Jindal? Really?

I'm not sure who managed to make it through Jindal's awkward, halting, weird *response* to Obama's address to congress. But we suffered through it.

As a candidate eight weeks from her Ph.D. in English (one of two specialty areas is in Classical through Modern Rhetoric), I estimate he failed on four of five major points.

1. Audience
He failed to connect to his audience. What does Louisiana have to do with the rest of the 49 states? For example, what does the Louisiana school system (whose numbers of failures and dropouts have risen by two percent since he took office a year ago) have to do with the school systems in say, Kalamazoo? Or Chicago? Or Fort Worth?

2. Logos
He actually used one of the strongest cases of government failure (the abominable response to Katrina) as a model for national recovery?

3. Kairos
He was the wrong guy at the wrong time: typically the best speakers are those with access to the actual material on which they discourse. Jindal is a governor. Not a sitting senator or representative (altho' he spent 3 years in the house under Bush). Therefore, he wasn't part of the debate process nor the vote on the stimulus package.

4. Delivery
Delivery is one of the five major canons of rhetoric. Yeah, I think that's about all I need to say about that one.

Don't get me wrong, Jindal seems like a nice man. It's sad he doesn't use his given name.

However, I do strongly believe we need a solid multi-party system in our country-- I don't know how that's going to be if this is the best the GOP has to offer.

PS: To those who have left comments in support, especially those who are conservatives who are leaving comments of support, thank you. And thanks for the email addresses you have left as an invitation for a civilized dialogue. I really appreciate it.

To the 8 individuals who keep trying to abuse *me* through the comments about a *post* that was written over two days ago, you won't get a voice on this blog. In other words, you can stop checking that post to see if I am posting your comment. I'm not going to. Really, it's kind of sad that you keep coming back on a minute to minute basis to check it. Save yourself the hassle.

I have set a boundary and to the mentally unstable people that are failing to respect that boundary (*especially the one who has left me 15 comments since I started moderating them last night), you continue to fail to bully me into putting your hate onto my blog space. That's not free speech. That's manipulation and anti-social, psychotic disorder. Thanks to a friend for posting this link to her blog: www.wiredsafety.org/cyberstalking_harassment. I've got a few folks who fall into this category for sure.

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It's called RESEARCH, retard.

Please read the disclaimer below*

I am confronted daily with comments from folks (not here on THIS blog, of course) who are so painfully uninformed that I seriously wonder about their literacy and have a deep indentation in the middle of my forehead from slamming it against my laptop keyboard. Some people are not just stupid (intellectually and socially) but they are frickin lazy!

I cannot tolerate intellectual laziness. CANNOT. CANNOT. CANNOT.

First let me say:

Wikipedia is not a credible source. ANYONE can go there and edit the entries (that's why it's called a "wiki"). The webmasters cannot possibly keep up with the input of new information; it is not monitored by experts. Please, please, please, do not Wiki for your research.

Second:

Having an opinion about politics is NOT the same as having an INFORMED opinion about politics. "I think he's/she's great" is not an opinion-- it's a PREFERENCE. BIG difference. It's like saying you like sour cream on a baked potato. Not everyone does, but you PREFER to have it with than without. No argument there.

An informed opinion is where the speaker takes an ACTIVE role in gathering facts and information for THEMSELVES from various reliable sources and THEN presents a case for their position in a logical, tasteful, well-constructed manner (for those interested in true Rhetoric, [and no, it's not a four letter word as most would have you think] google the Five Canons or Aristotelian Rhetoric. One of my Ph.D. areas is in Rhetoric and I would consider myself better informed on argument than a few people I have read lately).

Third:

Research requires critical thinking skills. No, just because you read it somewhere does not make something a fact. Heck, the Bible's got lots of "facts". Serpents talk, some guy lived in the belly of a whale for three days, people turn into salt for looking at a city; you get my drift, right? Thinking is the key concept here; not believing. I know, for a fact, that there is a moon in space which orbits our planet. I have not had first hand experience being on it, touching, seeing it up close. But indeed, lots of educated people who study it for a living have published lots of stuff in well-respected places that convince me that that thing I see in the night sky is indeed a moon and without it, life on earth as we know it would likely not exist.

Fourth:

Some of the smartest people I know are also the kindest. Wonder why that is? Well, people who don't know much, who want a president or Vice-president they could "have a beer with" are intellectually retarded, yes, RETARDED. I don't want some monkey with the IQ of 75 running our country's affairs. I want an educated, well-read, well-thought person to be our president (gee, didn't we just elect one?).

Last:

I am sick to death of anti-intellectualism in our culture. As a smart kid, I was kind of ashamed that I did really well in school. Even today, I rarely talk to people outside academia about my dissertation project or the official title of my Ph.D. (the aforementioned is only part of it). I have dedicated the better part of 8 years to getting a Master's degree and completing my doctoral degree. I've earned the right to say (without hesitation: "YOU'RE WRONG, but here's why"). I don't get personal, I don't get nasty (usually) but I will not stand for retards who refuse to research their opinions.

Back 'em up; then we can debate.

*This post is not an attack on people with functional mental disability or otherwise. I am merely talking about functional, run-of-the-mill idiots, who have internet access and sh*t for brains.

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