Governor of Louisiana, and America’s brownest Republican, Bobby Jindal had to admit that a little story he told detailing government interference during Hurricaine Katrina did not, in fact, actually happen the way he recounted during his speech in rebuttal to the President’s address to Congress. He had said that during the crisis he was in the office of a local Sheriff, Harry Lee, who was on the the phone with a federal bureaucrat who was denying permission for private boats to be used in the rescue effort because they did not have the proper permits. During his speech Tuesday, Jindal recalled that he stated:”that’s ridiculous” and invited the unnamed bureaucrat to come over and arrest the Governor and Sheriff if she did not like it.
Now it appears it was Sheriff Harry Lee, alone in his office that day (and conveniently for the credit-hogging governor, recently deceased), who stood up to ridiculous government regulation during the crisis. Jindal was never in the area and never spoke to Sheriff Lee until a week after the fact.
This could be a minor setback to the well-educated, non-plumber, faction of the Republican Party who believe Governor Jindal is the last best hope to re-take the White House in four years (his denials in interest for the Job to the contrary). Also left disillusioned, are thousands of South Asian immigrant parents, who, when they aren’t haranguing their children to bring up their S.A.T. scores, have been holding up Governor “Coulda Happened” as an example to be emulated (for if you do not already know, Ma and Pa Jindal are Indian immigrants, and certainly still proud of their son).
Do not despair Deepak! No worries Priya! You can emulate Jindal still! For an ability to not let the truth get in the way of a good story is obviously the mark of excellence. Why no less a light than the Great Communicator himself was caught in a little fib, but like Jindal’s fabrication, that lie too was merely a reflection of a greater truth.
During an unsuccessful run for president in 1976, Ronald Reagan was fond of telling the story of the infamous Welfare Queen: “She has fifteen names, thirty addresses, twelve Social Security cards and is collecting veteran’s benefits on four non-existing deceased husbands. And she is collecting Social Security on her cards. She’s got Medicaid, getting food stamps, and she is collecting welfare under each of her names.”
Reagan’s Welfare Queen was from the South Side of Chicago (just like you-know-who), drove a Cadillac and wore fur coats. When reporters researching the story could only find a case of a woman defrauding welfare of $8,000, they confronted Governor Reagan about his hyperbole. Gipper’s only response was: “well, it could have happened.”
Governor Jindal is in excellent company. Let us all wish for a speedy recovery to his political career. Do you really want to see a Palin/Plumber Republican ticket in 2012?
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