If Jindal was the answer, what was the question?

Since President Obama's speech spoke quite well for itself — and reaction to it was well received across the board — the less viewed, though roundly rebuffed, Republican response deserves special attention.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal might have set a Guinness record for the fastest flameout in presidential primary history — and there's still four years until the next election!

While Jindal probably jockeyed to deliver the Republican rebuttal to President Obama's speech, it's likely he met little resistance; there were probably few Republicans eager to follow a very popular president with their very unpopular stance on the recently legislated stimulus bill.

Jindal, who apparently (yay!) leads the cast of characters vying for leadership of the party, used his address as a means to introduce himself on the national stage. He started with an ill-advised and poorly-delivered story about his mother's emigration to the U.S. and how, since he was conceived in another country, his in utero status was a "pre-existing condition."

It's hard to imagine the nation's youngest governor could follow with anything worse … though not impossible.

The first and most enduring impression of Jindal was his tone, sounding more like he was speaking to school children than the kind of political wonk who would stay tuned at 10:50 EST to hear the GOP counterpoint.

MSNBC's Chris Matthews perfectly captured the collective national sentiment, and this before Jindal opened his mouth. The set quieted as Jindal rounded the corner, appearing more like a cardboard cutout than a warm body. As the stiff approached his spot in front of the camera, Matthews quietly uttered, "Oh gawd."

Exactly.

Beyond the inanities expected from a hard-right ideologue, whose indignation about deficit spending appears only when it's the other party doing the spending, Jindal dropped one stunning note that defied logic.

Imagine, a Republican from Louisiana using the disastrous Bush administration reaction in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as an example of why government doesn't work.

Really?!

Jindal clearly fails to understand that folks have not turned against government in general, but against the Republican way of governing specifically. One cannot point to his own failures and expect to believably paint others with the same brush.

Some might meet Jindal's postulation with incredulity, but c'mon — this is who they are! His entire monologue was predicated both on returning to failed policies that brought about the predicament in which this country is embroiled, and the expectation that the electorate is so ignorant they will believe in the Republican's fantasy notion of a high speed rail line from Disney Land to Las Vegas.

Viewers were likely pleading for one original thought or substantive idea. As has often been the case the last 8 years, they were disappointed.

In any case, Democrats certainly slept more comfortably last night with the knowledge Jindal is the new face of the Republican party.

A Party Divided

Democrats as a party — Nancy Pelosi (CA) in particular, and President Obama and Harry Reid (NV) to a lesser, though still substantial, extent — have endured pointed criticism from Republican congressmen the last several weeks over what they say, motivated by legitimate concern, political principle or partisan posturing, is an ill-conceived and grossly overreaching economic stimulus bill.

In recent days, the party has turned its aim from political foes, its membership now leveling their sights on each other in what might unfold as an ideological civil war that could split the party between a small yet powerful faction that still believes in Newt Gingrich's manifesto of GOP demagoguery, and those who awoke November 5 to a new world order and realized the futility in reiterating failed practices while expecting a different result. 

The rift has arisen between many Republican governors and their party's congressional leadership. While there are a few vocal critics of the bill — many of them having national political aspirations — most of the 22 Republican governors understand the extraordinary benefits an influx of new cash would have as their states suffer from declining revenues and mounting budget deficits. 

Unlike Senate and House representatives, who spend the lion's share of their time in Washington, many of whom having lost touch completely with their constituents, governors live at ground zero and deal directly with business closures, job losses, home foreclosures and staggering unemployment claims. 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, an ardent supporter of the stimulus package, had to fight California state Republicans in order to increase tax revenues in a marathon budget session to counter a $42B deficit, garnering only six GOP votes for the measure. At the state's Republican Convention, a vice chairman condemned the Governator as a "kidney stone" that will take another year to pass, and a few petulant delegates even crafted an "apology" to recalled Gov. Gray Davis, an obvious swipe at Schwarzenegger.

Governors Charlie Crist (FL) and Mitch Daniels (IN) have also opted for pragmatism, recognizing the benefits this windfall of cash will produce. Crist took the unusual step of openly championing the bill, even going so far as to introduce the president at a speech in Florida two weeks ago. The governor has been lambasted for his efforts.

Utah Gov. Jim Huntsman, Jr. sounded the sharpest criticism, blasting Washington GOPers as "inconsequential," saying their leadership is so lacking that he's completely uninterested in anything they have to say. 

But then, Huntsman admitted he's taking cues from Gingrich, so there's that.

THEATRE OF PAIN

This provides the lead-in for President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress tonight, a Mardi Gras of sorts for Democrats, and a political high wire act for Republicans. 

The donkeys will be in full lather tonight, this their first address from a fellow Democrat in 8 years. And while these quasi-choreographed affairs always have a self-congratulatory air from the party in power, don't expect the president to be too puffed up; he is well aware of the seriousness of the moment.

