right. when someone makes a reasonable argument as JJ did, but can’t bother to get a series of basic facts correct, that’s a serious discouragement to engagement. therefore, i think i’m calling it quits while i’m ahead. not in the mood of monitoring this thread anymore

That’s because Piyush isn’t his middle name, it’s his first name. “Bobby” was a nickname he adopted as a kid, but his legal name that appears on the ballot is Piyush Jindal. It’s no more demeaning than referring to Haley as “Nikkita Haley” rather than her nickname, Nikki.

unless you are talking about the republic of china, the chinese don’t elect leaders. your comments makes a fair point in terms of their substance, but speaking of style, there’s an artless dullness to them which makes me uninterested in engaging. you can complain all you want about the american people and the media, but they’ll stay stupid longer than you can complain.

I think both Jindal and Nikki are remarkable people who we all should be proud of. I am just a bit put off by the snide remarks on this board mainly because they changed their name or religion. The assumption without any proof whatsoever that they were purely political ploys. I also see in blog posts/comments everywhere the insistent and unnecessary insertion of their middle names Piyush and Randhawa as though to remind everyone who they truly are. There is also the use of quotes around “Bobby” as though to say “Ha ha that is not his name even though he says it is”.

“It began with an optically disastrous and widely mocked Republican response to Barack Hussein Obama’s State of the Union speech a few years back.”

Why is the American media and public so shallow that they will judge a politician by the way he speaks and other external attributes? Thereby ignoring all of Jindals considerable achievements and qualifications? They should learn from the Indians and Chinese who have no problem electing dopey leaders who put you to sleep when they talk.

Because Desis are highly opportunistic and self loathing… we know each others tricks.

I think far more importance would be if she decided to prove her sincerity to her constituents by imposing Intelligent Design on SC schools. I know Jindal is in favor of it. I have no idea what Haley’s stand is on this issue.

I do think that Will Folks guy is a jerk regarless of the veracity of his sexual claims.Even if you were to believe everything he said about his affair with Nikki, I am guessing she called it off because it was a heat in of the moment thing and he felt jilted and is acting petty now. I thnk Nikki has certainly some aspects of her life that are admirable. She has gone against a good ole boys network even if you take into account all the politically calculated stuff she is guilty of. I think she cares about her state. Let us hope she doesn’t become a Palin clone and go for the publicity thing. She is smarter and seems more sincere than Palin.

If you emigrate to another country, I think, to a certain extent, you should sell out. That is you should try and assimilate as much as possible while maintaining your religious and cultural beliefs if that is important to you. Anglicizing your name in a business context is a smart move, and as has been pointed out many of the earlier “white” immigrants have done similar things (Italians, Germans, Polish etc). You don’t have to convert religion but you don’t have to go around stuffing your religion in other people’s faces either. It is simple common sense really. Socializing with all types of people is important, nothing wrong with eating apple pie and celebrating the fourth of july either.

The problem with “selling out” as I see it is when you do it in your own country to the detriment of your fellow countrymen. That is a very different kind of selling out and much worse, in my opinion. I use colonialism as an example – there was so much selling out going on it was ridiculous. It was also to a power that really didn’t give a monkeys about the people who were selling out to them and thought of all of them as beneath them. These powers then proceeded to loot and rob the countries dry while not giving a stuff about the people.

That is selling out to me. As an immigrant, adopting the local culture within the bounds of what you are comfortable with is just common sense.