At least one high profile Republican seems to think Obama is doing a good job:
“He gave me his number at the White House and told me to call him if I needed anything,” Christie said.
The New Jersey governor even took his message to Fox News, saying that Obama had helped “tremendously.”
“I spoke to the president three times yesterday,” he explained. “He called me for the last time at midnight last night asking what he could do. I said, if you can expedite designating New Jersey as a major disaster area that that would help us to get federal money and resources in here as quickly as possible to help clean up the damage here.”
“The president was great last night,” Christie continued. “He said he would get it done. At 2 a.m., I got a call from FEMA to answer a couple of final questions and then he signed the declaration this morning. So I have to give the president great credit. He’s been on the phone with me three times in the last 24 hours. He’s been very attentive, and anything that I’ve asked for, he’s gotten to me. So, I thank the president publicly for that. He’s done — as far as I’m concerned — a great job for New Jersey.”
Meanwhile, the Master of Disaster for C Plus Augustus, Michael “Heck of a Job” Brown, the horse guy who diddled while New Orleans drowned, disagrees with the President’s pro-active response:
“One thing he’s gonna be asked is, why did he jump on [the hurricane] so quickly and go back to D.C. so quickly when in…Benghazi, he went to Las Vegas?” Brown says. “Why was this so quick?… At some point, somebody’s going to ask that question…. This is like the inverse of Benghazi.”
Last night, I pointed to the crane dangling from the luxury condo’s as the perfect metaphor for the past thirty years of economic policy. I offer you this- the difference between the Obama Sandy reaction and the Bush Katrina reaction, as the perfect difference between an Obama Presidency and a RMoney Presidency.
ding dong
Christie is trying to put on the bipartisan mantle. Good luck with that with your repulicant buddies.
Turgidson
Wow. I just… Is it wrong to kinda hope this incompetent dipshit gets struck by lightning?
Smiling Mortician
Also too, when that Douchey guy from Fox&Frauds asked Christie what he thought of Master Romney coming to tour the devastation in Jersey, Christie withered the guy with his eyeballs before saying, basically, that the instrument has not yet been measured that can measure his lack of interest in such a visit . . .
japa21
He had to get Benghazi in there, didn’t he. Totally ignoring the major differences between the two. However, I am sure that he remembers his boss at McCain’s birthday party while Katrina was bearing down on NOLA.
Jay in Oregon
Man, they are still trying to make something out of Benghazi? Really?
jharp
So Christie’s campaign for 2016 continues.
He probably figures his fat ass might drop over by 2020 so he doesn’t want to wait through 2 Romney terms.
Roger Moore
I mentioned it in the previous thread, but if Brownie wants to come out and compare the quality of disaster response in Republican and Democratic administrations, I’m all in favor of giving him the biggest megaphone we can find. The more people are reminded of Katrina the better, and if it can come from the Republicans so our hands are clean, all the better.
Mr Stagger Lee
Michael Brown needs put on that crane and left there, if the thing breaks no loss. If he was on a Romulan Spaceship, he would have been ejected into space a long time ago. The moron who decided that we should know what heckavajob Brownie thinks in the media needs at best to be stripped naked flogged and covered in honey in front of a fire ant nest, worst dropped off in the middle of the Sahara and left behind.
Cols714
Smart move by Christie. He knows that for him to be a candidate in 2016, Romney has to lose this year.
Really if America doesn’t yet know the differences between Democratic administrations and Republican ones at this point then we are well and truly fucked.
I mean if people still vote for Romney after seeing the difference between Clinton’s 8 years and Bush’s 8 years then we get the Ryan Budget we deserve.
Hill Dweller
The President praised Christie, Bloomberg and Cuomo during his remarks at the Red Cross.
Roger Moore
@jharp:
Either that, or he remembers the McCain campaign and doesn’t want to be campaigning for a third consecutive Republican term.
Svensker
@ding dong:
I don’t really think so. He’s a Republican and an asshole but he’s not insane and he seems to be very impatient with the insanity stuff.
ETA: FUWP
Enhanced Mooching Techniques
The used Brown as a spokesman, WTF? So is in the Conservtard bizzaro parallel universe Brown some kind of hero that saved New Orleans by letting themselves pull themselves up by the bootstraps?
Jeremy
They keep on using Benghazi as a weapon and it’s not working. The horse is dead actually it’s beyond dead.
El Cid
I get the feeling Christie was actually anticipating that Obama would be the same vindictive, back-stabbing freak that a Republican would be in that circumstance. I actually think he’s somewhat surprised that Obama is focusing on disaster response (even if there’s an inherent political spin in doing so) rather than getting Christie back for the various stupid mean shit Christie’s been spewing.
JenJen
Just FYI, Chris Christie will be attacking Obama by the end of the week. Everyone knows this, right?
Roger Moore
@Svensker:
Congratulations! You managed to get FYWP to mess up a blockquote in a new and original way.
Applejinx
@Smiling Mortician: And here it is! Never gets old.
The line is “I have no idea, nor am I the least bit concerned or interested.”
This is the difference between a competent opposition politician, and a clown show….
That devastating backstab means that Romney is toast. Christie is not necessarily good, but he is not politically stupid. He’s out to run in 2016, his RNC speech was a campaign speech, and this is evidence he knows Romney has no chance. He is going all in, not for Obama… no, he’s going all in on the proposition that Obama will win, and that the things Obama will do, will work. He’s also tacking aggressively away from the racist vote.
