the lay of the political land. He renounced Hinduism and became a Catholic, a faith much easier to market on the campaign trail. After all, there are more Catholics in the state than any other religion and you’d have to look for that Hindu needle in the Bayou state haystack for years, as that faith doesn’t even register in official statistics. The Jewish and Islamic religions do little better at a fraction of one percent.
Politically, you’re either Catholic or Baptist or you don’t count. So deeply Catholic is Piyush ‘er “Bobby” that he once partook of an exorcism. Trying to extract Satan from the spiritual innards of Susie Q don’t’ you know. You don’t get more wackadoo than an “exorcism.” Hypocrite also comes to mind as a descriptive bullseye considering Jindal, as the son of Indian immigrants, is a strong supporter of the restrictive fencing of the Mexican border.
Much like another Indian governor, Nimrata “Nikki” Randhawa Haley, Jindal is addicted to the career cocaine of politics. Like Jindal, Haley is known exclusively by her anglicized name of “Nikki.” I’ll guarantee you won’t find it on her birth certificate. You can type “Picture of Bobby Jindal’s signature” into Google and the first thing that comes up is an indecipherable mess. It could be “Bobby” Jindal. If, indeed it is, might all legislation signed by the governor be illegal since Jindal has never bothered to legally change his name to Bobby? Probably not, as it would likely be considered ‘de minimus’ unless there was an attempt to defraud. I would like to see his driver’s license though. Same for Nikki.
Needless to say, Haley also dumped her parent’s religion on the side of the road. Had she stuck with mom and dad, she would still be of the Sikh faith. Instead, she fled to the pews of the nearest Methodist church, although she swears she attends Sikh services as well, in honor of her parents. She probably goes occasionally for show since there is at least one Gurdwara in Columbia. In South Carolina, an Indian couple doesn’t work so well politically, so Haley further distanced herself from her heritage in marrying a nice-enough white gent, Michael. He stays in the background, as in a recent year-long deployment to Afghanistan with the National Guard. That’s not something we can pin on Jindal. His wife, Supriya is also of Indian descent, though both seem reluctant to make much of a point of it.
Jindal also has an extensive background in health care oversight, having held both state and national positions in agencies that set health policy. He lost his first run for governor, spent some time in the Bush administration and House of Representatives, then came back and won his second gubernatorial go around and was subsequently reelected by a large margin. He’s also an Ivy League, Rhodes Scholar Oxford guy.
Nonetheless, all that high-brow education still rejects free speech and criticism of his leadership. And that’s where MoveOn comes in. How dare they publicly distract drivers with a truthful billboard with bold letters clearly demonstrating just what kind of governor Piyush ‘er Bobby, really is. Honesty and practicing democracy would never do in a state run by a deceptive, far-right ideologue with a history of negative health care decisions in Louisiana and elsewhere. MoveOn has countered Jindal’s nonsense with a call to their membership for 3 bucks apiece. Three bucks? I’m all in; I may even toss in a couple of more greenbacks.
Jindal reportedly lived for a time in a place called Metairie with its reputation as an epicenter for racism. A few years ago, three KKK symbols were burned into a black families’ front yard. Metairie is credited with being an area of strong Jindal support for governor, as well as adoring David Duke’s unsuccessful run. Duke lost to crook, Edwin Edwards, in a runoff. Edwards ended up pulling eight years in a federal pen.
That’s probably what Jindal would wish on the MoveOn people. Eight years out of his hair. I mean who needs this aggravation when Jindal has his eye on the White House for yet another time? The big boys pulled the rug out from under him the last time he lusted for the top office in the land. Too young (at 37) they told him and that was that! He didn’t even make the vice-presidential cut. That “honor” went to an even more radical extremist.
Be clear about one thing. Jindal hates Barack Obama, telling the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that Obama was the worst president in his lifetime. Beg your pardon Piyush ‘er Bobby; you actually worked in the administration of the worst president in your lifetime. Side Note: “Moderate” Chris Christie was also at CPAC trying to mend extreme right-wing fences.
As for the Jindal billboard flap; keep movin’ on, MoveOn!
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Raised rural & small town, then lived in N.Y., Chicago & LA. Widely traveled. Returned from world wandering to pursue media life of anchorman/reporter and major, medium and small market talk radio. Highly active in politics. Once worked as orderly & security in Mens Lock Ward for the Criminally Insane at a state institution. Much more rational population than current Teapublicans. Great concern for country run by and for the extreme wealthy. The inhumane current running through this country has no precedent in modern history.
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