The Strange Bedfellows of Bobby Jindal
When I explain to [people unaware of the Henry Jackson Society] that HJS is actually a little known but powerful right-wing British think-tank set up with the support of American neoconservatives, understanding begins to dawn.
Except, just how much influence HJS wields in policymaking circles is an open question, the fact that it is extremely well-connected with the financial, business, political, security and energy industry elite in the US and UK speaks volumes about their agenda and objectives.
While touting their support for freedom, liberalism and democratisation as their core organisational remit, in practice they appear to be a neocon trojan horse for the very opposite: state-expansionism, state-militarisation, interventionism, rampant market deregulation and privatisation in the interests of Western investors, coupled with anti-Muslim hostility and white supremacism.
What’s particularly shocking is that their pursuit of the latter is not exactly something deeply hidden, but is – for the most part – easily verifiable from the public record, with a little digging. The kind of digging that sadly my media colleagues seem to have not considered to be very important.
The International Patrons link at the Henry Jackson Society informs us that amongst other founders, they have Bill Kristol, Michael Chertoff, and Richard Perle. The cast of characters large and small is a who’s who of Wingnuttia neocon fever swamps and power players.
Now, with that as background, let’s look at the content of Jindal’s speech:
“In the West, non-assimilationist Muslims establish enclaves and carry out as much of Sharia law as they can without regard for the laws of the democratic countries which provided them a new home,” Jindal’s text reads. “It is startling to think that any country would allow, even unofficially, for a so called ‘no-go zone.’ The idea that a free country would allow for specific areas of its country to operate in an autonomous way that is not free and is in direct opposition to its laws is hard to fathom.”
You may recall last week, Steven Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism was laughed off of the national stage when he said that the city of Birmingham UK was essentially a caliphate due to the Muslim No-Go Zones (which don’t exist, but Wingnuttia insists are real.) British Prime Minister David Cameron responded, too, so I guess Emerson was actually laughed off the international stage:
“When I heard this frankly, I choked on my porridge and I thought it must be April Fools Day. This guy is clearly a complete idiot.”
So far, no one in in the conservative media has been able to present a single location of these Muslim-controlled No-Go Zones. But you know, reality has a liberal bias.
This hot mess is a story our media should be reporting as 2016 hopeful Bobby Jindal goes on his International Foreign Policy Tour to burnish his credentials.
Click here for reuse options!Copyright 2015 Liberaland
By: Tengrain
Fully caffeinated with twice the sugar, unabashedly liberal. Award-winning Americans United blogger, blogs at Mock Paper Scissors, and sometimes at Crooks and Liars.
You can follow @Tengrain on Twitter, or you might see him enjoying coffee somewhere in Seattle at any given moment of the day.
22 responses to The Strange Bedfellows of Bobby Jindal
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
OldLefty January 18th, 2015 at 08:52
Interesting that my European sources, (former neighbors and classmates of my husband, from India) say that the “no-go zones” are because these people have been pushed into ghettos and police don’t bother to go there, not that the residents don’t allow them in.
A good friend of ours from India who lived in England for several years before immigrating here in the early 80s, said, even back then, that America is his first choice, but if he could not make it work here, India would be his second choice, because the Brits will never let you forget that you are not quite one of them.
“Current estimates suggest that almost one-third of doctors practising in the NHS are from overseas and that the vast majority of these overseas doctors are from the Indian subcontinent. This of course is a surprising statistic because within the general population ethnic minorities represent only about 8% of the population of the UK.
Looking at the history of the contribution of Asian doctors is also important because it gives us insight into the darker side of medicine, the role of racism within the profession. Much of the research in this area has been about describing what happens and has focused on a description of the discrimination that many overseas doctors face. There is surprisingly little written about the causes of racism and the historical antecedents that led to the development of racism within the profession.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2151817/
OldLefty January 18th, 2015 at 09:52
Interesting that my European sources, (former neighbors and classmates of my husband, from India) say that the “no-go zones” are because these people have been pushed into ghettos and police don’t bother to go there, not that the residents don’t allow them in.
