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You are here: Home / Economics / Austerity Bombing / Ticking Off “Thuh Base” — the Monied Portion

Ticking Off “Thuh Base” — the Monied Portion

by Anne Laurie|  January 2, 20135:45 pm| 133 Comments

This post is in: Austerity Bombing, Republican Stupidity, Assholes

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Via Paul Constant, at the Stranger:

Constant adds:

I’m sure we’re about to see Democrats announce their undying love for Chris Christie after this video spreads far and wide. Those Democrats should remember that Chris Christie is a dick. Just because he’s on the right side this time doesn’t make him any less of a dick. He’s just a dick who happens to be right.

So, because the House Teahadists required a dog to kick after having their so-serious FISKUL KLIFF antics dismissed like the WATB tantrums they were, two of their craftiest muckers are telling their NY/NJ constituents not to support future House Republican initiatives. Way to score the own goal, Repubs!

King and Christies are both dicks, but they’re professional politicans, not halfwits looking for an audience to salve their unmet psychological needs. I hope they have a busy & productive 2013, shivving the Confederate Ascendency wing of the Republican party at every turn.

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Reader Interactions

133Comments

  1. 1.

    TenguPhule

    January 2, 2013 at 5:49 pm

    King and Christies are both dicks, but they’re professional politicans, not halfwits looking for an audience to salve their unmet psychological needs. I hope they have a busy & productive 2013, shivving the Confederate Ascendency wing of the Republican party at every turn.

    Now we just need to figure out a way to sell arms to both sides to increase the casualties.

  2. 2.

    lahru

    January 2, 2013 at 5:50 pm

    They will approve 9 billion initially and then when the new congress is seated the R’s will approve the rest as long as the same amount is equaled with cuts.

  3. 3.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 2, 2013 at 5:50 pm

    I’m sure we’re about to see Democrats announce their undying love for Chris Christie after this video spreads far and wide.

    Not me. He’s useful to me at the moment, but even if he weren’t a dick, he’d still be a far right anti-New Deal Republican.

    Those Democrats should remember that Chris Christie is a dick. Just because he’s on the right side this time doesn’t make him any less of a dick.

    This isn’t the first time the Cantor caucus has blocked relief aid, it’s the first time I’ve heard Christie give a fuck, and he woudln’t be giving a fuck now if that storm at hit further south or to the north east.

  4. 4.

    El Cid

    January 2, 2013 at 5:52 pm

    What? They’re teaching their NY/NJ brethren to fish, so that they can feed themselves for a lifetime, instead of giving them a fish, so that they might eat for a day.

    This is just tough love.

  5. 5.

    cathyx

    January 2, 2013 at 5:53 pm

    I’ve always thought that if a sane, on the ball, ‘normal thinking’ republican came into the picture, he could probably do very well in the next election.

  6. 6.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 2, 2013 at 5:57 pm

    @cathyx: I’ve always thought Christie would be the new Giuliani, the Beltway/NYC media’s favorite Republican, albeit he would make it a little farther than Rudi 9/11 since he’s not such an obvious buffoon. But he was always gonna be a hard sell to teh “Thuh Base”, and this isn’t gonna help him. IMHO

  7. 7.

    Corner Stone

    January 2, 2013 at 5:59 pm

    Democrats announce their undying love for Chris Christie after this video spreads far and wide. Those Democrats should remember that Chris Christie is a dick. Just because he’s on the right side this time doesn’t make him any less of a dick. He’s just a dick who happens to be right.

    Mr. Cole to the white courtesy phone. Mr. John Cole please answer the white courtesy phone. Your party is waiting.

  8. 8.

    Hal

    January 2, 2013 at 6:00 pm

    Politically, I just don’t understand how this was seen as an even remotely good idea. The GOP is truly insane and they just can’t see it.

  9. 9.

    Corner Stone

    January 2, 2013 at 6:02 pm

    What I love is that six months after any aid money is spent, the Republican Real Americans in that benighted area will have settled on the mythology that they did it all by themselves. They didn’t ask for nuthin and they By God didn’t get nuthin from nobody!

  10. 10.

    cathyx

    January 2, 2013 at 6:03 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m not saying Christie is that ‘sane, on the ball, normal thinking republican, but I think the ‘base’ is a misnomer because many have left the party and became independents and democrats. But if such a candidate surfaced, then I think they would become republicans again.

  11. 11.

    Turgidson

    January 2, 2013 at 6:08 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    By 2008, people were starting to forget that they were expected to be scared shitless by any reference to 9/11 and had gotten over the national swoon for Rudy confidently strutting around in the aftermath. The only part of his brand that made him appealing to GOP primary voters was fading, and his non-hate of gays and abortion trumped that fading “daddy’s in charge” memory the GOP base and beltway twits so loved.

    Christie is fortunate in that he will still be a prominent public figure when the next presidential race starts. Not sure his brand will ultimately sell any better than Rudy’s did, now that he’s said nice things about the Kenyan Usurper and publicly told Boner to cram it up his ass. Also he doesn’t hate Muslims. But he’ll be in a better starting position than Rudy as the GOP “tough guy who you may not always agree with but he tells you like it is” (except that he’s usually lying or being an asshole, but we won’t mention that part during the campaign).

    and yeah, he just seems like less of a dolt than Rudy did when he tried to run, which helps.

  12. 12.

    TenguPhule

    January 2, 2013 at 6:10 pm

    Next Red state that will never go blue gets hit by a disaster, its gonna be payback time. The NY reps will never forgive and never forget.

  13. 13.