Meet the new Rove, guys. Old Rove is spent. This is the new face of Republicanism, and it is an upgrade (wouldn’t be hard), chasing the Overton window leftward to keep up with demographic change. Hell, he might start a new party with all the Eisenhower republicans, for all we know.
dmsilev
Shouldn’t Michael Brown stick to his proven area of competence and see to making sure that Mitt Romney’s horses are safe?
eddie blake
well, both weather events were forecast days in advance, only one was ignored…
brad
Apparently homicide can still be justified.
clay
“Why was this so quick?”
Seriously? Because, dipshit, it’s a fucking emergency. Lives could be saved or lost depending on the how quickly the government responds to the situation.
“Why not Benghazi?”
Because, dipshit, it WASN’T an emergency. A tragedy, yes, but it was pretty much over with by the time anyone could do anything about it. What else COULD Obama do, except wait for the intelligence come in and then decide what our response would be?
These guys really don’t know shit about shit, do they? That Brown quote made me so mad, I delurked after 6(?) years to rant about it.
Linda Featheringill
To quote Martin in the previous thread:
Amen.
japa21
@Cols714: I think Christie already realizes that Romney is toast this year. Otherwise, he knows that he will be able to get very little assistance for NJ from a Romney administration. Romney is a person who carries grudges for a long time.
dmsilev
@JenJen: Almost definitely, sure. But let’s capture what joy we can and watch the show while it lasts.
TR
Heckuva job, shithead.
Jay in Oregon
@Roger Moore:
Clearly, Brown is just concerned that Obama would not have time to find a dog sitter and select the appropriate attire for his media appearances.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/03/brown.fema.emails/
jenn
@jharp: Oh, please. I’m not a Christie fan in the least, but while it wouldn’t surprise me if 2016 is in the back of his mind, can we please acknowledge the fact that he honestly doesn’t want the citizens of his state to drown, burn, or be homeless? He’s being a competent governor right now. Good on him. Let’s save the political attacks for when he starts pulling a Giuliani noun, verb, and Sandy.
PreservedKillick
@Applejinx:
Yes. This.
And with the blue dog democrats.
Chris Christie just stated just how screwed Romney is. If he thought Romney had a chance, he’d have waffled.
I fully expect, BTW, that he will invite Romney for a visit later this week. Just to look good.
But he’s already voted with his feet.
jenn
@jharp: Oh, please. I’m not a Christie fan in the least, but while it wouldn’t surprise me if 2016 is in the back of his mind, can we please acknowledge the fact that he honestly doesn’t want the citizens of his state to drown, burn, or be homeless? He’s being a competent governor right now. Good on him. Let’s save the political attacks for when he starts pulling a Giuliani noun, verb, and Sandy.
Hill Dweller
The Obama admin had been doing dry runs/response drills for a hurricane hitting the NY area since ’09.
A half-wit like Brown can’t conceive putting a plan in place before a natural disaster actually happens. In his mind, they’re just making it up as they go along.
Jay in Oregon
@Roger Moore:
Clearly, Brown is just concerned that Obama would not have time to find a dog sitter and select the appropriate attire for his media appearances.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/03/brown.fema.emails/
Robin G.
@Svensker: The question is why he’s impatient with it. While I don’t think he’s a Christianist, I suspect he wouldn’t be quite so disdainful if he didn’t think those folks were a long-term viability. This is the last presidential election that can be legit run on the Angry White Man platform, and he’s a lot of things, but politically stupid ain’t one of ’em.
El Cid
@JenJen: More than likely. It might depend on some calendar based on getting some sort of money or resource from the administration, and then once gotten, the loudmouthing begins anew. I don’t know if there are any such items outstanding for Christie’s agenda.
lacp
There was a hurricane in Benghazi?
General Stuck
The wingnuts glom onto a story they mostly make up in their own heads, and a kind of demented OCD sets in. This time to win an election. Assumptions of facts begin to take root like rabid crabgrass in the national dialogue. Spun into a story of pure evil personified for whatever is their target. Come November 7, not a one of them will give a hoot for Benghazi, especially the good ambassador and the other 3 that died there. Their only concern for The State Department is maybe to help them justify launching WW3 with C-130 gunships to kill everyone and call it victory.
Xecky Gilchrist
@Jay in Oregon: Man, they are still trying to make something out of Benghazi?
That’s how it works until the new talking points ship – just keep repeating the old one.
Appeaser! Appeaser!
jibeaux
PSA: if you try to employ irony at any point this week, you may find it broken. Crews have been dispatched, and your patience is appreciated.
JenJen
Maybe Michael Brown could offer his expert Horse Lawyering services to Ann Romney and Rafalca? Just a thought.
Mike
you’re a college professor and you think the plural of condo is condo’s ???
Applejinx
@JenJen: How much do you want to bet?
Christie is in the perfect position to ride Obama’s coattails and take advantage of the Obama ground game. Maybe he’ll snark a little. But what is the percentage for him of aligning himself with Republicans right now? No way. His role right now is the CONVERT. Expect him to stick to that while maybe dissing all other Democrats, or NJ democrats…
qwerty42
@JenJen:
Well sure. This is temporary. But I did not expect him to change parties or anything.
Ed in NJ
Doesn’t anyone here realize that Christie spend half the day yesterday waging a political attack on the mayor of Atlantic City, propped up by a lie that the mayor told the residents not to evacuate? The same mayor that he has been waging a war of words with for months.
Christie meets the minimum standards of leadership during a crisis, something missing last year when he was vacationing during Irene, and now he’s some great statesman? Please, he’s the same fat, bullying piece of shit, but with the national spotlight shined upon him for a couple of days.