A good friend of ours from India who lived in England for several years before immigrating here in the early 80s, said, even back then, that America is his first choice, but if he could not make it work here, India would be his second choice, because the Brits will never let you forget that you are not quite one of them.
“Current estimates suggest that almost one-third of doctors practising in the NHS are from overseas and that the vast majority of these overseas doctors are from the Indian subcontinent. This of course is a surprising statistic because within the general population ethnic minorities represent only about 8% of the population of the UK.
Looking at the history of the contribution of Asian doctors is also important because it gives us insight into the darker side of medicine, the role of racism within the profession. Much of the research in this area has been about describing what happens and has focused on a description of the discrimination that many overseas doctors face. There is surprisingly little written about the causes of racism and the historical antecedents that led to the development of racism within the profession.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2151817/
Kim Serrahn January 18th, 2015 at 09:13
What……….. Is he (Jindal) expecting people in the UK to vote for him or pressure their friends here in the US to vote for him. Or maybe he’s stroking them like a cat when he makes a bid for the White House.
Tengrain January 18th, 2015 at 12:30
This is really a check-list trip so he can say with some honesty—something new for Jindal—that he has given foreign policy speeches abroad. That he is essentially in a wingnuttian feedback loop talking to Bill Kristol doesn’t matter; that in essence Bill Kristol is paying and arranging for this
charadeservice should be a great concern to all of us.This is theater.
Regards,
Tengrain
burqa January 19th, 2015 at 01:35
Yeah, it’s foreign policy experience so when he’s president he’ll know whether or not to send in the troops to war, thanks to the speech….
Kim Serrahn January 18th, 2015 at 10:13
What……….. Is he (Jindal) expecting people in the UK to vote for him or pressure their friends here in the US to vote for him. Or maybe he’s stroking them like a cat when he makes a bid for the White House.
Tengrain January 18th, 2015 at 13:30
This is really a check-list trip so he can say with some honesty—something new for Jindal—that he has given foreign policy speeches abroad. That he is essentially in a wingnuttian feedback loop talking to Bill Kristol doesn’t matter; that in essence Bill Kristol is paying and arranging for this
charadeservice should be a great concern to all of us.This is theater.
Regards,
Tengrain
burqa January 19th, 2015 at 02:35
Yeah, it’s foreign policy experience so when he’s president he’ll know whether or not to send in the troops to war, thanks to the speech….
Aunt Pee January 18th, 2015 at 09:52
Bobby Jindal is a greasy little weasel and an opportunist of the first degree. He’s so repulsive I can’t even stand the sound of his voice.
Aunt Pee January 18th, 2015 at 10:52
Bobby Jindal is a greasy little weasel and an opportunist of the first degree. He’s so repulsive I can’t even stand the sound of his voice.
rg9rts January 18th, 2015 at 10:53
So the Koch’s reach to GB too?
rg9rts January 18th, 2015 at 11:53
So the Koch’s reach to GB too?
majii January 18th, 2015 at 11:47
Jindal wants to be POTUS so badly that he’s wiling to embrace any lie to improve his chances of winning the GOP nomination, but he, like the others who want to win the presidency in 2016, seem to be oblivious to the fact that what sells on the right is a hard sell to democrats, independents, and other voters. Romney learned this the hard way in 2012 when he moved too far to the right, won the GOP nomination, then tried to backtrack in the last few weeks before the election. He and his supporters seemed to think that no one would notice how he was flip flopping all over the place like a fish out of water, but we did, and the icing on the cake for me was his refusal to release multiple years of his tax returns (Ann Romney on national TV, speaking in regard to the request for them to release more of their tax returns:”We’ve given you people everything we’re going to give you.”) and the millions he has stashed in offshore banks to avoid paying the taxes he owes to the U.S. government. I don’t think any politician who has cash stored in banks outside of America should be elected to any national office, because imo, it constitutes a conflict of interest. They will never be compelled to go after other tax dodgers because they’re tax dodgers themselves.. Iirc, he only released one full year and a portion of another year.