    Felinious Wench

    January 2, 2013 at 6:12 pm

    Personally, I care about policies. Any Republican who wants to work with us, pull up a chair. I don’t care about the motivations, I care about results.

    As to the rest, they’re dead to me.

  14. 14.

    Roger Moore

    January 2, 2013 at 6:12 pm

    Those Democrats should remember that Chris Christie is a dick. Just because he’s on the right side this time doesn’t make him any less of a dick. He’s just a dick who happens to be right.

    Being right once puts him ahead of most of the teahadist caucus.

  15. 15.

    cathyx

    January 2, 2013 at 6:14 pm

    I don’t think that Rudi was ever a sane normal republican. His personality came through every time he mentioned 9/11.

  16. 16.

    Mnemosyne

    January 2, 2013 at 6:14 pm

    @cathyx:

    IIRC, most states still require that you be a party member to vote in your party’s primary. I’m not sure enough current independents or conservative Democrats would be willing to change their registration back to Republican just to vote for a “sane” one.

    IOW, I think a “sane” Republican would get drowned out by the teabagger brigade and never make it through the primaries.

  17. 17.

    Roger Moore

    January 2, 2013 at 6:14 pm

    @El Cid:

    They’re teaching their NY/NJ brethren to fish, so that they can feed themselves for a lifetime, instead of giving them a fish, so that they might eat for a day.

    Build a man a fire, and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life. I think the teabaggers need to be made warm for the rest of their lives.

  18. 18.

    geg6

    January 2, 2013 at 6:16 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    THIS.

    Payback will be a bitch.

  19. 19.

    lamh35

    January 2, 2013 at 6:18 pm

    Illinois GOP Chair Backs Gay Marriage Bill

    I blame Obama. No really, I do. there were reports last week or earlier that the Obama admin was lobbying Illinois gov to back Gay Marriage in the state.

    So I def blame Obama, in some part, for this.

  20. 20.

    Morzer

    January 2, 2013 at 6:18 pm

    Christie’s such a hypocrite when it comes to federal money. Remember his ostentatious refusal of the ARC tunnel, which would, in fact, have helped New Jersey economically, both in the short-term by creating jobs and in the long-term by improving its infrastructure?

  21. 21.

    Emma

    January 2, 2013 at 6:19 pm

    @TenguPhule: Yeah. Exactly. And I think this is what Obama did with this bill just passed.

  22. 22.

    Pangloss

    January 2, 2013 at 6:21 pm

    Onward Toward Geographic and Demographic Irrelevance!

  23. 23.

    Corner Stone

    January 2, 2013 at 6:23 pm

    @Morzer:

    Remember his ostentatious refusal of the ARC tunnel, which would, in fact, have helped New Jersey economically, both in the short-term by creating jobs and in the long-term by improving its infrastructure?

    I believe that was when he hadn’t ruled out a WH run yet.
    But yes, that tunnel would have possibly really benefited the area.

  24. 24.

    Ash Can

    January 2, 2013 at 6:24 pm

    Christie is an asshole on most other issues, and I can guarantee that I’ll be throwing manure at him for some reason or other at some point, and probably soon. But his handling of Sandy has been bang-on, and it’s thoroughly amusing to see Republicans eating their own. Today’s presser was a hoot.

  25. 25.

    Redshift

    January 2, 2013 at 6:28 pm

    I think most Dems’ relationship with Christie will actually be similar to the one with Hugo Chavez. In either case, we’re just mightily amused when he’s an asshole to the people who deserve it. The wingnuts and the Villagers mistake that for swooning, and when he inevitably does something objectionable, they’ll say “This is the guy you love, right? Well?” and think themselves really clever.

  26. 26.

    scav

    January 2, 2013 at 6:29 pm

    @Corner Stone: well, he’s currently seeing more opportunity and less competition in the newly opening moderate compromising niche of the GOPalagos Islands ecosystem so is trimming his beak and genome accordingly. Political climate change.

  27. 27.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    January 2, 2013 at 6:30 pm

    As usual, I have a question. What happens when the inevitable natural disasters strike one or more Red states? The House dickheads are very good at denying aid to people who aren’t their constituents. What happens when the next twister devastates a swath of Kansas or Oklahoma? What happens when the next hurricane hits South Carolina, Mississippi or Texas? Are the dickheads going maintain their nihilism are or they going to demand every bit of federal aid that they can get and blame the Kenyan-Muslim-etc. for not getting it to them quickly enough?

  28. 28.

    lamh35

    January 2, 2013 at 6:31 pm

    hmmm?

    “@ThePlumLineGS: Cantor taking them over? RT @thehill: Boehner tells GOP he’s through with one-on-one negotiations with Obama http://t.co/fAxHSyJy“

  29. 29.

    Maude

    January 2, 2013 at 6:32 pm

    @Ash Can:
    I agree. When he trashes the poor, I’ll be back to bashing him. Budget time gets up the ire.

  30. 30.

    PeakVT

    January 2, 2013 at 6:34 pm

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate: We already know the answer to that. They are hypocrites with no sense of shame, or even enough self-awareness to grasp that they are being hypocritical.

  31. 31.

    Cassidy

    January 2, 2013 at 6:35 pm

    What I love is that six months after any aid money is spent, the Republican Real Americans in that benighted area will have settled on the mythology that they did it all by themselves. They didn’t ask for nuthin and they By God didn’t get nuthin from nobody!

    Sounds like Texas circa 1848.

    I’m kidding.

  32. 32.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 2, 2013 at 6:37 pm

    Christie just now on MSNBC (on tape, as I remember): I called Speaker Boehner three times last night, after 11 pm, and he wouldn’t take my calls.