Jerzy Russian
Can’t someone kick Michael Brown in the junk? Is there a company that offers this service? I would buy stock in that company, as the market for that service seems to be growing.
flukebucket
@Jay in Oregon: They are not going to let Benghazi go. Ever. Facebook is awash in an article from The American Thinker about the possibility that General Ham was fired because he did not march in lock step with Obama and Panetta in regards to Benghazi. I still find it incredible that the party that had their finger three joints up their own ass on 9/11 wants to dwell on Benghazi.
LanceThruster
M. Brown can shut his freakin’ pie-hole!
eemom
I don’t give a shit WHY Christie said what he did; I’m just glad that he said it because it’s good for Obama and a stab in the back to Romtron. Is that so very wrong?
catclub
Everybody loves FEMA now, before all the unhappiness has time to marinate. Later on, everyone in NJ flooded areas will hate FEMA, but that time is not now.
Calibrating the change in attitude is what state politicians do.
It will be a month or so before the FEMA hate starts.
Redshift
@clay: More to the point, Hurricane Sandy’s landfall was predicted a week ago, and the Beghazi attack happened without warning. Of course, Brownie probably still thinks there was no advance warning for Katrina, so to him they’re exactly the same.
But all the same, I’m all in favor of the face of Bush’s FEMA making a misguided attempt to score political points by complaining about Obama doing disaster response too well.
japa21
@Ed in NJ: Sure he is still a bullying jerk, but he effectively told another bullying jerk to get off his lawn, which doesn’t do the other bullying jerk any favors and may have effectively destroyed any chance the other bullying jerk had of winning next Tuesday.
Cermet
@Jeremy: Yes, but brownie was so use to sticking his head up horses asses so asking this asswipe piece of murdering shit about FEMA response should, in thug twisted dead brains, be perfect to trumpet rmoney.
lacp
@Ed in NJ: Isn’t there a video out of the AC mayor telling people to evacuate but advising them that the city had shelters available if they couldn’t? I’ve seen a lot of stuff kicking around on the philly.com site indicating that the mayor didn’t say what the guv claimed. Also sounded a bit like Christie was trying to walk it back today, which he sure wouldn’t due if he thought he was right.
Somewhat depressing that Charles Pierce and his commenters appear to have jumped on the Tons-of-Fun ’16 Train.
eemom
@Jerzy Russian:
My reaction precisely. And it is furthermore driving me crazy that anyone is paying attention to what this nobody know-nothing long-forgotten has been assclown is saying at ALL, if they are NOT prepared to kick him in the junk over it.
burnspbesq
@ding dong
I know this is crazy talk, but just for a second, consider the possibility that Christie is just making a sincere and good-faith effort to do the job that the people of New Jersey mistakenly elected him to do.
Comrade Mary
(Oops, wrong thread.)
jharp
@jenn:
He could have done the same thing and gotten just as much help and saved just as many people and property without sucking up and praising Obama.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@Jeremy:
No, it’s just resting. It is tired and shagged out from a long squawk.
GxB
@Jeremy: There’s still a few intact molecules that when looked at under a microscope can still be recognized as horseflesh. Once that’s gone they’ll be making a beeline for the hen-house with a bulge in their trousers and a wild look in their eye…
Applejinx
The rest of the clip!
Oh, my GOD. Christie sticks to his guns, also thanks other governors. His response right after his dis of Romney photo ops is a very sincere rant about how he has a job to do (perfectly true).
The Fox host stammers. They all look kind of shellshocked. He gets off the official Republican line of ‘with so many people hurting’, but he’s stymied, he fumbles his words. Christie thanks the Fox hosts, and says, hope I’ll be able to see you in person soon under better circumstances.
The Fox host’s response?
“YEAH, AS SOON AS WE GET THE BRIDGES AND TUNNELS OPEN AGAIN, THANKS GOVERNOR.” He’s sneering. As he says it the female host snickers.
*silence. dead air for a moment*
Christie- “You got it.”
Oh my God. Fox just killed NJ for the Republicans for a frickin’ generation. The Fox guy just dissed Christie brutally in a very NY/NJ way, plainly angry that Christie wouldn’t play ball. Are they IN New York, to be making a crack like that? I admit NY got hit real bad too, but calling New Jerseyites the bridge and tunnel crowd in that way right now is incredibly classless.
J.D. Rhoades
@Jay in Oregon:
Man, they are still trying to make something out of Benghazi? Really?
Oh, yeah. If you deal with wingnuts on a regular basis, it’s all they talk about. And it’s all about how Obama “lied” about the ambassadors death and did nothing to stop it. Direct quote from my local paper’s website (in response to a column about Mourdock’s rape comment):
Here’s another:
These people are insane. And illiterate.
catclub
@lacp: I do not see Christie as the GOP frontrunner. That assumes that a) Romney loses.
b)The recriminations in the GOP that Mitt was TOO MODERATE finish up. and c) the GOP decides that it was actually too conservative, and needs to nominate a real moderate (as far as GOP politicians are concerned.)
Jon Thune 2016. no fingerprints.
Scott Walker 2016 teabaggers/Koch full monty
jharp
@burnspbesq:
So why does necessitate sucking up and praising Obama? Just don’t see how that helps with the relief effort at all.
jharp
@burnspbesq:
So why does that necessitate sucking up and praising Obama? Just don’t see how that helps with the relief effort at all.
JenJen
@Applejinx: I’m just not sure, but I honestly see Christie saying later this week that hey, Obama did a great job with that hurricane but we sure can’t afford another four years of his economic policies, blah blah blah. I imagine he’ll be under a world of pressure to recant his praise from the kinds of people he’d expect to finance any future GOP run.
