Bobby Jindal Confuses Invocation With Reaction

Media coverage of the Gulf oil spill has prominently featured Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal criticizing BP and the Obama administration for a perceived lack of rapid response to the crisis which has led to significant environmental and economic hardship for his state.

Let's ignore for a moment Jindal's call to resume deep water drilling and exploration, even though another incident would be catastrophic given that all available response resources are currently deployed and have proven to be inadequate. I'm sure Bobby is betting the likelihood of a second disaster is more remote than the odds of a return to the national political stage, and Republicans seem to have no aversion to rogering their constituents for personal gain.

It's been widely reported that Jindal has been stuck in the mud when it comes to activating Louisiana National Guard troops to supplement BP's responders. Jindal has called out only 1/6 of the soldiers authorized by President Obama, and has changed his story several times when questioned by the media, first blaming the Coast Guard for not approving his requests, after which Commander Thad Allen called bullshit. Suddenly, Jindal conceded that he hadn't actually requested more Guard presence. Darn those pesky facts, y'all.

Jindal has found time to issue an order designating June 27 a "Statewide Day of Prayer" so that folks can read scriptures and utter devotionals rather than clean birds and deploy segments of boom. There's no data available of how much praying it takes to stem the daily flow of 90,000 barrels of oil and natural gas from the ocean floor, but I'm guessing it's significant.

What's maddening is how typical Jindal's ideas and rhetoric have been.

• Criticize the performance of others even when you haven't articulated better solutions.
• Fudge the truth when your own ineptitude is publicized. 
• Support the same business entities that created the crisis at the expense of those you are accountable to protect. 
• Discard science in favor of religion.

Sadly, the people of Louisiana keep electing politicians like Jindal in response to faux populist outrage about federal intervention and a false sense of self-sustenance. In ten years, Jindal will be rich and leading a comfortable existence somewhere. His constituents will inhabit an oil-soaked economy for decades to come.