Jindal made us all laugh

No matter how cynical I am about politics, Obama manages to make me choke up. During the inauguration, I sat on the couch and cried all day (for joy). So last night I resolved to feel hard-boiled about it all and readied myself for some good-old fashioned political analysis. I broke when Obama introduced, Ty’Sheoma Bethea, from Dillon, S.C. who wrote to Congress to ask for some help for her crumbling school. Watching a child express so much hope in her country made my inner cynic soften a little.

But it came rushing back with the commentators inanities during President Obama’s address to Congress. We watched the PBS coverage and there were some funny moments. It started during the pre-address coverage when one announcer stated, “Most presidents, a month in, are still trying to find the bathrooms.” Really? I can believe that about George W. but seriously, can’t we expect more from a president in a month than finding the bathroom?

Jim Lehrer, who runs a great evening news show, still can’t seem to figure out who is who in the new administration. During the inauguration he mixed up several cabinet members and last night he said, “We may need a playbook to get through this one.” Football announcers (with the help of their producers) manage to remember each and every one of the 1,600 players in the NFL. Maybe PBS needs to take a tip from them and have the Cabinet members wear numbers on their suits in order to remember them?

My favorite line of the address: “Nobody messes with Joe.” Umm… maybe that’s because Joe so easily messes up on his own?

But, the best part was saved for the end. Universally panned, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s rebuttal speech was a bad parody of an infomercial for the Republican Party. After every phrase I expected him to say, “And for only $19.99 you can get some decent tax reform too!” And what was that weird example of abuse in government spending — monitoring volcanoes? Surely he can do better than that. I would bet that the community of Anchorage, with plenty of room to worry about Mount Redoubt erupting again, would love to have a little money for volcano monitoring.

It would take too long tonight to remark on everything wrong with Jindal’s speech, including his lies about Hurricane Katrina, but I will say thank you to him for making the night so entertaining!