The Other Bob
People look at my funny when I say it, but I think a guy like Christie could save the Repubs from themselves.
He is not really a religious whacko, but is a big enough asshole that he will attract a portion of the Tea Party that could get him through a primary.
gene108
@Ed in NJ:
Thank you for putting it so succinctly.
Christie isn’t doing anything extraordinary, other than being a Republican, who said something that did not disparage President Obama.
Just shows how far the Republicans are strung out on Obama Derangement Syndrome that a Republican Governor basically stating facts* is considered a great statesman.
*Christie in his presser yesterday only stated facts: (1) Obama called him at 2 pm (2) Obama’s being proactive, (3) Obama agreed to sit on heads to get things moving, if NJ needed it and (4) reiterate how proactive Obama’s being in an emergency. None of this is anything other than living in the real world and not a right-wingnut induced bit of fantasy about Obama, such as his “apology tour”, for example.
The Red Pen
@Jay in Oregon:
Freepers believe that Benghazi is all anyone is talking about.
El Cid
@burnspbesq: Actually I think he is. I don’t think that politicians ever completely wall off spin from action — his public tussle with the mayor of Atlantic City is hard to determine at this stage and may very well be more about prior conflicts than the mayor’s statement that people should leave but if they couldn’t or wouldn’t to seek local shelter — but Christie I think is mainly doing the responsible thing.
And then when it’s time for him to make up bullshit as to why he opposed the tunnel project, he can do that, too.
Ed in NJ
@lacp:
There were also the taped messages sent to all residents urging them to evacuate immediately. What the mayor did was keep some shelters open for those that refused to leave, as a last resort. And thank FSM he did.
Look, I’m grateful that Christie didn’t turn this into an attack on Obama, or endorsement of Romney, but that used to be the norm. Now it’s the exception, which sucks for our political discourse. We are praising a politician for NOT turning a tragedy into a political football, but in Christie’s case, that’s not entirely true, because he is engaged in a political war with Mayor Langford, and he did use the storm to try to score political points.
lacp
@catclub: I don’t think he’s going anywhere either. And I don’t understand why Pierce is building him up.
GxB
@Applejinx: It brings to mind the ultimate confusion that will result if/when a GoP’er finally starts talking in a moderate tone. Think about it, we’ve had nothing but shrill, frothing, gibberish being spouted for so long, Christy is the first measured, reasonable response in what, a decade at least?
As for Brownie, Heckava Job asshole go DIAF.
The Moar You Know
@Applejinx: Christ, if that gets any traction there is going to be some hell to pay. Christie’s past behavior has shown, amply, that he is a bad guy to make an enemy of and that he knows how to nurse a grudge.
I predict some folks, starting with smart-mouth news boy, are going to be unemployed by the end of the week. Baron Harkonnen is going to require appeasement, and a lot of it.
Ash Can
@Roger Moore:
QFT.
pseudonymous in nc
@El Cid:
Who knows? Obama has a “what do you want, where do you want it, when do you want it?” president from the start, in spite of the wingnut myth-making around him. Christie’s a bully and an ego, but he’s also a what-where-when? guy.
The political win here is from “doing your fucking job”, and buying into the idea that all GOP governors are inherently incompetent is just mirroring the wingnut mythos. (Which doesn’t preclude plenty of GOP governors from being incompetent, as they demonstrate on a regular basis.)
NonyNony
@Ed in NJ:
Ayup. And since he’s a Republican that’s a newsworthy achievement.
Republicans are so bad that their existence lowers the bar so that the merely competent Republican politicians look like geniuses in comparison. It’s like the Overton Window, but for competence instead of ideology.
Actually, Christie is just playing right out of the Republican Governor Playbook – when it’s your state getting hit by some tragedy that only the Federales can help you out with, suddenly all that “up by your own bootstraps – STATES RIGHTS” crap goes out the window and it becomes “thank you very much for your assistance Mr. FEMA bureaucrat”. Just like welfare and abortions and everything else Republicans hate – they only hate that the “wrong people” have the nice things that they want for themselves.
LanceThruster
@The Moar You Know:
xD
Applejinx
I think after being publically insulted on Fox in the middle of all this- you could see his lip twist as he said ‘you got it’- the guy could quite possibly turn apostate. I don’t think he expected that, or the little snicker.
This is pretty much where the little rats start seriously eating each other. My money’s on Christie, and I expect him to double down, because political cover for him is to double down and claim the mantle of the REAL bipartisan Republican like they should have been all along, which means throwing his prodigious weight behind Obama.
This also does one very useful thing for him- they need each other now. If he breaks ranks- and boy did he break ranks!- then Obama pretty much HAS to make New Jersey a poster child for federal disaster relief and allow him to take a great deal of credit for it. Their interests are totally, totally aligned. The better Obama treats New Jersey, the better Christie does, and the more credibility he has to break ranks and back Obama ensuring that Romney and his policies will not prevail.
I think if there was any chance Romney would win, Christie might not have said some of the things he said. He’s quite capable of not bluntly dissing Romney, but he did it anyway, and it broke his relationship with Fox News. Now he’s got to back up the things he said by delivering that amazing disaster response, and Obama has to continue to give him everything he asks for. Again: their interests are totally, totally aligned, and not just for the day- for the whole cleanup, which is huge.
This is a really startling, significant development.
GxB
@catclub:
While they’re taking their damn time doing it, I hope Mr Walker will be a convicted felon by 2016 – not that that would preclude him from a GoP higher office. If not, a Marquette drop-out (more like kicked out), cross-eyed, mouth-breather… well, if the “Guy I wanna have a beer with” dicks are still voting en mass then we have a playa.
