I was in New Orleans earlier this week and it was interesting to see a Desi (sur-)name so broadly plastered throughout the city… Apologies in advance for the grainy cameraphone pict –
 |
|
Jindal Also Holds a Commanding Lead in Signage on Convenience Stores 😉 |
With just over a week to go, Reuters reports that Bobby’s on track to a historic, no-run-off victory –
Republican Bobby Jindal holds a commanding lead in the Louisiana governor’s race heading into the October 20 primary, close to the 50 percent majority needed for an outright win, two polls showed.…In Louisiana’s open primary system, candidates from all parties compete in the primary. If no candidate receives more than half the votes, the top two contenders meet in a runoff.
…The WWL-TV poll of 500 registered voters released on Thursday showed Jindal leading with 50 percent and the nearest of three top rivals, Democratic state Sen. Walter Boasso, at 9 percent, while 22 percent of voters declined to indicate a choice.
Some previous SM Coverage of Jindal – here.
some here might be interested in matt zeitlin’s post http://whippersnapper.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/the-importance-of-bobby-jindal/
(i’m not much into symbolism myself, but from what i hear jindal is likely to be an order of magnitude less corrupt than a typical louisiana pol)
You were in New Orleans and didn’t contact me??? I stand aghast.
Jindal is an arrogant and hypocritical man who cares not for New Orleans and cannot be bothered to show up for debates while he panders for the affections of northern Louisiana, the most bigoted portion of this state. Sadly, he will win only because his competition is pathetic.
A Must-Read About Jindal
I have not been a fan of Jindal’s personality. But after following the Jena 6 case closely, I have no more patience left for the Democrats in Louisiana, especially the White Democrats. We have already discussed stuff about Jindal and his name and religious changes. I am not going to rehash it again. But I will say this. Despite that, he will be a better governor than Kathleen Blanco. That idiot did nothing for the Jena 6 case. She should have intervened before the tensions came to such a boil that 6 black guys ended up beating up a white guy who taunting them about previous incidents one of which included a black guy getting assaulted. She actually did not even intervene at that point. We all know how Blanco’s messups let Bush and FEMA try to weasel out of some blame during Katrina.
At this point, Blanco is one dumbass Democrat I will not feel bad about seeing leave. For all the racial talk, Jindal actually got support from Nagin in the prior election. For Nagin to do that, he had to know Blanco was useless. Even now Blanco and Landrieu or most of the White democrats have done crap with respect to the JEna 6 case or the events that led to the incident. Yes, Jindal did nothing either. He could have made a comment on that DA who was clearly racially biased and a religious nut and overstepped his bounds by threatening black students with ruining their lives if they did not fall in line when the noose controversy was going on. But hey, when it comes to a state like Louisana , let’s at least go with competence over ideology. At least, he seems more energetic and smarter than Blanco.
Maitri, thanks for the link. One thing that caught me by surprise was Jindal’s ridiculous comment about the marches for Jena 6 and he used a term “outside agitators”.
So this guy has no problem with us (who are outsiders to Iraq) reforming Iraq as evidenced by his goofy expression when he displayed his purple laden finger for the country to see when Iraq had one of their elections, but he has problem with people from outside his state helping rectify a situation people in his own state are unwilling to do? If he didnt want outsiders, why the hell did he not go there himself and try to find out what is going on?
But as you can see from that link, the white democrats were pretty much a no show too.
Maitri: do you honestly believe there will be an iota of change in Louisiana with this dude as governor?
Honestly, I am excited for Louisiana if Jindal comes to power, you guys will be a powerhouse in the south if jindal gets to implement his vision.
How sad that so many of the (few) high-placed non-whites in US government are allied with the far right: Jindal, Clarence Thomas, Alberto Gonzalez, …
It’s like they don’t realize that the far right is supposed to be racist or something. wait a minute…
This may be because their views gel with people in power, a minority with a view that reflects a minority’s interest cannot get to the position of a jindal, clarence thomas or alberto gonzalez.
Or maybe they simply believe in issues that shares more ground with the right than left, despite their skin color.
Clarence Thomas was interviewed on 60 minutes and it was pretty interesting (the interview revolved around his recent autobiography). There is a lot more depth to simply being conservative for him than if you’re [enter skin color here] you’re [enter party here]. It’s not that there aren’t minorities in power who aren’t with the Democratic party either (cough…Obama…cough), it’s just that they don’t seem to stand out as much or the party hasn’t really had that different of a track record than their opponents, because of the perception that the left somehow has ownership of the minority vote, regardless of all the other issues that combine to form more complicated political opinions influenced by religion, economics, or other miscellanous issues.