    I wonder why? Would it be irreshponshible to shpeculate…

  33. 33.

    PurpleGirl

    January 2, 2013 at 6:37 pm

    @Morzer: That’s true. The cross-Hudson commuters could use another train tunnel. And the Feds would have paid almost the whole bill for the train tunnel.

  34. 34.

    Baud

    January 2, 2013 at 6:38 pm

    Probably 95% of Democrats are better than 95% of Republicans. However, our political culture insists that every Democrat be the Second Coming to be worthy of our support, while Republicans just have to be sane.

  35. 35.

    Corner Stone

    January 2, 2013 at 6:38 pm

    @Redshift:

    The wingnuts and the Villagers mistake that for swooning,

    You’ve clearly missed Cole’s swooning for his man crush Christie.

  36. 36.

    LanceThruster

    January 2, 2013 at 6:39 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Build a man a fire, and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life. I think the teabaggers need to be made warm for the rest of their lives.

    Comic Jim Jefferies onced asked, “Why is it called ‘burned beyond all recognition?’ If you’ve ever seen a burn victim, they’re the most recognizable person on the planet.”

  37. 37.

    scav

    January 2, 2013 at 6:39 pm

    @PeakVT: With some possible Jesuitical shifting of goalposts, à la Grover’s They’re not raising taxes if it’s after midnight and they’re hopping on their right foot during the roll call twist.

  38. 38.

    Raven

    January 2, 2013 at 6:41 pm

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate: They did it when tornado’s hit Alabama and Oklahoma.

  39. 39.

    burnspbesq

    January 2, 2013 at 6:45 pm

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate:

    That’s an awful lot of rhetorical questions crammed into one paragraph.

  40. 40.

    beltane

    January 2, 2013 at 6:48 pm

    @TenguPhule: Yes, they will remember this a long, long time. The Republicans like to complain about “Chicago politics” but I’m not sure they’re aware of the capacity of their NY/NJ brethren to harbor grudges and wage vendettas against each other. If I’m not mistaken Rudy Giuliani and Al D’Amato still have it in for each other after all these years.

  41. 41.

    Jess Sane

    January 2, 2013 at 6:51 pm

    @Redshift: The wingnuts and the Villagers and cornerstone mistake that for swooning, and when he inevitably does something objectionable, they’ll say “This is the guy you love, right? Well?” and think themselves really clever.
    ftfy

  42. 42.

    jp7505a

    January 2, 2013 at 6:51 pm

    This isn’t really new for the GOP. Back in the 80’s, Buffalo was buried under a couple of hundred inches of lake effect snow over the span of a week or so. It was extraordinary even by Buffalo standards. They asked for disaster aid and Ronulus the Great turned them down because it always snows in Buffalo and they should have been prepared. Later that year or maybe the next S. Calif. was hit by the usual brush fires and mud slides. Ronulus set a record declaring the area a disaster area, even though brush fires and mudslides happen every year in S. Calif.

    And Jerry Ford is famous for telling New York city to drop dead.

  43. 43.

    pseudonymous in nc

    January 2, 2013 at 6:52 pm

    I’ve been thinking over the past few days about how the political structures of the US not only predate big cities, but also maintain the fiction that big cities and urban areas don’t exist, or at least don’t matter. Tornados whip through Bumfuck? Congress will be on to it, stat. But a city with the population of Wyoming is likely not even to have its own congresscritter, especially in a GOP-run state, because the state legislators will want it chopped up and gerrymandered into three or four different districts that stretch for 200 miles.

  44. 44.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    January 2, 2013 at 6:52 pm

    @burnspbesq:
    Ya’ feckin’ lawyer you :)
    I posed the questions because I don’t know the answers anymore. These days I feel like I woke up in a part of Harlan Ellison’s imagination.

  45. 45.

    AxelFoley

    January 2, 2013 at 6:55 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Mr. Cole to the white courtesy phone. Mr. John Cole please answer the white courtesy phone. Your party is waiting.

    Ain’t gonna lie. I lol’d.

  46. 46.

    Taylor

    January 2, 2013 at 7:00 pm

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate:

    What happens when the inevitable natural disasters strike one or more Red states?

    The tradition of helping out areas in the wake of natural disaster started with flooding in Louisiana in the 1920s, when the lack of a federal response fed the rise of Huey Long.

    Christie is running for re-election in 2013. Everything he says and does has to be viewed through that prism. The federal GOP has cut him off at the knees. It is a real FU from a party whose nomination he will be seeking in 3 years.

    Once he is re-elected, expect Christie to tack right, and the teahadists to obediently fall in line if that is what the money boys tell them to do. He is already the author of loathsome policies like veto-ing gay marriage (passed by the legislature), cutting federal aid for a sorely-needed new tunnel under the Hudson, shut down a public TV service, cut taxes for the rich while cutting services, and destroyed educational programs that were helping inner-city kids just to give the finger to the teacher unions. The only thing worse than Christie are the hopeless Democrats. The theory in NJ is that Christie got the goods on Norcross and Sweeney while he was a federal prosecutor, so they are his quiet enablers.

  47. 47.

    WereBear

    January 2, 2013 at 7:02 pm

    I see Christie’s concern as self-serving in this case; if aid doesn’t come, HE will get the blame, that’s all. Works the same way for King.

  48. 48.

    Redshift

    January 2, 2013 at 7:03 pm

    @jp7505a:

    And Jerry Ford is famous for telling New York city to drop dead.