Tractarian
Christie must really hate Mitt. Really, there was no reason he had to heap that much praise. I mean, the convention speech was one thing, but a week before the election, this is like Chris giving Mitt the kiss of death.
And I just love how Brownie is suddenly rearing his head. Thanks, Brownie! It would have been seen by the MSM as bad taste for Obama or his surrogates to bring up past Republican incompetence during this time of crisis, but you’re doing it for them!
Paul
I take it “heck of a job” Brown is thoroughly jealous considering what an awesome job Obama has been doing on Sandy, especially compared to Brown.
Regarding Bengazi; why the hell doesn’t Brown talk to Condi Rice since Brown himself has no clue as to WTF he is talking about regarding Bengazi.
BTW – What did Brown think of Romney when he played politics with Bengazi before anybody even knew what had happened in Libya? Or is Brown just doing whatever he can to get the billionaire who refused to share his tax returns elected?
Paul
@The Red Pen:
.
There was a concern troll here on BJ claiming the same thing last week or so. He claimed that people were appreciative to FoxNews for demanding answers and that it would be better for Obama to come clean. This was supposedly getting traction blabla…
Seriously, I am into politics quite a bit. Bengazi doesn’t even hit the top 100 when it comes to political issues people care about.
pseudonymous in nc
@Applejinx:
In a way, this is structured more like a foreign policy crisis than domestic politicking — there is no upside from making people you have to work with look bad.
catclub
@The Moar You Know: “I predict some folks, starting with smart-mouth news boy, are going to be unemployed by the end of the week.”
has anyone EVER been fired from Fox for insulting someone?
Someone who is not Rush Limbaugh?
I don’t see it. Rupert Murdoch and Ailes both strike me as
New Yorkers who look on insulting New Jersey as normal behavior.
Applejinx
@Tractarian:
Christie cannot possibly hate Mitt as much as he hates those Fox wankers right now. I think they were even subtly attacking him for taking six minutes to praise Obama. They harped on the six minutes he had…
Also note how carefully Christie explained that he wanted the most accelerated response possible. He made it very clear that the quickness of federal aid was Obama’s responsiveness to HIS wishes- Obama talked to him over and over, FEMA called him at 2 AM, Obama was up bright and early signing the papers, Christie couldn’t be more happy with it all.
Every single bit of that was a spoke in the wheels of the intended GOP narrative. I am not the least bit surprised that the Foxoids were stunned and angry.
They had the chance to play along with him, a sitting Republican governor in a dramatic and newsworthy situation and the would-be face of the 2016 GOP, or to be loyal to the powerdiving 2012 GOP as it craters. They didn’t have the vision, and they called him a bridge and tunnel guy and snickered audibly at him.
Maude
@Tractarian:
I like it when they show how incompetent they are without any help from the Dems.
The Moar You Know
@Tractarian: Michael Brown: unbroken track record of helping Republicans when Democrats need it most.
sharl
I’m no fan of Michael Brown, and I think he should slither back under whatever rock has been sheltering him. But let’s not forget the role of neocon Michael Chertoff – Brown’s boss at the time – in that whole Katrina fiasco. It’s a shame so few bothered to take notice of reports from the Washington DC bureau of Knight-Ridder (K-R was bought by McClatchy subsequently):
RyMaN600
@Jay in Oregon:
I have a feeling that starting on 11/7 Benghazi is going to vanish from the right wing airwaves.
peorgietirebiter
@Paul: McCain was in Ohio today talking about it being either a “massive cover up” or the proof that Obama’s too incompetent to hold office. Bitter old fool.
PreservedKillick
@Applejinx:
Totally agree. This wasn’t just Christie playing politics, it was Christie shooting down Romney, and it was Fox shooting back, in a really nasty way.
No way – no way – Christie would have gone that far if he thought Romney had a chance.
Fleem
@Applejinx:
Main FOX studio is right near Times Square.
burnspbesq
Christie strikes me as a guy who holds grudges and isn’t above abusing the privileges of his office in pursuit thereof.
God help anybody from Fox News who goes 66 mph on the Turnpike.
LanceThruster
@sharl:
You are right that Brown was made the fall guy for a lot of other incompetent boobs…but to resurface in this manner erases any marginal goodwill that he might have otherwise garnered.
He should have stayed under his well-deserved rock.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@japa21:
A lot of politics is personal, even amongst folks who at least nominally are ideological allies. The feud between LBJ and RFK which helped tear apart the Democratic party in the late 60s is a famous example. It is entirely possible that after Christie’s not very helpful RNC speech in Tampa Mitt may in private have said something rather nasty and unpleasant and Christie may have responded with a right-back-atcha-asshole.
General Stuck
To whit. Dispatched from the galaxy next door. Or National Review, if you wish.
So we somersault from Obambi loving his terror buds, to diabolical plans to stifle free speech, which of course to the wingnut can only mean Fox News.
Can you hear the sound of crunching metal as the wingnut mind grinds out the grist for the mill of loony bullshit?
zombie rotten mcdonald
@Jay in Oregon:
I had the Constant Troll at another site tell me in all seriousness, that Benghazi was “one of the greatest failures of any President in US history.”
RyMaN600
@Applejinx:
I think the fact that Christie has invited Obama himself to NJ to tour the devastation after completely blowing off Mitt means you may be on to something.
Jay in Oregon
@zombie rotten mcdonald:
The only response to that should be “August 6, 2001: “Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US.”
Jay in Oregon
@RyMaN600:
Only if Obama loses.
If he wins and the GOP still controls the House, expect articles of impeachment to be drawn up by end of business, if they haven’t been already.
