Althouse Digs In

Good Lord:

3. Comparing Jindal to Kenneth of "30 Rock" is not a nice indicator of Americans' ability to see beyond skin color. Quite the opposite! Instinctively repainting him white is I would say presumptively racial. To strip away his racial identity to stereotype him as an especially white white man is a powerful racial move.

And yet the immediate and obvious association was because of his voice and manner of speaking. And he did sound as lame and as painful as Kenneth. In reflecting the instantaneous association that erupted on the web, I even wrote the phrase "close your eyes." All that really happened here is that Jindal - stylistically and substantively - had the worst debut on national television of anyone since Palin's encounter with Katie Couric. Deal with it, wingnuts. Deal with it.