    Actually, what’s famous is the NY Daily News characterizing Ford’s position as “Ford to New York: Drop Dead.” He never said anything of the kind. And in any case, that wasn’t a natural disaster, he was just telling them he wouldn’t bail out their budget. (And he did actually do it a couple of months later.)

  49. 49.

    dedc79

    January 2, 2013 at 7:04 pm

    The Republican mindset consists mostly of repeating “This is what is important to me, therefore it should be the law of the land for everyone” over and over. Christie is no outlier, it just so happens that it was his state that got hit by a hurricane and not someone else’s.

  50. 50.

    Villago Delenda Est

    January 2, 2013 at 7:04 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    IOW, I think a “sane” Republican would get drowned out by the teabagger brigade and never make it through the primaries.

    This.

    These idiots learned NOTHING from 2012. After the initial shock of the first few days after the election, they were busy doubling down on the stupid, and they haven’t let up since.

  51. 51.

    eemom

    January 2, 2013 at 7:05 pm

    Cue 853 John Cole posts about how awesome Chris Christie is.

    ETA: omfg.

  52. 52.

    Maude

    January 2, 2013 at 7:08 pm

    @Redshift:
    That was a great headline.

  53. 53.

    Corner Stone

    January 2, 2013 at 7:10 pm

    @Jess Sane: This doesn’t even make sense. I have actual examples from Cole I am referring to.
    Just sayin’.

  54. 54.

    jp7505a

    January 2, 2013 at 7:10 pm

    @Higgs Boson’s Mate: Sorry life and the gop are stranger than fiction. Last fall Bobby jindal complained that federal aid for a hurricane that had not even made landfall was not coming fast enough.

  55. 55.

    Raven

    January 2, 2013 at 7:19 pm

    @Redshift: He was also characterized as a klutz but he was a star football player at Michigan and turned down offers from the Packers and the Lions.

  56. 56.

    different-church-lady

    January 2, 2013 at 7:31 pm

    He’s just a dick who happens to be right.

    And, of course, commending him for being right will be the same as “announcing undying love” in the minds of the Constants of the world. I’m sure we’re about to see it.

  57. 57.

    Maude

    January 2, 2013 at 7:37 pm

    @Raven:
    His wife loved him very much and he, her. They went through rough times together.

  58. 58.

    quannlace

    January 2, 2013 at 7:41 pm

    What happens when the next twister devastates a swath of Kansas or Oklahoma? What happens when the next hurrican

    Remember the massive tornadoes that hit Joplin, Missouri? The GOP, Cantor in particular, tried to hold Federal aid hostage to spending cuts.

  59. 59.

    Raven

    January 2, 2013 at 7:45 pm

    @Maude: His WWII ship was in the same task group as my dads. Guess that makes for a soft spot too.

  60. 60.

    Anya

    January 2, 2013 at 7:46 pm

    @lamh35: What a monster. Someone should stop his meddling. I also blame him for the change in public opinion.

  61. 61.

    Robert

    January 2, 2013 at 7:46 pm

    Chris Christie is an adequate politician and a terrible, lying human being. Or, more succinctly, Chris Christie is an ass.

    He has a lot of nerve denouncing the Republican party for not wanting to vote on Sandy Relief when he refused to let the plan for a new rail line between NYC and NJ go through by lying about where the money would come from. NYC and NY had contributed more than their share, but they wouldn’t pay for the whole thing so he said they didn’t offer a dime.

    The only good thing he has done for the state is actually provide a voice for the people displaced by Sandy. Everything else is lies and obstruction.

  62. 62.

    Raven

    January 2, 2013 at 7:50 pm

    @lamh35: Bad link

  63. 63.

    Villago Delenda Est

    January 2, 2013 at 7:53 pm

    @Robert:

    The only good thing he has done for the state is actually provide a voice for the people displaced by Sandy. Everything else is lies and obstruction.

    He’s doing that because he’s not a stupid politician. His reelection chances are dependent on his response to Sandy, and he’s making darn sure that his constituents know who was going to bat for them despite the general GOP attitude about disaster relief.

    He may be an asshole, but he’s not a fool.

  64. 64.

    arguingwithsignposts

    January 2, 2013 at 7:53 pm

    Before I read this thread, let me just say that there are few things in the media that piss me off more than someone stealing another media company’s content and slapping their own goddamned tagline over the top of it.

    TPM didn’t do a damned thing to earn that tag on that video. They want to post it on their site, fine, but that’s chickenshit. And that goes for Crooks and Liars, Mediaite, and whoever the fuck else is claiming some kind of ownership of something they ripped off a feed.

  65. 65.

    gene108

    January 2, 2013 at 7:55 pm

    @Taylor:

    Once he is re-elected, expect Christie to tack right, and the teahadists to obediently fall in line if that is what the money boys tell them to do. He is already the author of loathsome policies like veto-ing gay marriage (passed by the legislature), cutting federal aid for a sorely-needed new tunnel under the Hudson, shut down a public TV service, cut taxes for the rich while cutting services, and destroyed educational programs that were helping inner-city kids just to give the finger to the teacher unions. The only thing worse than Christie are the hopeless Democrats. The theory in NJ is that Christie got the goods on Norcross and Sweeney while he was a federal prosecutor, so they are his quiet enablers.

    There’s really not much room for Christie to tack harder to the right than he already has, unless he goes to crazy town and declares we need to profile Muslims to prevent terrorism, which would undermine his moment of clarity in sticking up for a Muslim judge he appointed.

    If you look at your list of bad things Christie’s done, none of them dramatically affect the middle class in NJ and none of them affect the core Republican voters in NJ.

