Which sets up another 'Jindalism'. Safer asks him if he was born Paiyoosh. Bobby (born Piyush) answers in the affirmative with a straight face, not bothering to correct the CBS journalist that the right way to pronounce his former name is Peeyoosh.
But from where Jindal comes from, that would be like signing his death warrant. He wants Safer to quickly move away from his ethnicity; he doesn't venture into that territory any longer.
And that's typical Jindal. Jindal's jettisoning of his liberal Hindu religion and conversion to the Bible thumping Christianity of rustbelt America at an extremely young age is a clear sign of a person who thinks far ahead and thinks with cold logic.
Culture critic and opinion writer Jimi Izrael feels Jindal isn't an Indian American who just wants to be seen as an American; Jindal is an Indian American who wants to be white. “Embracing difference makes white folks nervous: any brown person who aspires to assimilating will get high marks. He channels a certain brand of sincere self-loathing heretofore only seen in golf caddies and Larry Elder,” he says.
Americans, especially of the Republican variety, are projecting Jindal as their Great Beige Hope. Political observers are calling him the brown Reagan. But while Reagan and Bush had a folksy, endearing appeal that cut across party lines, Jindal's mantra is “God Bless America and No Place Else!”
While Reagan was too distracted by the Cold War to show his lapel-grabbing missionary side, and Bush was never seriously religious, Jindal is at his core an opportunist who appeals to the baser American instincts. Or perhaps a male Palin without the duh factor.
Only old ladies in Biblebelt America would vote for a candidate who wants creationism taught in schools, wants to stop stem cell research, but in fact comes from such an Ivy League family.
Obama is living proof that the American public isn't as gullible as the rest of the world believes. Heck, the majority didn't even vote for George W. Bush.
However, in the unlikely scenario that Jindal squirms his way to the top, it would probably mean undoing all the good work that Obama will accomplish in the coming years.
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