Applejinx
Christie is a much better politician than the current GOP clown show. My money’s on Christie and I am pleased to consider that the power of the federal government to take on big tasks like disasters, AND the repudiation of demographically doomed racism, will be part of the new GOP with Christie as its natural leader.
Snarla
I didn’t even realize people still believed the ambassador was raped. Where did that even come from, anyway?
Jay C
One thing that seems to have gone unnoticed (even by the braintrust here at Balloon Juice ) is that Chris Christie is up for reelection next year (NJ elects its govs off-seasons), and if he does entertain even a remote ambition to move up the political ladder – or even just to keep his present job – he knows he’s going to have to chuck partisanality and do – and be seen to do – the absolute most and best he can to coordinate disaster response, disaster relief, disaster cleanup, reconstruction, etc.; regardless of how many obsessive Obama-bashers he pisses off. Whatever his political ambitions are for 2016, I’m sure he isn’t going to want to pursue them from the unemployment line…
Post-Katrina, effective response to natural disasters is the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM must-do for politicians on the State level: and Chris Christie (fat hack pig as he may be) isn’t so stupid as to ignore this….
arguingwithsignposts
@zombie rotten mcdonald:
Silver sulfadiazine: for when the stupid burns.
Mandalay
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ:
That, and/or Christie has concluded that Romney now has no chance of winning the election, and is being the first rat to jump a sinking Republican/Romney ship.
Christie has a lot to gain, and very little to lose, by cozying up to Obama during a crisis.
I suspect Obama is (inwardly) smirking like crazy about the situation.
The Moar You Know
@Snarla: There is a tradition in some of the Arab countries of sodomizing those who you’ve beaten in battle. However, given that the good Ambassador was fried to a crisp by the time anyone got to him, and the first guys who got to him after he was killed were the good guys, this seems more than unlikely.
quannlace
Why did he ‘jump on the hurricane so quickly?”
Cause a goddamn hurricane was coming, you stupid fuck!
zombie rotten mcdonald
@Jay in Oregon:
That’s elegant.
Applejinx
@Mandalay:
He ought to. This is nothing less than a coup from within the Republican Party at the eleventh hour. It cannot be an accident.
Right now, Chris Christie is explaining to someone at Fox News that they can have it the easy way- or the hard way.
The easy way is, make him look good, throw Romney under the bus, give Obama a landslide. It seems counter-intuitive if you’re a Republican, but they are about to lose hard. You cannot drink your own kool-aid if you are a serious politician… the teabag types have never been serious. Christie is serious enough to have worked stuff out. What Fox needs to do is pull a head-explody reversal and paint Christie as the new savior. Allllll the faithful old republicans will pitch in. Romney’s about to fail epically. He’s done for. The party will want to distance itself from him, and the party has to distance itself from the demographically doomed policies- besides which, the racism and stuff is wrong, but business is business, and if that was good business Romney would be up TWENTY points, not desperately trying to fake out a tie that is really a blowout loss waiting to happen.
The easy way is, throw it for Obama, throw Romney under the bus. Streamline Christie’s run as the new GOP leader for 2016 when Obama can’t run again. Target Biden and any possible Dem contender for 2016 and leave only Obama (who can’t run again) as the figurehead, specifically so that voters can continually see ‘bipartisanship’. Play it like suddenly the government is harmony and rainbows once THOSE bad fake republicans (now unmasked) were got rid of. Call Obama a tough act to follow, insist that his bestest buddy Christie is the obvious successor.
That’s the easy way.
Here’s the hard way.
Side with the Romney people and go down with the existing GOP brain trust who are MBA wankers and miserable fucking politicians, while Christie teams up with Obama to destroy Fox News personally, politically, and legislatively. Christie WILL be the 2016 GOP leader, and Obama WILL owe him huge favors for delivering the election, which is a fait accompli, and Obama will be just as eager to see Fox destroyed as Christie is.
Do they prefer the easy way- or the hard way?
Fuck me, *I’m* the new Rove ;P
Patricia Kayden
@Roger Moore: You got that right. Bush’s incompetence which resulted in scores of deaths in Louisiana will go down in history. President Obama’s handling of Hurricane Sandy has been spot on so far.
Brown must not realize how unpopular Bush is — wasn’t even invited to the Repub conventions in 2008 or 2012. Contrast that with the treatment of President Clinton, who is actively campaigning for President Obama even today.
So speak on, Brown. You incompetent clown. Keep reminding people why they don’t want to put another Repub in the White House.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@Applejinx:
I think you’re over-analyzing this. Wait for a few more data points to come in before building this so much. It may turn out that Christie was tired and irritable from being up all night and just felt like sticking the shiv in somebody that pissed him off, just for the hell of it, and Obama wasn’t that guy, because that’s not how Obama rolls, and along came some assholes on Fox who needed taking down a notch, along with the traditional NJ-NY friction.
PreservedKillick
@Applejinx:
Yep.
He’s probably also explaining to Fox that there is a third way, and it’s REALLY hard. Romney somehow manages to win.
That’s the end of the republican party, probably for a generation, maybe forever. He’s not only a shitty campaigner, he’s worse at governing. And the skeletons in his closet haven’t made it out yet.
Violet
@Applejinx: Or…the election is closer than Christie wants it to be, since he wants to run in 2016. So he’ll do what he can to throw Romney under the bus in hopes of increasing Romney’s chances of losing Obama’s of winning. Thus leading to his own chances of running in 2016.
Christie has been a bit of a wild card this election in saying what he wants to say. His convention keynote was basically a 2016 campaign speech for himself. Then before the first election he talked up Romney when everyone else was downplaying Rommey’s chances. Turns out he was right and looked rather prescient in hindsight. Now the FEMA stuff.
