CBS: Jindal holds up deployment of National Guard to fight spill

[G_j]

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/6/25/879265/-CBS:-Jindal-holds-up-deployment-of-National-Guard-to-fight-spill?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29

CBS: Jindal holds up deployment of National Guard to fight spill
by Jed Lewison

Fri Jun 25, 2010 at 09:10:03 AM PDT

You know how Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal likes to blame the Federal government for the damage caused by BP's oil spill, arguing that he could have kept all the oil at bay if President Obama had only given him the resources he needed to fight it?

Well, last night CBS News tore Jindal's argument to shreds, pointing out that while President Obama has authorized up to 6,000 National Guard troops to fight the spill, Jindal has only activated 1,053 of them -- leaving more than 80% sitting idle, doing nothing to protect the state.

It's must-see-tv (text version here):
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/24/eveningnews/main6615414.shtml

[Jennicut]

1. Jindal is a complete idiot. The media can kiss his ass but he

has not activated most of the National Guard units to do anything and he won't have the sand berms be built the way to govt. authorized him to, so he can complain about big govt. interfering in states rights. He is a phony.

[mcar]

2. I was so glad to see this

They called Jindal out as the liar he is - even got him (through a spokesperson) to admit that he hadn't bothered to call up those available Guards.

[SpiralHawk]

3. Jindal is a typical FAIL Republicon

Likes to whine. Likes to blame others. Tends to FAIL.

[Enthusiast]

4. Bobby Brady Jindal always trying

to appear presidential. Corporate stooge.

[Sugarcoated]

5. Haha

How 'bout that. He's a big phoney.

[G_j]

6. ++

[spanone]

7. he'd rather bitch about the feds and try to get some political bullshit than help his folks

typical

[G_j]

8. "DOES JINDAL KNOW WHAT HE'S DOING?"

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_06/024455.php


DOES JINDAL KNOW WHAT HE'S DOING?.... We learned something important and unexpected on Thursday night, when CBS News reported that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), for all his rhetoric about an insufficiently aggressive response to the BP oil spill, has chosen not to exercise his authority to dispatch thousands of National Guard troops to the coast. The Obama administration authorized Jindal to use 6,000 troops to respond to the disaster, but Jindal only dispatched 1,053 -- less than a fifth of the available total.

Asked to explain why he wouldn't want every available person on the scene working, Jindal claimed he's forbidden from deploying more because it's up to "the Coast Guard and BP" to "authorize individual tasks." That turned out to be untrue.

Yesterday, the governor came up with a new rationale.

Following a CBS News Investigates report that Gulf coast governors haven't been fully utilizing the 17,500 National Guard troops authorized by the federal government to help them with the oil spill, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's office offered a tart response.

In a statement sent to ProPublica, Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin said that Louisiana would "call up more National Guard troops as the Adjutant General tells us he needs them."

But this actually raises more questions than it answers. First, if Jindal is waiting for word from Louisiana's Adjutant General, why was the governor's initial response a different story altogether? Second, in Louisiana, the Adjutant General answers to Jindal, not the other way around. If the governor wants every available resource on the coast, helping with the response, why is Jindal waiting a request that seems obvious?

The only rationale explanation I can think of here, is that the governor is afraid 6,000 National Guard troops working along the coast might discourage tourism, so he's willing to settle for a weaker, slower response to the spill. I'm not saying that is the reason, but I'm trying to imagine why the governor would deliberately chose not to send every available person, and this is the only thing I can think of. That Jindal is changing his story, and that his second attempt is hardly better than his first, is a bad sign.

If reporters covering the spill pursue this aggressively, it could be a major headache for Jindal.

..more..

[NNN0LHI]

9. Its obvious he doesn't want the media to be airing any video of Big Gubmint at work in his state

He would rather have his constituents in misery then to ever allow that to happen.

Saying he wanted to turn down Stimulus money for the poorest people in his his state proves that.

Don