Clarence Thomas was interviewed on 60 minutes and it was pretty interesting (the interview revolved around his recent autobiography). There is a lot more depth to simply being conservative for him than if you’re [enter skin color here] you’re [enter party here].
My cat has more depth than Clarance Thomas. The man is a crackpot. To quote WP Robinson, its his mission in life to save all other minorities from the indignities of having a Yale Law degree, heading the EEOC and becoming a Supreme Court Justice.
I dont understand how conservatives actually like this man. Clarence Thomas is obsessed with race and sees everthing through the prism of race. He believes democratic opposition to him was not because of his conservative views but because of his race akin to lynching albeit high tech lynching. I dont think there is a more higher profile racialist than Clarence Thomas.
In fact Clarence Thomas life story in his words is one big struggle against other lighter skinner blacks, liberal women who patronize him because he is black, his white wife and how she deals with him because he his black, all his achievements which he attributes to being black. He needs therapy and a hug.
Cats are deep creatures, and smart….
He admitted in the interview to everything you just said and called himself ‘Radical’. So, it isn’t just [enter your race here] therefore you should be [enter party here], right? Just because the dude is angry and paranoid, doesn’t disqualify my statement.
I found the 60 minutes piece on Clarence Thomas (now available on youtube) remarkably laudatory, uncritical in the extreme, and lacking even an iota of the investigatory and interrogative zeal usually found in the program. Still, it’s worth watching, if only to hear him tell his story in his own words.
BTW, I hope I can say it now – I found my way to the Mutiny while googling for info on Bobby Jindal last January!
Agreed.
Considering the power the Supreme Court Justices weild, they are usually in the shadows compared to their higher profile counterparts in the executive and legislative branches from a media perspective.
Seeing how Jindal is essentially a ‘lock’ unless he does something really stupid or a strong contender apparates into the race, it’ll be fun discussing his acheivements (or lack of) on SM in the future. It’s already been a learning experience, particularly with folks who have good insight into Louisiana politics piping in.
This is obviously a vast generalisation as the Indian Catholics I have known personally were very moderate. (plus we got Anna over here who is Christian and not a right wingnut. So I won’t mind if no one wants to discuss this further). BTW, I do not equate being conservative with right wingnut. But it confuses me when I see a lot of prominent conservative right wing Indians be Christian when Christians form only a tiny percentage of the Indian population. Jindal, DeSouza, that US Attorney from MN who is in trouble(forget her name), Ramesh Ponnuru(the sometimes reasonable guy with the ridiculous right wingnuttish title on his recent book. Is there something in the combination of Indian upbringing mixed with American churches that makes the more ambitious segment of them lean towards a right wing ideology? Or is it the certainty of the faith’s teachings that makes it conducive for such leaders to thrive on the right wing scene and that is why they just seem more visible? The one who sticks out is Govindini Murty, one of the people associated with the Liberty Film Festival. She is half Indian, but claims to be Hindu. So that’s one person. I just chose the more visible conservatives because I want to know if something in the faith that drives them harder than others in the conservative sphere and that certainty of belief gives them the natural tools to fit in.
By the way, I am referring to prominent conservative indians being mostly Christian which is not the same as saying most prominent Indian Christians are conservative. It is possible that there could be a large segment of Indian christians on the DEmocratic side too relative to their proportion in the overall Indian community in the US.
Keep in mind, I am just throwing out a thought. I have no desire to make a definitive statement on something this sensitive and not that important in the big picture.
ramesh is a relatively recent convert to catholicism (in his 20s i believe). his father is hindu and his mother is lutheran. jindal is obviously also a catholic, but dinesh d’souza is from a catholic family. so i think you need to make distinctions. for what its worth white catholics have tended to be more democratic leaning than white protestants (by this, i mean that white protestants tend to always vote republican at a higher clip, though even catholics will vote mostly republican in a landslide election). i think there’s a simple explanation for why right-wing brownz are devout christians who make their religion an issue: that is a precondition for being a public right-wing figure. heather mac donald of the manhattan institute has discussed this issue at length, see here. the debate about mitt romney’s religion shows that for the american right-wing there is a large segment (social conservative) who simply won’t accept someone outside particular theological boundaries.
tunku varadarajan is a hindu who writes for the editorial page of the wall street journal. i think that goes to the point that the theological expectations only matter if you need to cater to a specific segment of the right-wing base. most of the people at CATO that i know are atheists or secular (including the VP, david boaz).
But it confuses me when I see a lot of prominent conservative right wing Indians be Christian when Christians form only a tiny percentage of the Indian population.
in india xtians are about 2-3% of the population, right? but it is a lot higher in the USA.
