In 2007, Bobby Jindal was elected Governor of Louisiana and became the youngest serving governor. I will never forget his election. I was attending a pest control convention in Orlando, Florida. Watching his historical win in my hotel room, I immediately called a friend to get his contact information from a campaign staffer. I thought he would be an ideal guest speaker for Legislative Day activities that would be held in a few months time in Washington, DC.
“Bobby Jindal is perfect,” I said to others the next morning. He was young , politically seasoned, hails from a region of the country that understands the economic impact of the pest control industry. He was a conservative and a member of a minority who had shattered many glass ceilings prior to winning the governor’s race — in short, something for everyone in an industry that is conservative-leaning and lacks diversity and youth. I threw his name out as possible keynote or definitely the main speaker for the Minorities in Pest Management (MPM) program, an organization that I founded.
I was determined to get Governor Jindal to speak in 2008. MPM had earned a reputation for having some of the best speakers in the country grace our stage and I thought Governor Jindal would have kept our roster of speakers with nationally known names intact. In the years of booking speakers, chairing conferences, and organizing events, I learned that the early bird gets the worm. I went to work on securing Bobby Jindal before I even left Florida.
Looking back now, I thank God I was not able to work out his appearance with his schedulers. What I thought was a worm was actually a snake that would have surely bitten me. The more I watch Governor Jindal flip-flop on TV, the more I believe he is more bipolar than a political whack. Yes, I know the plight of Louisianans with oil gushing endlessly from the ocean’s floor. I have relatives living in the state and I once lived in New Orleans. I love the state and people dearly. This is not about kicking someone when they are down; this is more about the behavior we are seeing regularly from Governor Jindal that is beginning to border on bizarre. How else can you explain the behavior of someone who professes his hatred of the federal government yet at every turns wants the federal government’s interference or is spending federal money as if he printed it in the swamp?
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