August 31, 2008 10:02 PM
Will Gustav make Republicans wish for Jindal as VP?
Katrina de ja vu is bearing down on the Gulf Coast as I write this, but there's a big difference between preparations now and preparations three years ago. Mayor Ray Nagin, President Bush, and FEMA all had a lesson to learn after the last vicious hurricane smacked New Orleans, but Gov. Kathleen Blanco also contributed to the mangling of Katrina efforts. On the phone with Geraldo Rivera on Fox News a bit ago, she tried to take credit for putting into place the preparations for Gustav in what just seemed like a sad attempt to steal credit for today's picture-perfect evacuations from Gov. Bobby Jindal.
Considered by many to be on John McCain's shortlist for the vice presidential slot (remember he was part of McCain's exclusive pre-Memorial Day barbecue), Jindal insisted he had a job to do in Louisiana and wouldn't accept the position if offered.
As Gustav approaches his state, though, it seems that Jindal is exhibiting the kind of leadership skills that transcend party politics -- the kind of executive leadership that has become an issue in the presidential race, but in the sense that most of the top four lack the experience.
Today we've witnessed a historic event: the evacuation of nearly two million residents from the Louisiana coast. Buses and trains got residents the heck out of Dodge -- and there were enough for everyone who wanted to get out -- and highway lanes were switched to one-way to facilitate the exodus of cars. Sunday evening Jindal was asking for 16,000 additional National Guard troops from neighboring states, after activating all 7,000 of Louisiana's. Additionally, the state took a special interest in evacuating those with special needs, and had secured 53,000 places in eight states
And Jindal's press briefings and Web site have been the one-stop shop on where to go for storm info. Site visitors are prompted to prepare, volunteer, or donate; alerts from the state's emergency office are atop the page; and all of Jindal's comprehensive press briefings are available. We're talking hard stats, complete organization, knowing what's going on with every sector of the evacuation and preparation process.
When voters talk about desiring a candidate who's ready to lead, the proven ability to handle a crisis is such a huge part of that -- especially after the Katrina calamity rattled the faith of so many in their government. By the end of the week, many may be futilely pining for Jindal to be on a ticket this November. But I predict in the future we'll see Jindal at the top of a ticket -- and then he'll be making history not just with an impeccable, massive evacuation, but going where no Indian-American has gone before.
Considered by many to be on John McCain's shortlist for the vice presidential slot (remember he was part of McCain's exclusive pre-Memorial Day barbecue), Jindal insisted he had a job to do in Louisiana and wouldn't accept the position if offered.
As Gustav approaches his state, though, it seems that Jindal is exhibiting the kind of leadership skills that transcend party politics -- the kind of executive leadership that has become an issue in the presidential race, but in the sense that most of the top four lack the experience.
Today we've witnessed a historic event: the evacuation of nearly two million residents from the Louisiana coast. Buses and trains got residents the heck out of Dodge -- and there were enough for everyone who wanted to get out -- and highway lanes were switched to one-way to facilitate the exodus of cars. Sunday evening Jindal was asking for 16,000 additional National Guard troops from neighboring states, after activating all 7,000 of Louisiana's. Additionally, the state took a special interest in evacuating those with special needs, and had secured 53,000 places in eight states
And Jindal's press briefings and Web site have been the one-stop shop on where to go for storm info. Site visitors are prompted to prepare, volunteer, or donate; alerts from the state's emergency office are atop the page; and all of Jindal's comprehensive press briefings are available. We're talking hard stats, complete organization, knowing what's going on with every sector of the evacuation and preparation process.
When voters talk about desiring a candidate who's ready to lead, the proven ability to handle a crisis is such a huge part of that -- especially after the Katrina calamity rattled the faith of so many in their government. By the end of the week, many may be futilely pining for Jindal to be on a ticket this November. But I predict in the future we'll see Jindal at the top of a ticket -- and then he'll be making history not just with an impeccable, massive evacuation, but going where no Indian-American has gone before.
September 1, 2008
10:14 AM
andycanuck writes:
Sorry to go OT at your new blog, Bridget, but maybe you'd like to do a post about or comment on the Rocky Mountain News promoting a misconception?
http://tinyurl.com/65f9z9
September 1, 2008
10:28 AM
Priscilla Cadwell writes:
Seems the person w/o experience or knowledge of history is Bridget Johnson. Kathleen Blanco did put evacuation preparations before Katrina (millions safely evacuated then, too), and practice makes perfect so of course Bobby Jindal has some experience put in place before him. What happened to professional journalism?