1) a disproportionate number of xtian malayalees emigrated from what i can tell (just like a disproportionate number of gujarati banias did). 2) a large number of the caribbean indians are christian (i’m thinking mostly trinidad here). 3) there are a non-trivial number of converts out there among the youth. when i used to hang out in christian evangelical groups to meet women in colelge (the sex ratio at these things is very good from a straight male perspective) there was always a sprinkling of brown female converts to evangelical christianity. you know, women like mitali perkins who read the bible and started crying or something like that and decided that the hindus gods are demons (i’m paraphrasing, one girl told me her conversion story assuming i too was a brown convert: “i read jubilees and cried and god filled up my spirit and i realized that hindu gods are demons and servants of the lie!”).
in india xtians are about 2-3% of the population, right? but it is a lot higher in the USA.
Most likely true. But the Indian Muslims are underrepresented very substantially as well.
you know, women like mitali perkins who read the bible and started crying or something like that and decided that the hindus gods are demons
As in the writer who posts here? She’s Hinduphobic?
As in the writer who posts here? She’s Hinduphobic?
no, no. i just read her conversion story and it reminded me a lot of what those girls would say about some emotional event. i guess that’s true for all religious stuff, right? i wouldn’t know….
perkins’ conversion http://intervarsity.org/slj/article/4046
I pulled the Bible off my shelf. Flipping the pages, I found the Gospel of Mark and began to read. Suddenly, it seemed like I was hearing the story of Jesus for the first time. I wasn’t considering a Western religion anymore; I was encountering an amazing person with olive-colored skin, black hair, and dark eyes. Why had I waited so long to read this Middle Eastern book? This man had healed and blessed foreign women when others pushed them away; he knew what it was like to feel lonely and rejected because of his race.
I kept reading. When I read about Jesus’ crucifixion, tears filled my eyes. Finally, I understood why he had to die. God himself had entered into the heart of pain and grief and evil. In his resurrection, he had opened the door to freedom from all of it. His followers claimed that he was still alive. They wrote that his Spirit was available to us, full of order, beauty, truth, life, hope, peace. Suddenly I knew I wanted him more than I wanted any answers.
i heard the crying-while-reading thing from a million women while associated with intervarsity. i wonder what illiterate women do? 😉 anyway, perkins isn’t a bigot or anything from what i can tell, and i apologize if i implied that.
One good example of a prominent Indian muslim in the U.S. political scene is Fareed Zakaria who used to be conservative, but is now considered moderate. (I am guessing he used to be or may still be more of a Bush 1 republican type and definitely not a BUsh 2 type).
I just want to clarify that I did not limit it to Catholics. And I was just looking at the Indians who made it big in the right wing side and not the other way around meaning I wasnt looking at a breakdown of Indian American Christians and what their political affiliations were.
Among my Hindu family, it seems all over the map though many tend to be Democratic after Bush II. Among the DBDs especially, I see it more of an opportunistic leaning towards one party or the other rather than strict ideology.
zakaria is a funny sort of muslim. he wrote a wine column for slate for a while 😉 http://www.slate.com/?id=3944&qp=34560
Is alcohol that strictly prohibited in Islam? My Hyd friends say the day after Ramzan, ends all bars in the city are teeming with Muslims.
Is alcohol that strictly prohibited in Islam? My Hyd friends say the day after Ramzan, ends all bars in the city are teeming with Muslims.
1) in general it is forbidden.
2) there are a few esoteric sects where it isn’t forbidden insofar as it may play a role in ritual worship (example).
3) this is something though which seems widely flouted. a king of saudi arabia had to abdicate in the early 1960s because his alcoholism had gotten so bad that they couldn’t cover it up. reading a history of the abbassid caliphs i had to note that consumption was wine was the norm in the court, not the exception.
I have heard, that unlike the rampant alcoholism in Indian Punjab, there is very little alcohol consumption in Pakistani Punjab. I find that amazing.. that essentially the same people can differ so much in this parameter. Pre-1947, when Muslims lived side by side with Sikhs/Hindus, I would imagine that alcohol consumption among Muslims would have been significant, at least in rural areas. If that’s true, and it’s been stamped out after Partition, I think that’s an incredible social phenomenon. In fact one Pakistani I met once told me that he would occasionally travel close to 25 miles from his village so that he could quietly drink with a few buddies…but it was very much on the down low. That of course is a similar story to the Gujarati (married to my cousin) who told me that they would go far into their fields sometimes and cook meat and drink alcohol.
