David Brooks opines on Bobby Jindal's calamitous response to Obama speech

Oopsy. More reactions here. Video via FDL.

JIM LEHRER: Now that, of course, was Gov. Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, making the Republican response. David, how well do you think he did?

DAVID BROOKS: Uh, not so well. You know, I think Bobby Jindal is a very promising politician, and I oppose the stimulus because I thought it was poorly drafted. But to come up at this moment in history with a stale "government is the problem," "we can't trust the federal government" - it's just a disaster for the Republican Party. The country is in a panic right now. They may not like the way the Democrats have passed the stimulus bill, but that idea that we're just gonna - that government is going to have no role, the federal government has no role in this, that - In a moment when only the federal government is actually big enough to do stuff, to just ignore all that and just say "government is the problem, corruption, earmarks, wasteful spending," it's just a form of nihilism. It's just not where the country is, it's not where the future of the country is. There's an intra-Republican debate. Some people say the Republican Party lost its way because they got too moderate. Some people say they got too weird or too conservative. He thinks they got too moderate, and so he's making that case. I think it's insane, and I just think it's a disaster for the party. I just think it's unfortunate right now.

Research 2000 Poll- How's that "Party Unity" working for you now, Mr GOP?

Let's see if I can get the html on this table to work.

favorable	unfavorable	change
PRESIDENT OBAMA	69 (68)	25 (25)	+1
PELOSI:	43 (42)	39 (39)	+1
REID:	33 (32)	41 (42)	+2
McCONNELL:	23 (22)	51 (50)	+0
BOEHNER:	17 (18)	54 (55)	+0
CONGRESSIONAL DEMS:	41 (39)	53 (53)	+2
CONGRESSIONAL GOPS:	18 (19)	70 (69)	-2
DEMOCRATIC PARTY:	57 (56)	38 (37)	+0
REPUBLICAN PARTY:	31 (31)	62 (61)

Close enough. Now if they start running Palin/Santelli now, things could really look up.

Florida GOP chairman billed party for spa treatments

But how else are you to keep your skin dewy and fresh in the harsh Florida sun?

TALLAHASSEE -- Republican Party of Florida chairman Jim Greer charged personal expenses to the state party during a fundraiser this summer, adding fresh details to growing complaints that his money management was hurting the party.

Confronted with a $5,100 bill showing he used party money on spa treatments, seafood dinners and limousines during a party fundraiser at the Breakers Hotel, Greer said he would reimburse the party for some of the expenses Friday.

The hotel bill showed that Greer and his wife spent $3,600 on a dinner at the hotel's Brasserie L'Escalier, $200 on spa services, $137 at the seafood bar and $80 on a limousine to the airport during a two-day fundraiser for incoming Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater.