Really, Chris Matthews?

It's not like outsourcing to India among other places isn't a real phenomenon, against which Obama himself is leading a current charge. Matthews' flank is also covered by a legitimate meaning that can be ascribed to his words: that the response was outsourced by discredited Beltway Republicans to someone who has some kind of remote credibility on the fiscal discipline question -- though not much, as Jindal was once a Republican Congressman.

I didn't see it – no cable – but don't congressional party leaders usually provide the response SOTU and similar speeches. If the Republicans are breaking with the usual practice and have a governor respond, I can see Matthews saying something like, "Congressional Republicans outsourced the response to Governor Bobby Jindal." That isn't to say Matthews doesn't say tacky stuff, but I think it would make sense to think through which Republicans would be outsourcing.

The question is: Would he have used that choice of words if Jindal weren't of Punjabi descent?

Probably not.

Actually the REAL question is: if the partisan tables had been turned and Jindal had been a Democrat being commented upon by a conservative pundit, would the media be in a state of total outrage?

Methinks the answer is: Yes.

See also: NY Post editorial cartoons.