Nothing to Say

I haven't posted much in the last couple of days because nothing really has happened worth comment. Obama gave a "non-state of the union" speech last night, and the only news out of it was Governor Jindal did himself no favors last night. Having heard sound bites of him before, I thought that perhaps Republicans had found themselves someone who really could carry their message. If last night was any example, no.



I'll be gracious here and say he performed well below his own standard of oratory. But I have heard him speak comfortably. And he's a master of bullshit. I have to work with guys like this, and they're pure bullshit artists, which is to say that the cadence, the manner of speech--there's just something off about it. If you're around people like Jindal long enough, you realize that there's absolutely no way to tell whether or not he's lying, so you just have to assume he's lying all of the time. And his presentation is such that there's no room for catching him midsentence to call him out on his lie.

Here's a normal bullshitter:

Paragraph detailing a series of events, altogether untrue. Lying at length. A cut from broad cloth lie.

Here's an above average bullshitter: Truth. Truth. Bullshit. Truth. Gotta run. An above average bullshitter will tell you things that are true, or turn out to be true, to obfuscate his own lies.

Here's a master bullshitter:

aergaqrbgarvaerhwgWEGAEHGFVAEHBAEFASERBAaervasrvaevaegaegaergaergaergagf.

There are about 20 discordant lies delivered with so much haste that by the time you've realized that the first thing out of his mouth is a lie, he's 4 topics head in the conversation. It's a blitzkrieg of lies; the shock and awe of bullshitting.

Now, his greatness at bullshitting is beyond dispute. He is amazing at it. But the problem with being that good at being so full of shit is that it is not a good long term strategy.

I know Jindal has higher aspirations, and if he wants to be a Senator, he can be a Senator, and if he wants to be a vice president, he can probably do that too. But he had better put those presidential aspirations up on the shelf, next to the dreams of becoming an astronaut, because there is absolutely no way he can have a dialogue with the American people.

So, as a spokesman for the Republican party, fantastic. Delivering criticisms and becoming a face of Republican opposition, sure. But he's not the guy you want to be selling new ideas. He can talk your ear off, but he, like me, has nothing to say.