Maybe he’s been trying to tank Romney all along, but if so, why are there plenty of other examples of him talking about how great Romney is, even during the summer when Romney was nothing but a gaffe machine?
Christie just sort of says what he wants to say, it seems to me. To hell with whatever someone tells him to say.
As for 2016, unless Christie does something about his weight (surgery, intensive diet) he won’t win. He just can’t keep up the schedule demanded of a presidential candidate and he’ll faint or look incredibly sweaty campaigning in the south.
JoeC
I’ll only ever be saying “Heckuva job, brownie” after having eaten a bakery-fresh square one with or without walnuts :-)
Opie_jeanne
@J.D. Rhoades: what the what? Was the ambassador raped? Or is this a case of confusing two separate news items?
PurpleGirl
@Mike: Quite a few people have forgotten how to properly use apostrophes and how to form plurals. I’m not sure why, though.
Applejinx
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ: Nope. Republican Governors don’t go off the reservation that way. Think of this: why was Christie not blowing his OWN horn and sucking his own dick the whole time?
Fox News was perfectly ready to let him take all credit. They were perfectly ready to let him spin it that he forced a response out of a reluctant Obama, or any way he wanted to spin it that hurt Democrats.
Christie latched onto Romney’s throat like a bulldog and would not let up, without ever saying his name. His open contempt was the most damaging thing I’ve ever seen, and I think it blindsided him that he’d so quickly get open contempt right back. Somebody is not good at reading which way the wind blows, and they’re sitting like schmucks in Times Square.
Explain why Christie was not self-aggrandizing ON FOX NEWS when that would seemingly have supported his political aspirations as well or better? How is ‘I forced concessions out of Obama who wanted to sleep in’ not a better narrative as far as Fox is concerned?
No, this is a coup. I’m really interested to see how this develops. If I’m right, Christie will double down, and things will get really weird in MSM-land.
Romney cannot deliver disaster recovery to NJ. Christie is only realigning power in a way that supports his state, so he can be re-elected (and so he can serve them, which is also important). Ideology demands that Christie throw his state under the bus to support the national party. He clearly prefers to seize control of the national party at the moment they most need his loyalty.
Meet the new boss, same as the old bosses we USED to get before they got hijacked by complete lunatics who suck at politics…
Mandalay
@Applejinx:
Maybe, but I doubt that Christie can play that bipartisan card for long. As a human being he is a nasty piece of work with a short fuse and a vile temper, and that will show itself time after time.
He just does not have the temperament to win the presidency (or cope with the pressures of being president). Being about seven tons overweight won’t help his cause either.
Maude
@Applejinx:
Christie says what he thinks. It’s not complicated. He got help from Obama and Romney wanted to do a photo op.
arguingwithsignposts
You all know there was no way Romney was going to win N.J., right? His pissing on Romney means dick in the national scheme of things.
wonkie
I don’t think Chritie’s weight is an issue. It might even work in his favor.
And i don’t think the Rethug party is capable of moving to a faux centrism. The crazies have taken over. Losing will just amke them crazier. My gues is that if Christie is thinking at all it’s about his election next year, nothig else.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@Maude:
Between all the important meetings and conference calls to be on, the decisions to make, the paperwork to deal with, and the media apperances being requested, I rather doubt that a governor stuck right in the the middle of dealing with a major natural disaster in his/her home state even has time to think about all this political grand-chessmaster stuff. Conceptual categories get really simple when you’re under that kind of deadline-driven stress: people who are helping me right-the-fuck-now = good. Everybody else = assholes.
pillsy
@Mandalay:
I think Chris Christie is a hardcore asshole and a pretty lousy governor, but he’s not so lousy or dickheaded that he can’t work with high-profile Democrats in the state when it serves his interests. I don’t see why he wouldn’t apply the same reasoning to a high-profile Democrat outside of the state.
Also, too, I’m mildly curious about how the wingnuts are responding to Christie’s seeming betrayal, but not curious enough to get out of the boat, as they say over at Sadly, No!
MTiffany
Who knew that a Republican operative (who part-times as a Wall Street hedge fund analyst) would resort to fearmongering by tweeting partisan lies during a weather emergency? Internet Outs Fake Hurricane Tweeter
Kool Earl
To everybody commenting on Christie 2016, I have two words: Rudolph Giuliani.
Mandalay
@pillsy:
Agreed, and that is exactly what he is doing with Obama right now, but that is for a few days during a crisis, with Christie and Obama on the same side of the fence.
But it would be a different scenario if he were to run for the presidency. He would have to deal 24/7 with smears and accusations – some true, some false – and I just don’t believe he could cope with that. At best he would be seen as a perpetual whiner and crybaby, but more likely he would repeatedly say and do things during his campaign that would automatically disqualify him from winning the presidency.
Christie just does not have the right temperament to go any higher than where he is now.
pillsy
@Kool Earl:
Yeah. Christie isn’t Presidential material, but he’s the sort of guy who a lot of Village types think is Presidential material. He’s got a record of “bipartisanship” by virtue of being a Republican governor of a blue state, and a guy who will tell his constituents what pinheads they are is a guy who just may get up there and gut Social Security for no particularly compelling reason.
Violet
@Mandalay: It may not be fair, but Christie doesn’t have the right physique to go any higher politically than he is now, either. Americans may be overweight, but they don’t want their President to be so fat that he’s hindered by it. Christie is, as he gets visibly sweaty when he’s in a warm place. He’s had problems with breathing. He can’t sit in a chair like a regularly-sized person. He doesn’t come across as healthy and that will be a problem for him when it comes to a national election. How will he campaign in Florida or South Carolina without pouring sweat and looking unwell? I just don’t think it’s possible and I don’t think people will feel confident about him as president.