Isn’t it true Jinnah drank alcohol and was not very religious. I think he considered himself muslim from an indentity point of view like secular jewish people considering themselves jewish. I wonder how Jinnah will feel about how some of the later leaders making the country more religious minded. It’s a pity they don’t teach more about Jinnah in Indian high schools. He was an interesting person.
Amitabh, I was a little skeptical if alcohol could so easily be banned and its use completely curtailed, especially since making tharra is a well-known ‘technology’. So I googled a bit. Not only is tharra going strong, people are dying, as expected from badly made tharra, and as can also be expectd, charas and heroin are replacing tharra, and alcohol in general.
Link
Link
Although the last news item describes happenings in Karachi, the first one definitely has Punjab in mind.
It is interesting to see that desis, for the most part, have to be wingnuts to be able to do well in politics.
Regarding Jindal: I’m sure that he will actually do a great job (when compared to all the other hill-billies out there in Louisiana). He’s a very educated and smart guy. He seemed to be everywhere after Katrina – in the meetings and all.
I believe that he’s very much an opportunist. Why Catholicism when no pope has ever been a non-white (most Catholics are non-whites living in South America)? Why not Baptist, Lutherans, Jewish, Muslim, etc?
I simply don’t buy that he chose “Bobby” after watching the Brady Bunch. We all know that “Bobby” is a very popular name in North India, especially after ’74 movie of Bobby. His real name is “piyush”.
Also, he staunchly claims that him and his wife didn’t have an arranged marriage. He’s actually quite hypersensitive that it wasn’t arranged. ADMIT it Piyushji – your family introduced you to your lovely wife. Why else are you two in the same community/culture/language?
How much does Piyush know about Indian Christians?
Finally, I commend the Christians in India. They are the second biggest religious minority in India (after the Muslims), and they outnumber the Sikhs. It’s much harder (and more sincere) to be a Christian in India than it is in the USA. However, I don’t commend Piyush, and I think that he’s an opportunist.
Boston Mahesh, Thanks for the props to the Indian Christians. Most of them are either Orthodox or Catholics and very few Protestants (Anglicans, Baptists or Born Again Evangelicals). Today the recent converts are mostly Evangelicals. Catholicism in India emerged after Vasco landed on Indian shores. If you look at them, the majority live in well adjusted enclaves and have never had a history of aggression against their lords. They also have a deep sense of Indian identity which is seen in the rituals and traditions although their theological aspirations are obviously different. You will find many of them with a high moderate to left leaning tendency. My curiosity is why would you like to have Bobby Jindal know anything about Indian Christians? What does that have to do with politicking in Louisiana? Also me thinks that his vehement admission that he never had an arranged marriage should be taken on face value and not a factor in his ability to help govern the state? Him being Catholic (Universal) is as much as the same choice he makes everday doing you know what.. left hand or right hand ..ki farak painda yaar?
I have heard, that unlike the rampant alcoholism in Indian Punjab, there is very little alcohol consumption in Pakistani Punjab.
In Lahore alcohol is rampant unlike in Karachi where they take the Islamic proscription on alcohol more seriously. In fact as I understand, alcohol flows rather freely in Lahore.
something that popped into my head… why aren’t there as many notable Republican Asian-Americans of other ethnicities? i.e. where’s the Korean-American Bobby Jindal? (many Korean-Americans I know are deeply religious Christians) or are there and I just don’t know of them? the only high-profile Asian-Am in politics I can think of off the top of my head is Margaret Chao.
ok i tried to look her up and i don’t even know if margaret chao is her name. i mean the lady that was the secretary of transportation?
… why aren’t there as many notable Republican Asian-Americans of other ethnicities? i.e. where’s the Korean-American Bobby Jindal? (many Korean-Americans I know are deeply religious Christians) or are there and I just don’t know of them? the only high-profile Asian-Am in politics I can think of off the top of my head is Margaret Chao. ok i tried to look her up and i don’t even know if margaret chao is her name. i mean the lady that was the secretary of transportation?
Man, not a lady and his name is Norman Mineta and he is a Democrat though he was appointed as Secretary of Transportation by Dubya. We also have Elaine Cho, Labor Secretary who is a Republican.
Gary Locke, an Asian American and a Christian was the Governor of Washington though he is a Democrat.
Dont know where you get this information but I must disagree. It is very easy to be a xian in India.
Do you mean the Syro Malabar or the Syro-Malankara? Orthodox are restricted to Kerala. The Anglicans are split as the CSI and CNI.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_India has details.
Pretty sloppy commenting.
Do you mean the Indian American population or the population in India.
The Republican right wing is Christian so it is logical that the only desis who would rise to prominence in Rep Party would be radical Christians.
Dont see how it is sensitive. Tis the truth. Based on my limited interaction with other desi Christians in the USA many see USA as nation for Christians.
Dont know where you get this information but I must disagree. It is very easy to be a xian in India.
Unless you are being hunted down and your houses/churches/schools burnt by mobs of crazed Hinduvta nuts.
or laws are being a la Saudi Arabia to stop you from proselytizing.
*or laws are being passed a la Saudi Arabia to stop you from proselytizing.
I think he means on a day to day basis and is not including isolated incidents of right wing Hindus reacting in a wretched manner to some evangelical Christians regardless of the intent of these evangelicals/missionaries. I am sure one can bring up anecdotes in most countries to find persecution of a minority at some point. And I think most backlash in recent years has been restricted to conversions. Now I feel that Hindus should not whine because they have an opportunity to prevent conversion through positive contributions and not preventing someone else. But that’s a different issue. I think we are talking about day to day life.
When I was in India, I noticed the same kind of evangelical gatherings that you would see over here in the US by some obnoxious white guy who would come to save the masses from paganism. As obnoxious as they were, they used to have no local backlash. THey had no problems booking large venues. They used to put posters around the cities without hassle. Quite a few Catholic educational institutions have received generous land grants from rich Hindu families(I should know, my grandfather and his network are some of them).
SChools get Christmas off. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh is openly Christian. I really do not see a problem at all for a Christian who does not try to convert others in India. And even those who seek to convert others, the incidents are isolated.
nala, I think you’re thinking of Elaine Cho (as was mentioned above). The head of the EEOC is also Asian-American (although a Dem, I think). If you come out to CA there are a number of relatively high profile Asian-American Dems in positions of authority or political influence.
I’ve already stated that I don’t like Jindal’s politics, but what’s depressing is that someone can win simply because the corrupt, crack-headed machine that is the Louisiana Democratic Party has consistently shot itself in the face.
I think the race politics within the Democratic Party make it even harder for people of color to rise to positions of power relative to the Republicans. And by the way, I don’t think you can count Obama — he is more an exception than a rule for the Dems. How long has it been since we’ve had a black Senator? Oh that’s right, since Reconstruction. That said, the Bush administration has been way more enthusiastic in appointing “swing minorities” (e.g. Latino-Americans, Asian-Americans) than communities that they see as “beyond saving” because they vote overwhelmingly Democrat (i.e. African Americans). I don’t buy Thomas’s “play both sides” argument, but I do think that the Dems take “minority votes” for granted and fail to prioritize outreach to these communities at the macro-level [of course it’s much different for mayoral elections and the like]. And in Louisiana, Dems are actively pandering to the racist David-Duke style vote, not to the “poverty” vote or the “people of color” vote.
Yabadaba: Maitri: do you honestly believe there will be an iota of change in Louisiana with this dude as governor?
As I stated above, “Sadly, [Jindal] will win only because his competition is pathetic.”
Guys, one more for your reading pleasure, a fine editorial from our local alternate newsweekly, the Gambit:
Blame the Frontrunner – Five reasons why Bobby Jindal has done more than any other candidate this election cycle to discourage voter participation.
Incidentally, the Gambit supports Jindal for governor for exactly the same reason I mentioned: the other candidates are dismal. Voter participation has to start way before elections, i.e. in candidate selection and vetting. Seriously, America’s Next Top Model is more thorough.
No matter what one thinks of his politics, his beliefs, his desiness (or lack thereof), or the road that has brought him to this point (including lack of viable alternatives), I still think it’s still a matter of great pride that an Indian American may very likely become GOVERNOR of a U.S. state. It boggles my mind. It would be a huge milestone for our community.
Chachaji (#28), thanks.
At some point before I die (or get too old), I HAVE to attend a private party in Lahore. The things I’ve heard!
38 Melbourne desi..
Thanks, but I didnt wanna split hair. More on the Syrian Orthodox.
No need to wait that long, Amitabh! I want to go too, and I’m sure Camille will come along. 🙂
I wonder how Jews view prominent converts to Christianity. Do they view them as race traitors as Hindus generally do? I know in Israel, evangelism is despised by all but the loony left in the country.
The occasional isolate incident occurs but Xians dont feel threatened in India – at least not a vast majority. Hindutva nuts need to pick on someone all the time – sometimes it is christians sometimes, it is women in skirts.
completely concur. I have never felt unsafe as a Christian although I have felt unsafe as a Southie !!
The passion and aggression of the newly converted is annoying and scary. I am all for anti-conversion laws. Fundamentalist christian missionaries are a real nuisance.