Um, I’m thinking the words “President” and “Jindal” sound really nice together

How about you?

Press Release: [Wednesday], Governor Bobby Jindal addressed the Rally for Economic Survival where he blasted the President’s deepwater drilling moratorium and called on the rally-goers to send a clear message to Washington, D.C. – end the arbitrary moratorium so thousands of Louisianians can go back to work.

Governor Jindal said, “I want us to send a clear message to Washington, D.C. today – our people don’t want a BP check, our people don’t want an unemployment check, our people want this arbitrary moratorium to end so they can go back to work.

“We are here in the heartland of South Louisiana, Cajun Country. Our oil and gas industry has been flourishing here for decades. Sure – there have been hard times and set backs, but for every set back, we have worked to make a comeback. I want there to be no mistake about it – we will beat this arbitrary moratorium and the strangle-hold it has put on our communities. We will use Cajun ingenuity and just plain good old-fashioned hard work to get this industry running again.

“We know that Cajuns are the rig managers, the toolpushers, the drillers, the roughnecks, the roustabouts – and even the owners and office workers – that produce the energy that fuels our nation. Today, we want the nation to know that too.

“South Louisiana is America’s energy capital. Each day, hundreds of thousands of Louisiana men and women go to work in the offshore oil and gas industry – or related jobs. But, these are more than just jobs. These jobs support our people, our families, our schools, our police stations, our communities, our way of life.

“Many times in this disaster I have been asked if Louisiana will ever recover. Will we ever be the same? Will we still be Sportsmen’sParadise? Will our communities and our families triumph over this catastrophe? The answer to these questions is simply – Yes.

“There is not a doubt in my mind that we will recover and restore our coast and our wetlands. I am convinced of this because I know our people. Louisianians are resilient and will persevere. We have worked to rebuild from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and then again after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. We will continue to thrive in the most blessed state and the richest and most bountiful land in the world.

As we continue to respond to and recover from the first disaster of the BP oil spill, we must have the federal government undo the second disaster they caused with this arbitrary drilling moratorium – so we can revitalize our state and come back better than ever.

“Let’s tell Washington not to send our jobs overseas. Not to send our rigs overseas. We need the federal government to do their jobs so our people don’t have to lose their jobs.”

Here’s a video clip of some of his remarks (via @Cubachi):

It’s interesting. Throughout this whole drama, ongoing for more than two months now, I’ve seen a lot of pictures and video of Governor Jindal sweating, sleeves rolled up, speaking aggressively, and taking an active role in what’s happening on the La. border. On the other hand, I’ve seen a lot of pictures and video of President Obama giving speeches on the issue and playing golf on a crisis that began in federal waters. I know there’s not a lot he can do by visiting the Gulf more often, but the contrasts between the two are pretty stunning. Who looks more like the leader?

Phineas butts in: It’s a darned good performance and serves as a reminder of why Jindal so impressed people on his path to the governorship. If he had not had that disastrous performance in the State of the Union response last year, people would be talking quite loudly about Jindal on the national ticket in 2012 right now, and Journolist would be coordinating their attacks on him. With his performance in this fiasco, I’ll bet they start doing so again.

Here’s another thing, related to that Breitbart-NAACP-Sherrod fiasco: the reception Jindal gets at this rally and the rise of Nikki Haley and Tim Scott in South Carolina should put a nail in the coffin of the myth that the South is, somehow, inherently more bigoted and racist than the rest of the country. Two Indian-Americans and an African-American, the latter of whom may well become the congressman from the district that includes Fort Sumter, for Pete’s sake. It’s not the color of your skin or where you were born that the Right cares about – we care about a candidate’s values. It’s the Left (including the Obama administration and the modern NAACP) that obsesses over race and tries to stick everyone into groups, rather than treating them as individuals.

And now I’ll butt out again.