    The poors, teachers and other public sector workers really aren’t the core Republican voters.

    Turning down the Hudson river tunnel money was par for the course with Republican governors in 2009 and 2010. It was a stupid decision, but it occurred as one drop in a storm of Republican governors turning down infrastructure projects. This makes it hard for it to really stick out as something bad, because “everyone” was doing it.

    Christie in some ways is like a New Jersey Reagan.

    Sure he’s done stuff that’s hurt a lot of people, but he hasn’t hurt the people, who switched from voting for a straight Democratic ticket to voting for him, in 2009, enough to lose their support in 2013.

    He seems to have enough media savvy to play his personality – gruff, loud, and boorish – to be a net positive at times like this, where you need somebody to “bully” the Washington, DC elites.

  66. 66.

    Maude

    January 2, 2013 at 7:57 pm

    @Raven:
    He was a decent man.

    Now the story on Hillary Clinton is she left the hospital and then came back after 15 minutes.
    The State Department isn’t answering any questions from reporters. The hospital is saying ask the State Department.

  67. 67.

    Hal

    January 2, 2013 at 7:57 pm

    @Robert:

    The only good thing he has done for the state is actually provide a voice for the people displaced by Sandy. Everything else is lies and obstruction.

    My fave is when he vetoed gay marriage in NJ and then made the brain dead claim that civil rights activists of the 50s and 60s would rather have had a popular vote than having to “die in the streets” of the south. Because of course, old white southerners would have totally voted yes on civil rights laws if they were just given the chance.

  68. 68.

    Maude

    January 2, 2013 at 7:58 pm

    @arguingwithsignposts:
    I was confused when I saw the TPM logo.
    Rat finks.

  69. 69.

    JPL

    January 2, 2013 at 7:58 pm

    @gene108: What frustrates me, if he is the nominee the whackos will forgive him of what they perceive his past sins. He could be to the left of a democratic opponent and they would not care. Hypocrite is to polite a word.

  70. 70.

    Rosie Outlook

    January 2, 2013 at 7:59 pm

    So, suppose every sane person in the country registers as a Republican and votes for the non-Teabagger in the primary. Wouldn’t that help? Right now, sane Republicans fear the tea baggers. Why not help them fight back? Aren’t the teabaggers the common enemy of all Americans? You may not agree with a sane Republican on all issues, but at least he’s probably not trying to destroy the U.S. shouldn’t sane people be working to make running as a Teabagger as toxic as running as a Nazi? We have all seen news articles by or about sane Republicans, such as Bruce Bartlett, who threw up their hands and gave up. Why not help them fight back against the teabaggers?

  71. 71.

    Gex

    January 2, 2013 at 8:01 pm

    His claims that this process never used to be politicized were too “both sides do it” for me. It is his party, and his party only, that has made disaster aid part of the culture wars. Once you make an issue part of “real” American thinking, you can’t take it back. Sorry your no-backies card didn’t work, CC.

  72. 72.

    johnny aquitard

    January 2, 2013 at 8:03 pm

    In that clip he didn’t once say the word ‘republicans’. The closest he came was to refer to them as the house majority. Instead he said congress was responsible, implying both parties had a hand in it.

    Christie carefully made sure to keep the ‘both sides do it’ bullshit alive. So no, I didn’t see any Christie-sized body slam on the republican party here. (He did mention Boehner by name, but Orange John is so weak by now it’s like pushing over an old lady in a wheelchair. And yes, Christie strikes me as the kind of person who’d do that if he wanted something from the old lady and no one was watching.)

  73. 73.

    steve

    January 2, 2013 at 8:09 pm

    These idiots learned NOTHING from 2012. After the initial shock of the first few days after the election, they were busy doubling down on the stupid, and they haven’t let up since.

    I really, really, fervently hope the tea partiers retain total control of the GOP primaries. Every Mourdock, Akin, Bachmann, etc. just creates another cohort of long-term democrats.

  74. 74.

    Raven

    January 2, 2013 at 8:28 pm

    Ali at the Sugar Bowl.

  75. 75.

    the golden ticket

    January 2, 2013 at 8:31 pm

    Christie is just telling his constituents what they want to hear too. If it was in his best interests to be his usual dickish self he would do that.

  76. 76.

    jayackroyd

    January 2, 2013 at 8:32 pm

    A lot of the areas most severely hit are Republican.

  77. 77.

    RaflW

    January 2, 2013 at 8:33 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Yep. Watching Christie campaign for Mittens before Sandy (and seeing him laugh that off when Jon Stewart called him on it later), I agree that Christie is a Republican. Through and through.

    He’s not a TeaHadist, but that’s far from making him acceptable.

  78. 78.

    eemom

    January 2, 2013 at 8:38 pm

    @Raven:

    he was a star football player at Michigan and turned down offers from the Packers and the Lions.

    I saw him IRL once. It was 1987 and my parents were getting on the DC-NY shuttle after helping me move in down here, and he was on the same flight. I was surprised by what a big guy he was, and when I mentioned that, everyone always pointed out that he’d been a football player.

    I remember that “Drop Dead” headline IRL as a kid growing up in NYC, also too.

  79. 79.

    Todd

    January 2, 2013 at 8:40 pm

    @Raven:

    My Cards look like they’re planning on making a good game of it.

  80. 80.

    Robert

    January 2, 2013 at 8:41 pm

    I’m really shocked that I have to keep reminding my teacher and librarian friends that the first thing Christie tried to do in NJ was defund public libraries. Does the average person have the memory of a goldfish when it comes to politics? Seriously.

  81. 81.