President Obama's most daunting task will be acknowledging the dire situation in which our country finds itself and maintaining a sense of caution while invoking the kind of optimism that will encourage Americans to be hopeful. In effect, he must again become candidate Obama, his address one that stirs the soul and makes folks believe the impossible is possible, his optimism becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The Republicans will not be as raucus, though they cannot afford to appear gruff or bitter. Sure, references to the stimulus will get muted applause, if they even stand at all. But they're surely aware that this new president is still very popular, and their shenanigans of late have been viewed very poorly by the public — nearly 80 percent of Americans want GOP congressmen to part with party politics and get behind the stimulus.

… AND YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES TO RESPOND

Gov. Bobby Jindal (LA), whose eyes are clearly focused on 2012, will deliver the Republican response to the president's speech. Jindal has already announced his intention to refuse some of the $4B slated for his state. 

It bears mentioning that Louisiana's expected 2010 budget shortall is about half what the state would get from the stimulus bill. 

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has said he'll take any money the state turns down. Schwarzenegger said the same of any state that refuses stimulus funds.

Don't expect anything new or original in Jindal's rebuttal, but more of the same ridiculous hipocrisy you've come to expect from Republicans. He will use tired phrases such as "saddle future generations with debt" with "programs we don't need," disregarding the $6T by which his party increased the national debt the last 8 years, especially on the back of a war the U.S. didn't need. 

It becomes increasingly difficult to listen to these clowns rail against the Democrats' attempts to save our country from the epic failure of their leadership. The idea Republicans have any credibility whatsoever when their ideals and policies caused this mess is no longer laughable but downright pathetic.

How safe is stimulus without protection?

A final thought is warranted on the STD prevention programs cut from the stimulus bill after John Boehner (R-OH) and conservative factions raised umbrage about "spending hundreds of millions of dollars on contraceptives," if only to prove the ability of politicians to obfuscate and mislead the electorate.

The House version of the bill contained $335M that was partially intended to help low-income women who qualify for Medicaid pay for contraception. 

Several Republicans and right wing groups mischaracterized the funds as "money for condoms," which, of course, grabs headlines and sways those who have neither the resources nor inclination to sift through the garbage and find the truth. Why do the legwork when omniscient blowhards like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh can just tell you how it is?

But let's go with that. Let's say all $335M of the $787B would have been spent solely on prophylactics.

Let's say your son and his college friends are heading to Costa Rica for Spring Break. You want him to have a great time in this, his last hurrah before hopefully joining the workforce in May, so you float him $500 for the trip.

You expect the lion's share of this money to go to the essentials — transportation, lodging and food. Of course, SCUBA, souvenirs and cocktails are part of the deal, expenditures both fun and good for the economy.

Would you not, then, for the love of your son's health and future demand that he spend one quarter of that $500 on condoms to protect himself from disease and pregnancy?!

Of course, if your head was buried in the sand like this woman, you would not.

America's coming energy revolution

     "Eighty percent of Republicans are Democrats who just don't know what's going on."

                                                                    - Robert Kennedy, Jr.

Robert Kennedy, Jr. spoke at Ball State University Wednesday night in what was both a enlightening and enraging dissertation on the environment and economics. Kennedy heaped voluminous facts and figures on a rapt audience clearly shocked that they had given the Bush administration's ability and eagerness to rape and pillage the U.S. such short shrift.

The sheer numbers of lobbyists-turned-heads of such sensitive departments as the Interior, Energy, and Health and Human Services, who then turned over their policy decisions to the very industries from whom they were hired to protect their departments, were enough to make one's head spin.

It is, alas, too late to fight those battles; the damage is done. But it is not too late to start moving forward.

FOR THE COST OF YOUR ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTION TO FOREIGN OIL …

Kennedy addressed one stunning number that gives tremendous hope to environmental and economic progressives while invoking an overwhelming desire to grab one of those bleating Republicans by the neck and choke the nonsense out of him: $750B.

That's a common number these days, $750B. The stimulus bill is roughly that amount.

That number also represents the American taxpayer cash that is transferred to Saudi Arabia and other nations that either do not share American beliefs on humanity and liberty or who outright hate Americans. Seven hundred and fifty billion hard-earned American dollars going to fill the coffers of misogynist tyrants who, in some cases, arm terrorists to kill Americans, just so the U.S. can lavish in their precious oil.

Well, of course, that money isn't on the backs of current residents of this country. No, it's borrowed from China and consigned to future generations of Americans.

That number, Kennedy said, is roughly the amount it would cost for a new energy grid and the solar and wind infrastructure required to supply the energy needs of every American, including the electric cars they will be driving in the next two decades. 

That's right — for the amount of money we send overseas in one year, the U.S. could be outfitted for free, renewable energy forever.

And taxpayers wouldn't even be burdened with the bulk of the cost! The infrastructure for a smart energy grid, which would also eliminate the need for peak plants — carbon spewers that run for weeks during the summer and waste vast quantities of energy only to serve customers for a few hours here and there when folks crank up the air conditioning — would run about $150B, only 20 percent of what is spent for foreign oil each year.

Private companies would foot the bill for solar fields in the desert Southwest and wind turbines in the Dakotas and Montana. 

What's more, a smart energy grid would further reduce utility costs by allowing homeowners to sell back excess energy. A smart grid would recognize and redirect surpluses from efficient homes to other homes or businesses. 