September 1, 2008
10:33 AM
Priscilla Cadwell writes:
Check out what a Louisiana newspaper has to say about this @ /www.2theadvocate.com/opinion/27702394.html?index=1&c=y
September 1, 2008
12:00 PM
Fleet writes:
Priscilla -
By this time during Katrina, Blanco was paralyzed with ineptitude and was literally crying at her press conferences. Obviously, you aren't from LA. Giving Blanco any credit is akin to praising Nagin. Completely ridiculous.
September 1, 2008
12:43 PM
andycanuck writes:
Every time I go to the paper's home page, a trojan horse virus tries to infect my p.c. but my antivirus software catches it. How about telling your IT people to check it out? And, no, I won't be back.
September 1, 2008
10:18 PM
mike-inlouisiana writes:
Louisiana born & raised, lived in many other states call it home today, seen politicians come & go, but I have to say Gov. Jindal did one heck of a job ! If anything let everyone else take the credit, say it was Blanco who put the program in place after katrina, say all that, but you cannot take away the fact Gov Jindal shows he is a real leader, after you hear him, you come away with a scene this guys got it together. Mrs. Blanco had her moment and god do I remember when her & mary landrieu stood up together at thier press conference and almost cryed ! yes just like priscilla stated, thats something u dont want from any leader.
September 2, 2008
7:52 AM
40acresandmymuleandNAMvetbennies writes:
AWOL-MIA. Accountability, responsibility, coupled with oversight anyone? Why haven't those white military officers in NOLA's Corps of Engineers been court-martialed? They are all guilty of being derelict and shirking their duties, which led to the massive flooding in NOLA during Katrina. Their corrupt contractors failed to maintain NOLA's dewatering pumps and controls as required in OEM's predictive, preventive, and corrective maintenance action requirements. Hundreds of these pumps failed, GOP water-boarding 1.5K COLOREDs in the process. Former DoD secy. Rumsfeld and USDOL-Office of Federal Contracts Compliance Programs-OFCCP Secy. Chao, are also guilty of criminal negligence, resulting in the deaths of 1.5K COLOREDS.
Obama is truly a gutless wonder and "UT". He is moot while GWB (UCMJ felon, AWOL, deserter) is prosecuting Black Congressman Jefferosn (NOLA) because Jeffy took a $90K bribe. John "fossilized-felon" McBush took a $112K bribe from Charles Keating (bank robber). Humming and singing stanzas from "We Shall Overcome".
September 2, 2008
9:23 AM
JohnJ writes:
Blanco & Nagin were/are incompetent. It's more clear than ever that 90% of the Katrina recovery debacle falls squarely on their shoulders.
And yes, the Republicans have no shortage of adults, like Bobby Jindal as future leaders of this country.
September 3, 2008
2:55 PM
Grady Roy writes:
I'm Louisiana born and raised, and I will tell you as someone who is actually here and knows what has and is happening in our state that former Gov. Blanco did INDEED put that plan in effect during the later part of her term. Now Jindal has not taken credit for it (as for as i know) nor should he, he was simply the one in office when the plan had to be executed.
I am by no means a Democratic or Republican, so i can honestly say from looking "outside of the political magnifying glass" that Jindal is no better or worse of a governor than Blanco was. Blanco caught a bad wrap due to Bush's stubbornness to deliver prompt help and relief tomour state after Katrina. And along with people blaming her for the city of New Orleans' ridiculous Corps of Engineers not fixing an issue that they know about for decades. So all the people who talk bad about Blanco and "how she handled the Katrina situation" are uninformed and only repeating what they hear from their right winged TV and radio.
Jindal is not the God that you guys are making him out to be either. Truth be told....he fits right in with classic Louisiana politics, just another scumbag looking to screw the system somehow. He hasnt done anything for this state yet...and I dont see any advancements in the near future. Sad part is the ONLY reason he won the Governor's seat was because of the gun bill he supported right before he ran.....which indeed was clever and well planned. However, by him publicly announcing his support for the bill was enough for all the white trash red necks to vote for him. No other way a man of color would have ever won. Remember...this is Louisiana, where the Klan still has rights, and even a show on public access television. Im not for that stuff, but its true.