(3 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)Last Tuesday, when Barrack Obama addressed the nation in a joint session of Congress, there was a thundering applause all over. For every point he made, there was a standing ovation – so much so that he made his point clear time and again, that “We are not quitters” and that “We will build America”
Here is the transcript of his speech – courtesy New York Times
Immediately after Obama’s speech, the Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was asked to give a Republican Response. I had waited eagerly for Obama’s speech skipping my regular duties at India Special and when I came to know that Bobby Jindal, a second generation Indian American was asked to give the official response, I could not switch my TV off, for I had already formed an opinion about him, however misinformed that I was 
As I watched eagerly, Bobby Jindal quietly and very strategically ripped apart Obama’s plan to rebuild America as a wasteful spending. While he criticized Obama’s plans, he also acknowledged that Obama was one of the most gifted speakers of this generation. Bobby Jindal however has his inhibitions about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan. You can read the complete transcript of Jindal’s speech here
Part of his response that caught my attention was when he said
Republicans are ready to work with the new president to provide those solutions. Here in my state of Louisiana, we don’t care what party you belong to, if you have good ideas to make life better for our people. We need more of that attitude from both Democrats and Republicans in our nation’s capital. All of us want our economy to recover and our nation to prosper. So where we agree, Republicans must be the president’s strongest partners. And where we disagree, Republicans have a responsibility to be candid and offer better ideas for a path forward.
He further narrates a story and says
The strength of America is not found in our government. It is found in the compassionate hearts and the enterprising spirit of our citizens. We are grateful for the support we have received from across the nation for the ongoing recovery efforts. This spirit got Louisiana through the hurricanes and this spirit will get our nation through the storms we face today.
He further went on to decline the stimulus money that was offered to him in order to have his state back on track. He had a valid point – He did not want his next generations to be in debt and hence rejected the offer.
As I listened to him further, and I started comparing him to Obama, the first thing that occurred to me was that here is a politician who has a similar background as Obama (African American vs Indian American), speaks well, has proven himself in the state of Louisiana et al and has support of many Republicans. Will he become Republican party’s strongest contender in the 2012 elections or will Mitt Romney scrape through?
Whatever I’ve heard of Bobby Jindal, he sure seems promising. He is young, energetic and convincing. If he can turn around a Katrina hit Louisiana, he certainly has it in him to be the President of United States.
I am neither a Democrat follower nor a Republican enthusiast. I like Obama for his speech, his energy, and passion – I wish he succeeds in his plans to rebuild America. If he doesn’t, then 2012 will be an incredible test for him and Bobby Jindal will surely give him a run for his money.
For all you know, after an African American, it might be the turn of an Indian American to be the President of United States of America. Certainly, a moment to cherish for Indians, if it comes true.
Time will only answer!
Image Credit: Wiki Media
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Popularity: 15%
March 2nd, 2009 at 12:08 am
You have to live in the USA to guage the mood here and be able to understand why Barack Obama is currently popular. Its kind of crazy. The guy wants to implement tired old socialist ideas and muddles his way through to the Presidency.
Bobby Jindal is brilliant, honest, he has done a superb job in Louisiana and he has the right ideas for America's future. However, his first speech fell flat. Read here an article from somone who knows him well: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/.... He is a poor speaker and in these times that is a BIG negative.
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March 2nd, 2009 at 12:13 am
Barack Obama is currently benefitting from a nihilistic mood in the USA. You have to live in the USA to understand how this empty suit muddled his way into the PResidency. He wants to recklessly implement tired old socialist ideas and is getting away with it.
Bobby Jindal is a brilliant mind, he has done a superb job for Lousiana, the only state where jobs are growing, and he has the right ideas for America's future prosperity. Read here an article from someone who knows him well: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/.... He is a poor speaker and that is a big negative in these political times.
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March 2nd, 2009 at 8:16 pm
You are right. It looked like Bobby Jindal was not his original self. It appeared that some clueless speechwriter wrote some jibberish and he read it out from a screen. Not that I had heard him many times, earlier…but I do know that what he has done for Louisiana is worth commendable.
