Jindal: Rooting for Obama to Fail Isn’t Treason

Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:45 pm

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Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) spoke to the NRCC last night, and he proclaimed that wanting Obama to fail is perfectly fine, because the Democrats wanted Bush to fail over the past eight years. He said rooting for Obama to fail isn’t treason, civil disobedience, or political obstructionism.

Jindal said, “The suggestion behind the “do you want the President to fail question” is this – If you don’t answer their question with a loud “NO” immediately, if you don’t express instant obedience to the question, then you are not really a patriot, and you are essentially trying to undermine America. Make no mistake, anything other than an immediate and compliant – “why no sir, I don’t want the President to fail” is treated as some sort of act of treason, civil disobedience, or political obstructionism. This is political correctness run amok.”

He made the argument that it is fine to root for Obama to fail, because Democrats did the same thing to Bush, “And let’s be clear, the very Democrat leaders who are now asking this phony question, are the ones who for so long wanted to see the last President fail, regardless of the issue, and regardless of whether he was right or wrong.” Apparently, it was perfectly fine for Republicans to run campaigns calling Democrats unpatriotic when the disagreed with Bush on Iraq and the war on terror, but now they cry foul when they are in the minority and the same question is asked of them.

Democrats never wanted the Bush policy to fail, what they always wanted especially when it came to Iraq was for the war to end. Wanting the war to end is not the same as wanting failure, just as disagreeing with Obama on the economy is not the same as wanting him to fail. Currently, Republicans do want Obama to fail, and they are wishing for his failure, so that they can regain power. The problem for Republicans is that when they root against the president on the economy, it makes it look like they are rooting for more job loss and suffering.

I do agree with Jindal that disagreeing with Obama is not treason. It is stupid to cheer against a popular president, but it isn’t an act of treason. Jindal is wrong that what the Republicans are trying to do is not political obstructionism. The GOP strategy is textbook obstructionism strictly for the purpose of labeling the Democratic Congress and Obama as do nothings. To say that the GOP is not obstructing is a lie, but to call what they are doing treason is just as unfair as when the Republicans did it to Democrats.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association