    Corner Stone

    January 2, 2013 at 8:47 pm

    @Gex:

    His claims that this process never used to be politicized were too “both sides do it” for me. It is his party, and his party only, that has made disaster aid part of the culture wars. Once you make an issue part of “real” American thinking, you can’t take it back. Sorry your no-backies card didn’t work, CC.

    Exactly.
    Don’t try and scream about how this used to not be politicized. There’s a reason these votes/non-votes are chock full of politics. It’s called the GOP.

  82. 82.

    Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin)

    January 2, 2013 at 8:52 pm

    @Maude:

    Where did you see that? This is the latest I can find.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/03/us/politics/hillary-clinton-is-discharged-from-hospital-after-blood-clot.html?_r=0

  83. 83.

    Culture of Truth

    January 2, 2013 at 8:55 pm

    King and Christies are both dicks, but they’re professional politicans, not halfwits looking for an audience to salve their unmet psychological needs.

    Peter King might very well be, but his ox is being gored.

  84. 84.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    January 2, 2013 at 8:56 pm

    Chris Christie is simply amazing; frank, forthright, passionate, a REAL GODDAMNED AMERICAN. I won’t be surprised when he switches to the Democratic party. Especially after he gets chewed up by his current party.

    At any rate, he’ll never be able to run for President because gods are prohibited from being candidates.

  85. 85.

    JPL

    January 2, 2013 at 8:56 pm

    @Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin): There was some confusion earlier today about whether or not she was discharged. I’m waiting for Dr. Krauthammer to explain it me. He is the authority on all things Clinton conspiracy theories.

  86. 86.

    Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin)

    January 2, 2013 at 8:58 pm

    @JPL:

    Your snark is not in good taste…

  87. 87.

    Napoleon

    January 2, 2013 at 8:59 pm

    Why have none of the FPers mentioned what a clown of a negotiator Obama has been revealed as?

  88. 88.

    Todd

    January 2, 2013 at 9:01 pm

    Awesomest FR thread ever.

    http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2974410/posts

    Louie Gohmert for Speaker….

  89. 89.

    Raven

    January 2, 2013 at 9:01 pm

    @Napoleon: Because we were waiting for a shit eatin dog fucker like you to show up.

  90. 90.

    Corner Stone

    January 2, 2013 at 9:02 pm

    @Napoleon: Why wait for them? Let’s hear it.

  91. 91.

    Raven

    January 2, 2013 at 9:03 pm

    @Corner Stone: You watchin this game?

  92. 92.

    JoyfulA

    January 2, 2013 at 9:04 pm

    @Cassidy: Texas is the only state that seceded twice in order to preserve slavery.

  93. 93.

    aimai

    January 2, 2013 at 9:05 pm

    @Culture of Truth:

    I’ve got to agree with Culture of Truth on this one. These guys aren’t “professional politicians” in any Weberian sense–no “ethic of responsibility” for them, no Rawlsian “veil of ignorance” which forces them to make choices politically which benefit all, or no one. They are professional politicians in the sense that they professionally chose to ally themselves with a particular party because it benefitted them and when it suited them they willingly supported all the wanton destructiveness of the party–attacking the poor, children, teachers, education, in King’s case voting against the interests of lots of citizens and non citizens whenever he got the chance. Right now? They need something from the government and they are pissed off that they are not getting it. Just because they need something on behalf of their constituents doesn’t mean that they have become ethical, responsible, political actors. When they get their cut and they deliver the goods to their voters they will go right back to backstabbing everyone else to whom they don’t owe a favor, or from whom they don’t expect a reward.

    aimai

  94. 94.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    January 2, 2013 at 9:06 pm

    @Raven:

  95. 95.

    Ash Can

    January 2, 2013 at 9:07 pm

    In other news, Al Jazeera is buying Current TV and will replace Current’s programming with AJ English. Sorry, haven’t figured out how to do links on smart phone yet.

  96. 96.

    Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin)

    January 2, 2013 at 9:09 pm

    @Todd:

    I thought you were being hyperbolic. Holy Shite….control of Congress, forthcoming,

  97. 97.

    Raven

    January 2, 2013 at 9:13 pm

    @Napoleon: What’s a matter asshole, your monkey forgot how to type?

  98. 98.

    Yutsano

    January 2, 2013 at 9:14 pm

    @Raven: I have a sneaking suspicion Betty is already drinking heavily.

  99. 99.

    eemom

    January 2, 2013 at 9:14 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    At any rate, he’ll never be able to run for President because gods are prohibited from being candidates.

    Iz not!

    All’s ya gotta be is 35 and not a secret Kenyan moooslim.

  100. 100.

    Chyron HR

    January 2, 2013 at 9:19 pm

    @Raven:

    Duh, Obama’s obviously a bad negotiator because once again he didn’t get the Social Security cuts that he allegedly wanted.

  101. 101.

    mdblanche

    January 2, 2013 at 9:26 pm

    @Chyron HR: No he isn’t, because he’s absolutely positively sure to get them next time.

  102. 102.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    January 2, 2013 at 9:27 pm

    @Chyron HR: Actually it’s worse than that. He failed to keep the Republican party together so that we would go over the cliff and have to cut Medicare and Medicaid as well. With them broken like this, Obama may only manage to end the debt ceiling fantasy at the cost of restoring the cuts to the military and domestic programs.

  103. 103.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    January 2, 2013 at 9:30 pm

    I can haz new thread? KTHNKSXBAI.

  104. 104.

    Raven

    January 2, 2013 at 9:30 pm

    @Yutsano: Be great to have someone above us in the standings lose, especially them!