By the way, was that his first speech to a national audience ? Today, I heard another story of some radio commentator mocking him and passing some racist remarks…this was shown on the Bill O Reily factor..in FOX.
As for Obama, I think the media is obsessed with him. As much as they played part in his elevation to the highest office, they are not ripping him apart for every step that he is taking. Give Obama some time and you will see the result…People tend to miss the bigger picture.
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March 2nd, 2009 at 8:23 pm
As I said, you got to give him time…he has just put a plan forward. Bush was lucky to have inherited a surplus and see where he landed the country to…a trillion dollar deficit…may be more…Obama is hardly in his 2nd month as President, and people have already written him off, even before he formed his cabinet…
I sense that there is some kind preconceived notion built around the hearsay of the cynics. You got to go there with an open mind and see what is in store and how he is going to accomplish. Get a chance, go to http://recovery.org or http://www.whitehouse.gov. If only Bush was as transparent, perhaps the world would have been a bit different!
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March 2nd, 2009 at 9:48 pm
i AM Always amused by the political system of America…
over here i doubt two people from opposite parties can share a stage and speak well without using any 'blame' game…!!
thnx for the write up..!!
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March 2nd, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Mr. Kandam,
The substantive issue is about his politics. A gesture of transparency here and candor there is not the sum total of his political approach. If a $800 billion stimulus bill is passed without members of Congress reading it, you are talking about a traversty. The bottomline is that he is a left wing populist and from a reading of history we know that it always ends in disgrace and financial ruin for the citizens. In a crisis like this, you can't wait for somebody to devastate the country and BTW the world. His latest budget makes it amply clear where he is going and its huge amount of nonsense. The suggested health care system has failed in Canada and UK, the green energy drive makes no sense when costs are 5 times higher and public education as it exists has left many Americans undereducated. These issues have been debated and Obama clearly is on the wrong side. He is presenting old wine in a new bottle–colossal levels of deception.
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March 3rd, 2009 at 11:15 am
The congress didn't read the bill and yet passed it – doesn't make sense to me, for all the media hype that was given. Everybody is responsible for their actions – so are the senators who went thru the bill. I have been reading online and watching about Obama's stimulus package. He has been urging the congress to pass the bill for several days…What were these guys doing then ?..The bill was presented to the Congress long before and they just kept debating it. There could have been some amended versions which was later presented but the bulk of the bill was presented long before…people forget that…
Saying that it was a 1000 page bill and that they were not given enough time to go through it is ridiculous, absurd and childish – all the more because, half the time they were involved in bantering, ridiculing and criticising rather than looking at how to creatively solve the problem at hand. I am no expert, but my experience tells me that 10-15 teams of 3-4 members each going thru the individual issues/ pages could have had the entire bill covered in a few hours. After all it is plain English – and no rocket science..The fact that they weren't creative enough proves their mettle.
About the spending bill and its justification, here are my two cents (nothing new, same old wine…but still urge you to read thru)
Spending on short term and long term projects creates employment which in turn brings money to the common man who will have the requisite dollars to spend on consumer items which will inturn boost the economy.
It is a simple economic principle, that inorder for the engine to run, you need to kickstart somewhere and that is exactly what Obama is doing. Yes, there would be pitfalls and changed plans …and there would be lessons learnt in the process…at least if he gets the economy going, that would be a big boost to USA and to the world. Unfortunately, one needs to open his eyes to see the bigger picture…and sometimes they are not visible to the common eyes.
And as I said earlier, give Obama a fair chance. You've had 8 years of misgovernance and all it succeeded was to kill innocent civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan etc…and help the economy reach rockbottom..not to mention the handover of a trillion dollar of deficit…
By the way, we are all shooting in the dark without having gone through either the stimulus package or the budget – it is all a hearsay for me and I admit it…but from what I heard, it appears that Obama is on the right track to bring the country back on track.
At this point in time – the best we can do is to provide fact based constructive criticisms rather than baseless bantering!
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