Bobby Jindal and the battle over Sheriff Harry Lee
From Sunshine Review
Bobby Jindal's response to the stimulus package, part 1 |
27 February 2009
On February 24, the GOP chose Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to give the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union Address. In Jindal's 12 minute speech he outlined key Republican positions, but what set off a firestorm was an anecdote from Hurricane Katrina involving then Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee and himself.
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[edit] "Proof of insurance and registration"
Gov. Jindal began his speech by telling Obama's immigrant story, and then recounting his own. To transition to the main crux of his speech, Jindal told an anecdote involving Sheriff Harry Lee, using it as an example of government bureaucracy and red-tape:
"During Katrina, I visited Sheriff Harry Lee, a Democrat and a good friend of mine. When I walked into his makeshift office, I'd never seen him so angry. He was yelling into the phone: 'Well, I'm the Sheriff and if you don't like it you can come and arrest me!' I asked him: 'Sheriff, what's got you so mad?' He told me that he had put out a call for volunteers to come with their boats to rescue people who were trapped on their rooftops by the floodwaters. The boats were all lined up ready to go, when some bureaucrat showed up and told them they couldn't go out on the water unless they had proof of insurance and registration. I told him, 'Sheriff, that's ridiculous.' And before I knew it, he was yelling into the phone: 'Congressman Jindal is here, and he says you can come and arrest him too!' Harry just told the boaters to ignore the bureaucrats and go start rescuing people."[1]
Although this was a very small part of the speech, pundits latched onto it. Soon after a heated debate had begun as to whether this incident had even happened at all.
[edit] Keith Olbermann
Bloggers from all over the spectrum argued the incident, and it went mainstream February 25 on MSNBC's "Countdown with Keith Olbermann." Host Olbermann said the incident was "apparently not true," and that Jindal was actually “about 75 miles away in Baton Rouge,” continuing, “when he did tour the immediate disaster area, he did so by air, flying over it.”[2]
[edit] Evidence?
[edit] Chief of Staff Teepell
At the time of the incident, Jindal was a congressman from the 1st District. In the meeting between Lee and Jindal, the only other person present was Jindal's Chief of Staff Timmy Teepell. After the storm, Teepell and Jindal drove to various sheriffs' offices in the district. On a visit to Lee's office, Teepell said the Sheriff was retelling the boat rescue story to someone on the phone and that it was not during the actual rescue operation but in the days afterward.[3]
Teepell responded to the criticism saying, "It's unfortunate that these Washington, D.C., liberals would rather launch baseless political attacks than be a part of an honest, bipartisan dialogue about how we need to create jobs and get our economy moving again."[3]
[edit] Sheriff Harry Lee
Before Sheriff Harry Lee died October 1, 2007, he had campaigned for Jindal on a number of occasions. Jindal's office posted a video on YouTube showing Lee giving a speech before other law enforcement officials on August 24, 2007.[3] Lee, who Jindal has described as "probably one of the last yellow dog Democrats,"[4] is seen in the video saying of Jindal, "He was hands-on. The day after (Katrina), Bobby was in my office and said, 'What do you need?' It was not just phone calls. He was in my office."
[edit] Distortion?
The Jindal administration has attempted to clarify the story, but that has not pacified critics. Louisiana Democratic Party spokesman Scott Jordan responded, "Gov. Jindal told the story in a way that made it sound like he was assisting Harry Lee in the Sheriff's Office as rescue boats were being turned away, which the governor's office now says wasn't the case. The first responders' heroism during Katrina is something that Louisianians hold sacred, and people are upset that Governor Jindal framed the incident as if he was one of those first responders."[3]
Teepell responded to critics - "This is liberal blogger B.S. The story is clear."[5]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ↑ CNN, Transcript of Gov. Jindal's GOP response to Obama speech, February 24, 2009
- ↑ Red State, Keith Olbermann Owes Bobby Jindal An On-Air Apology, February 27, 2009
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 The Times-Picayune, Gov. Bobby Jindal fights back against those questioning points in his speech, February 27, 2009
- ↑ Policy Council, Spring 2008 Remarks - Bobby Jindal"
- ↑ Politico, Jindal aides clarify Katrina story, February 27, 2009
