After watching Gov. Jindal's rebuttal speech earlier this week, I could not help but think of the failed similarity between the two statesmen:
Obama:
I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I
was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a
Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white
grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth
while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America
and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a
black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and
slaveowners - an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters.
I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every
race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long
as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my
story even possible.
(speech on race)
Jindal:
"As I grew up, my mom and dad taught me the values that attracted them
to this country - and they instilled in me an immigrant's wonder at the
greatness of America. As a child, I remember going to the grocery store
with my dad. Growing up in India, he had seen extreme poverty. And as
we walked through the aisles, looking at the endless variety on the
shelves, he would tell me: 'Bobby, Americans can do anything.' I still
believe that to this day.
(Republican rebuttal speech)
Similar rhetoric, different effects.
Ann Althouse has a good analysis of the racial issues here.
What's similar about the rhetoric? They don't seem to me to have almost anything in common. One is about the varied ties and perspectives that combine to make an American story. The other is about a vista of plenty, available to immigrants. There's nothing wrong with Jindal's story, except that its glamorization of abundance as the quintessential American virtue is a little wierd in a recession. But what's the common thread you're interested in?
Posted by: MS | March 03, 2009 at 10:14 PM