And none of this expels toxins into our environment.

Despite the economic woes and sense of gloom currently hovering over the U.S., there's a very real sense that, should leaders wisely pursue this tack, America is on the precipice of boom that would reverberate around the globe and likely change the face of international politics and hostilities forever. 

The Grand Obstructionist Party

Don't expect any tears to be shed for those Republicans who whine because they didn't exact their pound of flesh from the stimulus bill. The GOP ruled the White House for 20 of the past 28 years and the only period of economic prosperity was during a Democratic administration. Republicans had a multitude of opportunities to get it right; they only proved themselves incapable of handling such an awesome responsibility.

There's much rabble from the right about enslaving future generations with billions of dollars to be spent on "pork." Where was this outrage when President Bush and the Republicans took a budget surplus and now seemingly modest $6T debt and turned it into massive deficits and a $10T debt? In fact, the last three Repulican presidents have accrued $7.5T worth of national debt on their watch. 

Impressive, oh party of fiscal responsibility.

SO A WHITE GUY AND A BLACK GUY WALK INTO THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE MEETING …

Astoundingly, Republicans can stay true only to their ideals — even while relegating themselves to a regional and irrelevant party. The selection of RNC Chair not long ago highlighted their internal struggle between traditional indignation and institutionalized stupidity; the final vote came down to a racist white Southerner and a black man. It took six rounds of voting to eliminate Katon Dawson, a man who, until September, had a 12-year membership at a Whites Only country club. 

And it's obvious Michael Steele's selection, by a narrow margin of eight percent, was little more than a cynical ploy to get "our Obama." Unfortunately, it's more like a parent embarrassing his kids by trying to use "jive" that's no longer part of the lexicon. 

Immediately after accepting the political equivalent of the clap, Steele briefly acknowledged the new political landscape and vowed to usher in a new era for the party before digressing and beating his chest in the same tired fashion Republicans have been waging war the last decade. 

Steele also stated he doesn't "do cutting-edge. That's what Democrats are doing. We're going beyond cutting-edge." Should someone tell him the only thing beyond the cutting edge is that which is about to get cut?

All of this has Democrats "raising the roof." 

TAKE YOUR STIMULUS AND SHOVE IT WHERE … OH WAIT, CAN I HAVE SOME OF THAT?

House Minority Leader John Boehner (OH) is toeing the same party-line antics as well, willfully ignorant to what that course has done to dismantle the reign of power Newt Gingrich promised would last generations. Boehner reportedly told his caucus to shoot the bill down before President Obama, in a demonstration of his bipartisan approach, went to the Hill to make his case and hear their gripes. Hell hath no fury as an impotent Republican.

Boehner then stood in front of the cameras and, as is the party wont, lied about and mischaracterized provisions in the bill. He made big hay of money for condoms, knowing the subject matter alone would sound sensational. Boehner ignored the actual dollar amount's insignificance, given the heft of the bill overall, while failing to recognize that preventing STDs and unwanted pregnancies would save American tax payers billions. 

He also blasted a high-speed LA-Vegas rail line that isn't even in the bill as "not going to help the construction worker in my district," while apparently oblivious to the two lines expected to be built in his home state.

There's also the much ballyhooed "Pelosi mouse," which, again, has no basis in reality.

Whip Eric Cantor (VA) made the latest assault on the bill — and the intelligence of the electorate. Cantor's ill-advised and poorly constructed video bragging about the zero votes House Republicans gave the bill contained yet another lie, this time claiming ACORN is earmarked for $1B that it, in reality, is not. There is $5.2B slated for community development programs that were signed into law by Republican presidents, funds for which many organizations can apply, but why let facts get in the way of ridiculous lies meant to spur your base?

Of course, the principles guiding Republicans to clamor against the stimulus package do not prevent them from accepting, nay, actively scrambling for the money. At some point, we can expect GOP congressmen across the nation to laude themselves for directing expenditures so deftly as to bring about the revitalization of the American economy. 

Oh wait, it's already happening! Kit Bond (MO), who, of course, voted against the bill and lambasted it as a debt stimulator, is now patting himself on the back for a $2M provision he added to the bill. And he's only one of several House Republicans now glad-handing each other for the fabulous work they did on a bill they voted against.

There are a few possible hold-outs, though. It will be very interesting to see how these rubes do in the polls as they try to explain to their constituents why "principles" are more important than "jobs."

THE PARTY OF BIN LADEN 

The puerile behavior exhibited by Republicans the last few weeks only further cements the belief that they care far more about having power than working for the people they were elected to represent. Party leaders pulled every nasty trick possible to attain and maintain power before and during Bush's presidency, and despite a resounding rebuke by the American electorate in November, they do not demure, yet insist they deserved to write half the stimulus bill. Those whose memories do not run short know that kind of generosity was never given to Democrats the last 8 years.

So now they parade around as children, openly cheering for the bill to fail, which is, in fact, cheering against America. What's more, Pete Sessions (TX) proudly compared his party's tactics to Taliban insurgents. Wow. 

It is to this end President Obama should tear a page from Bush's playbook and insist that Democrats will not negotiate with terrorists.