Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 08:41 pm
On Wednesday’s Morning Joe, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was on for a 15-minute interview. For the most part, the hosts wanted to discuss Jindal’s recent comments on the White House steps where Jindal claimed the President was surrendering and settling for minimum-wage economy. Jindal received a smackdown from Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy, who lashed out at Jindal for using the moment for partisan gain and to essentially campaign for 2016.
Prior to Jindal joining in for the interview, co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough had a short discussion about Jindal’s comments. They also talked about a recent column by Kathleen Parker where she praised Jindal for his comments and performance. She also stated that he was obviously campaigning for 2016 by attacking the President and trying to fill the void in the GOP 2016 field left by Chris Christie. That gave a nice lead-in for Scarborough to start complimenting Jindal.
Scarborough used his time to state that Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, during the Bush years, would be nice and cordial to President Bush inside the White House and then go on the steps and “quote call him a war criminal and a liar.” Now, I am not going to dispute the fact that Pelosi and Reid disagreed with Bush. I won’t even dispute the fact that they likely felt, and have even publicly stated since then, that President Bush committed war crimes and lied while in office. I will dispute the fact that they ever called him a ‘war criminal’ or ‘liar’ on the steps of the White House right after meeting with him.
Scarborough making that comparison doesn’t really work. Pelosi and Reid during the Bush years would be comparable to John Boehner and Mitch McConnell today. And, let’s face it, Boehner and McConnell use EVERY opportunity to speak poorly of President Obama today. On top of all of that, none of these party leaders were ever looking to make a Presidential run at any point. To make a truly fair comparison, Scarborough should have looked towards a Democratic governor during the Bush years who used an opportunity after a White House governors’ meeting to campaign for President and rail against Bush. Of course, Scarborugh isn’t really interested in things like ‘fairness’ or ‘honesty.’
During Jindal’s interview, the Republican governor utilized his time to essentially spout his new 2016 slogans: ‘Waving the White Flag of Surrender’ and ‘Obama’s Minimum-Wage Economy.’ When asked actual questions by Mika, Chuck Todd, Mike Barnicle and Thomas Roberts, Jindal just retreated into talking points mode, going back to the same well multiple times. The Keystone XL pipeline got mentioned over and over, as did privatization of education.
Predictably, Scarborough spent his portion of the interview fawning all over Jindal. He couldn’t help but to agree with every single thing Jindal said and all but declared his undying love for him. Most likely, with Chris Christie having broken Joe’s heart, Scarborough was just primed and ready for a quick rebound. Jindal was the perfect person to capture Joe’s heart again.
Jindal is the perfect candidate for supposed ‘reasonable’ conservatives like Scarborough. Like Christie, Jindal is able to present the facade that he is a someone of true substance. As with Christie, Jindal has the undeserved reputation as a leader with ideas who is willing to buck against the party and do what is right for his state. He is supposed to be someone who can appeal to independents and moderates on a national scale.
However, when you see the ‘substance’ that Jindal brings to the table, you realize it is just the same old crappy Republican model presented in different packaging. Basically the list includes: more tax cuts for the wealthy, privatize the school system (and any other non-profit, public sector areas), slash regulations, approve the Keystone pipeline, destroy labor unions, allow for more ‘religious freedom’, outlaw abortion, repeal Obamacare, no gun control and no raise to the minimum wage.
Once again, the perfect candidate for someone like Scarborough.
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