Whirlybird Governor Jindal hit rough weather

The Rev. Dr. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance wrote a letter asking Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jendal questions about his use of state-funded helicopters to attend church, a costly practice documented by the Baton Rouge Advocate.

Jindal's spokeswoman, Melissa Sellers, answered in what has become the classical American right-wing manner -- with an attack, well-characterized as "unrelated" by the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. As the The Times-Picayune reported:

This political group opposes putting crosses up in honor of fallen policemen, has attacked the National Day of Prayer and advocates for same-sex marriage, so it's not surprising that they are attacking the governor for accepting invitations to speak at Louisiana churches.

Actually, Jindal encountered heavy weather with Americans United last year for his misuse of state helicopters. The Louisiana Advocate and WBRZ news reported:

From the time of taking office in January until Hurricane Gustav hit on Sept. 1, Gov. Bobby Jindal has spent nearly $180,000 in taxpayer money to travel in State Police helicopters. ... In eight months, Jindal used State Police helicopters:

• Five times to attend Chamber of Commerce banquets.
• Eight times to go to town hall meetings.
• A dozen times to worship in churches across the state.

He also flew in a helicopter to make a halftime appearance at a basketball tournament, to speak at a high school graduation, to sign legislation, to celebrate the passage of his ethics package and to go to a fishing rodeo.

Below view Gaddy's comments to Rachel Maddow:

Jindal's irrelevant political attack in response to Gaddy's question makes strained sense when you consider the purpose of all that whirlybirding about. James Gill, a columnist for The Times-Picayune, explains:

These excursions seem to have more to do with politics than government, or even religion. Jindal's affinity for Protestants makes a lot of sense considering that, in losing the 2003 gubernatorial election to Kathleen Blanco, he fared particularly badly in north Louisiana.

No need to speculate about Jindal's office-seeking plans. The Boston Herald reported in December:

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal says he’s not interested in a 2012 run for president and will seek re-election in 2011.

Unless of course Sarah Palin rises again politically and reaches out for a Catholic vice presidential running mate who is acceptable to some Baptists.

Creationism steals a Louisiana classroom march on science

Creationism stole a march on science via the Louisiana Science Education Act, which gives teachers license to use materials outside the curriculum specifically to teach "controversial" theories.

When state education officials translated legislation into policy that explicitly prohibited teaching intelligent design, the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education pressured them into removing the language. The creationism-safe regulations were approved on Jan. 13, and the rest will almost inevitably end up on court.

Someone, says Barbara Forrest, a philosopher at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, will use Discovery Institute's creationism-friendly book, Explore Evolution.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State has already promised to file a lawsuit if Louisiana public schools start teaching religious concepts in biology classes.

That is the anti-evolutionist's goal, argues Forest. They hope to find a more creationism-friendly federal judge and mount a better court case than in 1987 when Louisiana law mandating the equal-time teaching of creationism was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.