Thanks to Liberal for calling this to my attention in this thread.
For those who don’t know, Bobby Jindal is the Republican Governor of Lousiana. He’s an ultra conservative, Indian-American, religious-rightie who is heavily rumored to be on McCain’s VP shortlist. Well not any more, I suspect.
Jindal’s account of demon battling is quite amusing:
I don’t think he has any chance of getting tapped now, but I’d love it if McCain were to choose him. The jokes would write themselves.
Thomas Eagleton wasn’t that nuts. I think it’s safe to say that Jindal shouldn’t be waiting with bated breath by the phone.
68% of Americans believe in angels, and 61% believe in the devil, which makes me suspect that 50% of them think it’s plausible that Bobby Jindal kicks demon ass…
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=618
I don’t think that most people believe they’ve battled them, though.
My boyfriend and I have long involved discussions about whether he’s just putting on or if he really did go off his rocker. Fact is that Republicans tend to love Indians and it makes sense that he could climb faster within that party than within the Democrats. OTOH, it’s one thing to fake a conversion to pacify your constituency and then try to move the dialogue to your economic policies, quite another to preach intelligent design and engage in exorcisms and shit.
So seriously, we’re still arguing about it though the pendulum seems to be swinging more and more towards “he really is nuts” than “he’s faking it to further his political career.”
Oh, and his original name was Piyush, I think.
Except by his own admission he pussed out.
McCain went through more shit in 10 seconds at the Hanoi Hilton. No way he picks Jindal. Chest pains? Difficulty breathing? OMG Its The Devil!! Run For Yor Life!!
Meh. I don’t believe in them, but I don’t see that much difference between “I believe in demons” and “I believe in battling demons”.
I mean, if you know they’re there, you really ought to do something about the bastards, right?
But he didn’t do anything. He got short of breath and quit the field.
The funny thing is I remember reading in a local political blog recently that Jindal was spotted on his Blackberry throughout Ash Wednesday services, dealing with email.
Ah, here we go: Blagueur: Ashes and a Blackberry, oh my!
Well, 2006… not that recently.
He’s just thinking ahead. When he gets caught with a kilo of coke and a dead hooker in his trunk, he’ll just blame the demon that he neglected to slay.
… from demons!
well, I heard him speak at the NRA convention last month to a very appreciative audience, and his main points were that he’d cut Louisiana’s public healthcare budget (but without going into specifics, leaving me wondering if “cutting red tape” is a euphemism for “pulling out breathing tubes.”); and how he battled petty-minded insurance officials who refused assistance from boat-owners offering to resuce Katrina victims (which sounds like bullshit, but the audience still beleived in those “welfare queens driving cadillacs” that Ronald Regan had told them about, so why bother?).
It seems there’s a core of “real” Americans, but they’re saddled with the civil service from the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, threatend by an equally alien welfare/crimminal class, and scolded by a Stalinist/Maoist academic class. So why would demons be out of the question?
Hopefully someone who is better at Wikipedia than I am can add this to his page.
Yes. Named after the Hindu god of childbirth. 
Never mind. Too obvious. 
Well you have to say this about Louisiana: it sure does produce some colorful politicians.
How is this any crazier than feeling the presence of God? Or thinking that a Jewish carpenter that lived 2,000 years ago is God?
… from other legislators, same thing.
it’s there at the bottom, under the heading, “Writings.”
I don’t know, it just is. There’s a difference between talking to Jesus and thinking Jesus talks back.
[Pointless aside]
Just when I am getting along well, pretending I am not surrounded by raving lunatics, someone has to prod me with the red hot iron of truth.
Twenty-eight percent of Americans believe in witches? 28%? Witches? F****** WITCHES? Seriously? ::aneurysm::
[/Pointless aside]