  105. 105.

    Todd

    January 2, 2013 at 9:30 pm

    @Raven:

    Go Cards. SEC can suck it.

  106. 106.

    Corner Stone

    January 2, 2013 at 9:34 pm

    @Raven: Not really. Kind of bowl blitzed out at this point. I’ve been working and watching at this game.
    I’m waiting for Oregon to destroy K-St tomorrow.

  107. 107.

    Raven

    January 2, 2013 at 9:40 pm

    @Corner Stone: I’ve got the Illini Purdue on the big screen and the Sugar on the small.

  108. 108.

    danielx

    January 2, 2013 at 9:41 pm

    So, because the House Teahadists required a dog to kick after having their so-serious FISKUL KLIFF antics dismissed like the WATB tantrums they were, two of their craftiest muckers are telling their NY/NJ constituents not to support future House Republican initiatives. Way to score the own goal, Repubs!

    This might actually be of some concern to other House Republicans if they were planning any future initiatives. However…from where I sit the only initiative they’re planning is about who is the first to vote NO on future legislation on anything more substantive than renaming a post office. Any such legislation that gets passed might show That (Black) Man In The White House in a positive light, and they certainly can’t have that. Besides, as far as Republicans from the Confederacy – er, various red states – are concerned, King and Christie may be Republicans but any disaster relief funds for their states would necessarily benefit lots of no-account (black, brown, poor, LGBT, Democratic) voters, so suck it, Yankees and libs!

    That’s what Boehner keeps missing, over and over – the teabagger constituents of House Republicans like La Bachmann, for example, did not elect their congressmen/women to actually accomplish anything besides saying no, and that’s really all they need to do to get re-elected. To name one prominent example from the past, being an asshole who sponsored virtually nothing, legislatively speaking, certainly didn’t hurt Newt Gingrich’s House career. The bigger an asshole he was the better the voters in his gerrymandered district liked it. His congressional career ended only when he blew himself up. Similarly with such leading lights as Louie Gohmert, who will go on being re-elected short of anything less than being caught in bed with a live man or a corpse, male or female.

    Most House Republicans are not interested in governing, they do not believe in the legitimacy of the Obama presidency, and they are not going to be punished by their constituents for deliberate obstruction of the legislative process or obstruction of government in general – say through non-confirmation of judges. If anything, they’re afraid of being primaried if they’re not sufficiently obstructive.

    Recall that just a few months ago Rick Santorum and Rick Perry – both halfwitted rightwing religious fanatics – were taken seriously as national political figures. Louie Gohmert, Michelle Bachmann and Steve King (Peter King too for that matter) are all treated as leading figures of their party instead of being treated like candidates for nice canvas jackets with sleeves that tie in the back.

    That is what Peter King seems not to understand – the Congress to which he was originally elected in 1993 no longer exists, and neither does the idea of compromise for House Republicans. They don’t care about accomplishing anything, so they see no reason to compromise on anything.

    On the other hand, King isn’t really to be blamed for his lack of perception – it took Obama four years to figure out that House Republicans were never going to agree to anything while he sits in the Oval Office.

  109. 109.

    Chris

    January 2, 2013 at 9:41 pm

    @johnny aquitard:

    I disagree. Christie strikes me as the kind of person who would do it when *everyone* was watching, then laugh uproariously and dare all the faggy liberal sensualists to say it was wrong.

    Schoolyard bully personalities have always been part of the conservative movement’s heart and soul, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a politician who wallows in it, revels in it and lives for it the way Christie does. His popularity in the nationwide GOP is largely due to that nature – the fact that he’s famous for pushing weaker, liberal groups (union voters, public employees and poor people) into lockers and then gloating about it to the nation. It’s what they want in a politician more than almost anything.

  110. 110.

    Maude

    January 2, 2013 at 9:44 pm

    @Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin):
    Late back to the thread. I read the BBC article about her getting out of hospital and there was a Reuters article listed in the same story. A NY Daily News reporter saw her.
    There’s no info on it now.
    I don’t know.

  111. 111.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    January 2, 2013 at 9:46 pm

    they are all ron paul now.

  112. 112.

    Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin)

    January 2, 2013 at 9:50 pm

    @Maude:

    There was a reference to Daily News in Reuters, but DN had nothing. No worries, for now.

  113. 113.

    redshirt

    January 2, 2013 at 9:57 pm

    I think this will be a big deal in the long run, coupled with the Fiscal Cliff hijinks. Shaka! Eyes opening everywhere! And not just with voters.

    Or, that could be wishful thinking. But last night represented the most fractured I have EVER seen the Republican Party, and I want more. MORE! FINISH THEM!

  114. 114.

    Maude

    January 2, 2013 at 10:04 pm

    @Machine-Gun Preacher (formerly Ben Franklin):
    The State Department hasn’t verified one way or the other. That is unusual. The Daily News wouldn’t run a story without hearing from State.
    The whole thing is on the odd side.
    The story for now will stay that she’s home.
    There were issues with the concussion her spokesman said on Sunday.

  115. 115.

    Corner Stone

    January 2, 2013 at 10:32 pm

    Lville eating America’s Wang right the hell up.

  116. 116.

    Todd

    January 2, 2013 at 10:37 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    And to think, I’d predicted that my Louisville Cards were going to struggle to stay within 3 TDs for the past two weeks. I am so loving this. Betty Cracker must be apoplectic.

  117. 117.

    Todd

    January 2, 2013 at 10:38 pm

    Jesus! Fumble!

  118. 118.

