I like Governor Jindal, but this strikes me as curious. If Bobby Jindal is not a member of the Republican establishment, who is? He has been: secretary of the state health department in Louisiana (a job to which he was appointed at the age of 25), a member of the House of Representatives, an adviser to Tommy Thompson when he was at HHS, vice chairman of the Republican Governors Association, etc. It may be that “establishment” has been redefined that way George Orwell described the redefinition of “fascism”: “the word has no meaning except in so far as it signifies ‘something not desirable.’”

Governor Jindal has entered the bomb-throwing stage of his campaign, which is, unhappily, going nowhere; he’s at less than 1 percent in the Real Clear Politics poll average. He is at 2 percent in Iowa and doesn’t have a great deal of resources at his disposal.

But, no doubt aware that blood in the water is the flavor of the month in Republican primary circles, the once-wonkish young governor is chumming the waters. The results are sometimes silly: In today’s telephone conversation, he referred to our current immigration situation as “an invasion”; he of course has a point about the crying need for assimilation, but there will no doubt be some snickers that this panicky sentiment should be pronounced by a man who missed being born in Punjab by only six months.