The GOP has major problems with many groups, problems they’re very good at denying exist, and imo, until they address these problems, I think they’ll have a very difficult time winning the WH in the near future. They ignore wealth inequality, racism, discrimination, the homophobia in their midst, the needs of the poor and the middle class, etc. Romney and Bush seem to think that just by talking like populists, they can win in 2016. I disagree. They cannot change who they fundamentally are—wealthy corporatists who believe that the rich should not have to support the government by paying their fair share of taxes, and that the tax burden should rest mainly on the shoulders of the poor and the middle class. One only has to look at Brownback, Walker, Christie, and most other republican governors to know that their political agenda is to promote the interests of the rich, and only the rich.
Dwendt44 January 18th, 2015 at 18:17
You can bet the farm that if Mitt gets the nomination, he’ll not release more than a year or so of his tax returns again. He doesn’t want people to know that his return for 2011 were amended, so he could take advantage of the extra deductions he didn’t report initially. He tax rate dropped from the ‘released’ 14% to ~9%.
fancypants January 18th, 2015 at 19:27
So far their legislative agenda isn’t working out for them and you can bet all of this and more will come out during the 2016 debates.
you cant blame Obama for a rising national debt with no reprimands on the way the president is doing his job. trust me when I say the gop is doomed
majii January 18th, 2015 at 12:47
Jindal wants to be POTUS so badly that he’s wiling to embrace any lie to improve his chances of winning the GOP nomination, but he, like the others who want to win the presidency in 2016, seem to be oblivious to the fact that what sells on the right is a hard sell to democrats, independents, and other voters. Romney learned this the hard way in 2012 when he moved too far to the right, won the GOP nomination, then tried to backtrack in the last few weeks before the election. He and his supporters seemed to think that no one would notice how he was flip flopping all over the place like a fish out of water, but we did, and the icing on the cake for me was his refusal to release multiple years of his tax returns (Ann Romney on national TV, speaking in regard to the request for them to release more of their tax returns:”We’ve given you people everything we’re going to give you.”) and the millions he has stashed in offshore banks to avoid paying the taxes he owes to the U.S. government. I don’t think any politician who has cash stored in banks outside of America should be elected to any national office, because imo, it constitutes a conflict of interest. They will never be compelled to go after other tax dodgers because they’re tax dodgers themselves.. Iirc, he only released one full year and a portion of another year.
The GOP has major problems with many groups, problems they’re very good at denying exist, and imo, until they address these problems, I think they’ll have a very difficult time winning the WH in the near future. They ignore wealth inequality, racism, discrimination, the homophobia in their midst, the needs of the poor and the middle class, etc. Romney and Bush seem to think that just by talking like populists, they can win in 2016. I disagree. They cannot change who they fundamentally are—wealthy corporatists who believe that the rich should not have to support the government by paying their fair share of taxes, and that the tax burden should rest mainly on the shoulders of the poor and the middle class. One only has to look at Brownback, Walker, Christie, and most other republican governors to know that their political agenda is to promote the interests of the rich, and only the rich.
Dwendt44 January 18th, 2015 at 19:17
You can bet the farm that if Mitt gets the nomination, he’ll not release more than a year or so of his tax returns again. He doesn’t want people to know that his return for 2011 were amended, so he could take advantage of the extra deductions he didn’t report initially. He tax rate dropped from the ‘released’ 14% to ~9%.
fancypants January 18th, 2015 at 20:27
So far their legislative agenda isn’t working out for them and you can bet all of this and more will come out during the 2016 debates.
you cant blame Obama for a rising national debt with no reprimands on the way the president is doing his job. trust me when I say the gop is doomed
Dirk Prophet January 18th, 2015 at 12:51
If a Muslim, in traditional dress, walks down a street with expensive homes, he will find he is in a no go zone.
Dirk Prophet January 18th, 2015 at 13:51
If a Muslim, in traditional dress, walks down a street with expensive homes, he will find he is in a no go zone.
burqa January 19th, 2015 at 01:33
Psssst!
No one tell him!
Jindal thinks Henry came between Jackie and Tito………………….
burqa January 19th, 2015 at 02:33
Psssst!
No one tell him!
Jindal thinks Henry came between Jackie and Tito………………….