A steadfast component of conservative gasbaggery has been the primacy of the common man of action, versus the "elites," the "pointy-headed intellectuals" and the "academics" in their "ivory towers." The gist of conservative posing is that frivolous girly-men spend years in college, slipping ever further away from the real world, losing sight of the "common sense" that holds all solutions to our modern problems.

It is that Bushian swagger that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal doubtless practiced before the full-length mirror before taking the stage during the poisoning of the Gulf to proclaim his intention to ignore the red tape, bureaucrats, and professorial pansies. Despite having no education or experience in oceanic and estuarine studies, fluid dynamics, or environmental science, Mr. Jindal was the Republican man with a plan for saving the marshes with sand berms. Though given only one day to take comments, the Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency both weighed in with their doubts. This didn't slow down Mr. Jindal on his quest for White House-bound, man-of-action cred.

Weeks later, those berms are already disappearing, having done nothing but cost us money, stopping no oil, saving no wildlife, earning no votes. I'll bet it felt good, swaggering into the spotlight, dissing the president for "dithering" and kicking sand in the faces of the "so-called experts." It's ironic, how leadership credibility can vanish, like sand before the tides.

Richard Levy, Cambridge