Svensker
@Paul:
My brother did a charming post on FB the other day saying that Obama would have helped the ambassador in Libya IF HE HAD BEEN BLACK. Seriously. And that O was jumping on Sandy so quickly for political reasons and because Muslims and blacks were being hurt.
I can’t even register what they think anymore, it’s so far down the rabbit hole.
Gin & Tonic
I know nobody’ll read this comment way down here, but since Cole mentioned that crane, a funny below-the-radar thing I read is that this uber-luxury “tallest anywhere” residential building, with *90 stories* of luxury beyond Croesus’ wildest dreams is, according the the NYC Buildings Dept public records, only 73 stories tall.
Like Ryan’s 3-hour marathon, innit?
LanceThruster
@pillsy:
Yeah, my sister is a bible-thumping Repub, but likes to pretend that the GOP brand is still viable, just that the nuts were topping the bowl this cycle and that a Chris Christie would have rode to the rescue to lead the “sensible” Repubs back to power.
Gag!
Uncle Ebeneezer
This makes me wonder, did anyone (Fox News) run to get Joseph Hazelwood’s opinion on the BP spill?
hawestile
Tomorrow, Dick Cheney is going to come out and criticize Obama for his inability to shoot a hunting partner in the face.
Republicans are making it harder and harder to distinguish parody from reality.
Jay C
FWIW, I’ve just been watching (19:35 ET) Gov. Fatso speaking on the NJ response/recovery efforts, and he’s been coming off quite professional and pragmatically down-to-earth, focusing on the current problems (of which, naturally, Jersey has more than its share)- thanking all the appropriate people; facts-and-figures based: and not a BIT of politicking – appropriate mentions of the President (and his upcoming tour of NJ).
I still don’t like or think much of Chris Christie; but his responses to Sandy have been first-class all the way. Even if it IS only in self-interest: he’s made it clear that the interest of the people of his State comes first….
Kool Earl
@pillsy:
Christie gets a lot of media play, but in reality he is a few-trick pony as far as his claims to fame is NJ budgetary concerns, battling public sector employees and his political rivals (with his Hurricane Sandy hit job on Atlantic Citys mayor as an example). He does not pander to snakehandlers as far as social issues, has called for gun controls and is likely more of a localized entity in the same way Giuliani was to New York. I dont see him translating nationally or being capable of shape-shifting a la RMoney and I think Paul Ryan has far more chance of reconciling the Snakehandlers, Randroids and Country Club factions of the GOP in 2016.
Paul
@Svensker:
One has to wonder whose side these people are on at this point. Our country is currently under attack by this storm. It should, just like any just war would, unite us. Instead FoxNews, for example was insisting that Christie invite Romney on a ridiculous photo op tour. Instead of whining about Obama’s motives, why the heck don’t they help him and the victims?
Ash Can
Chris Christie is an obnoxious asshole at whom I’ve hurled vituperation in the past and undoubtedly will again in the future. He’s also done exactly the right things by his state in this crisis, and by the president and the federal government as well. The fact that he took a whiz on Romney on top of everythIng is icing on the cake.
And I agree that Brown needs to be kicked in the junk.
Kool Earl
@Ash Can:
There is a little matter of the hit job he did on Atlantic Citys mayor right in the middle of the storm. Uncalled for.
Tone In DC
@Smiling Mortician:
Paraphrasing Stephen King… Oh, AYUH.
Uncle Cosmo
@J.D. Rhoades: Crap, I clicked a link over at GOS to on of the ‘BC’s transcript of Obama’s storm statement & then made the mistake of glancing at the comments. Jesus H. Christ, I’m ashamed to share a planet with those fucking mouthbreathers. We have to win.
DrewJohn
@Ash Can: Christie didn’t exactly come up the hard way (a quick look at wikipedia tells me his father was a CPA and his mother was a banker). But even with those advantages, one still has to bust ass to become a U.S. Attorney and Governor, something that probably makes him resent someone who was the son of an auto executive. I’m sure Romney worked hard at his career, but with advantaged people, they often don’t realize that it’s not even just the merit aspect of the work itself, it’s getting there that’s a bitch. My father, staunch conservative that he is, loathes aristocratic pricks like Romney. I bet Christie’s the same way. He might be a dick, and he might have a big ego, but I have at least a modicum of respect for someone who refuses to be a knob polisher.
DrewJohn
I literally laughed so hard I was shaking when I read the Brown comment. Michael Brown says don’t respond too fast to a hurricane! That this man has the gall to even mention the speed of federal hurricane responders is fucking breathtaking.
bren
@jharp:
bren
@jharp: JHarp: I like your comment.
bren
@DrewJohn: DrewJohn: christie isnt a knob polisher, he is an asswipe.
BruceK
One: Michael Brown has got to be aware by now that his name has become synonymous with incompetence, and that “heckuva job” is now considered an insult in a lot of circles, and that there’s a reason for both those things. You’d have to be wilfully blind to start disparaging someone’s disaster response with that kind of record in your own dossier.
Two: Like they said above, Christie literally can’t afford to play partisan games with the disaster response, any more than Obama can. If Christie puts party loyalty above doing his job as governor of the state of New Jersey, then no amount of politicking will save him from getting pitched out on his can next November 5 … and if that happens, he can wave goodbye to any national ambitions, because his performance during a crisis is supremely relevant if he’s going for national office.