    HEY YOU

    January 2, 2013 at 10:50 pm

    Cover your tender ears.

    FEMA,TBTF,Wall Street,RE industry,Manufacturing,etc. & U.S.A.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Sdn3O6aaMNc#!

  119. 119.

    Raven

    January 2, 2013 at 10:51 pm

    @Todd: Just beat em, I don’t care how!

  120. 120.

    Corner Stone

    January 2, 2013 at 11:02 pm

    Ahhh, tack it on Lville. Tack it on.

    ETA, woops, ouch.

  121. 121.

    AA+ Bonds

    January 2, 2013 at 11:03 pm

    This isn’t brave. Fox News has been running cover on this very issue for the last 3-4 days, probably because of King and Christie’s popularity among their viewers.

    Once again, if you want to know what a third to a half of the country is thinking . . .

  122. 122.

    Raven

    January 2, 2013 at 11:04 pm

    @Corner Stone: Goddamn it!

  123. 123.

    Corner Stone

    January 2, 2013 at 11:22 pm

    That is just some nasty shit going on in this gott damn Lville v FL game.

  124. 124.

    Corner Stone

    January 2, 2013 at 11:24 pm

    Lville lost against SYR and UCONN? WTF? With this gott damn nasty ass defense?!

  125. 125.

    Todd

    January 2, 2013 at 11:24 pm

    The fat lady is breaking out her throat spray bottle and is warming up.

  126. 126.

    Todd

    January 2, 2013 at 11:27 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Yeah, I know. I was at the UCONN debacle, which was a disaster from early on.

  127. 127.

    catclub

    January 2, 2013 at 11:35 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: “it’s the first time I’ve heard Christie give a fuck,”

    Well, on all the other occasions, he might have not cared, or he might have said then, to all zero press who asked him about it, that Governors really do not like the House being assholes about disaster aid. Who knows? Are any governors from the mountain west being asked about Sandy disaster aid now? Or even say Gov Scott from Florida?

  128. 128.

    Corner Stone

    January 2, 2013 at 11:38 pm

    I honestly wonder sometimes how many human beings we can have exist that can run a 4.3 40-yd dash.
    It just doesn’t seem right anymore.

  129. 129.

    karen marie

    January 3, 2013 at 1:04 am

    @pseudonymous in nc: Exhibit A. Barney Frank was my congresscritter in two entirely different parts of the state.

  130. 130.

    Jado

    January 3, 2013 at 8:48 am

    @Morzer:

    Yeah, but there was a small chance that NJ would have been on the hook for any cost overruns. So it was so totally worth it to refuse billions of dollars in infrastructure improvements which would have positively impacted the worst-hit sectors of the workforce, to potentially save…millions?

    No one knows how much it might have cost. But in the grand tradition of the GOP, Christie immediately made the leap to “IT WILL COST US BRAZILLIANS OF DOLLARS!! IT’S TOO MUCH!! WE WOULD DROWN IN THE OVERWHELMING TIDE OF DEBT!!! OH NOES!!!”

    Instead, he bravely turned around and instituted the tried and true GOP method of economic growth, tax cuts for the wealthy.

    Whew!! We almost had a big public works project mainly funded by the federal government. We totally dodged a bullet there…

  131. 131.

    Enhanced Voting techniques

    January 3, 2013 at 9:49 am

    Christie is merely a dick, not a nihilist. That puts him head and shoulders above 80% of the party he belongs to.

    I am curious at what point do the last remaining not bat shit insane GOPers like these two decide to change parties. Sure Christie has a good chance in 2016 but it’s really hard to see his own parties purity trolls letting him get the GOP nomination.

  132. 132.

    opie_jeanne

    January 3, 2013 at 12:19 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Didn’t Congress tell Missouri to suck it up after their disaster?

  133. 133.

    billiecat

    January 3, 2013 at 1:41 pm

    @cathyx:

    I’ve always thought that if a sane, on the ball, ‘normal thinking’ republican came into the picture, he could probably do very well in the next election.

    You need to stop that magical thinking. There are two reasons that won’t happen. First, the gatekeepers to the general election, i.e. Republican primary voters, do not like sane, on the ball, or ‘normal thinking’ people and consider such persons RINOs. For proof of this, look at the following list of reasonably rational (though still right wing) republican losers: Jon Huntsman, Richard Lugar, Bob Bennett, Tim Pawlenty, Michael Castle, Sue Lowden, Lincoln Chaffee, etc. See also the excommunication of conservatives like David Frum, Bruce Bartlett and even perennial BJ whipping boy Andrew Sullivan, simply for being open to the idea that reality trumps ideology and compromise and engagement with duly-elected representatives of the nation does not equal collaboration with the enemy.

    Second, the corollary to this is that the only way one of these “reasonable Republicans” could get to the general election is by adopting the crazy talk, thereby dooming him or her to defeat in all but gerrymandered House districts or states with bat-shit crazy politics like South Carolina or Texas. Example A is the late lamented campaign of one Willard “Mitt” Romney.

    I’d like it if there was a reasonable conservative opposition, I really would, because liberal overreach could become as dangerous to long-term stability as Republican insanity (but we are so far from that possibility now it’s not worth worrying about). I’d also like some productive engagement on issues like global warming, reform of the income tax code, and how to make the economy and government sustainable in the long run. But you go to elections with the Republican Party you have, and not the one you wish you had, and right now, they are a bunch of loons who should not be allowed to run a corner co-op, let alone have a say in running the country.

    So, no, even if he did choose to run for President in 2016, Chris Christie will not “clean up,” except by losing some weight and wearing more flattering clothing.

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