I was ready to start calling him Chunky Jon Huntsman or Chunky Rudy, but at this point Chunky Palin is probably more accurate:
In 2011, Mr. Christie held a news conference where he accused State Senator Richard J. Codey of being “combative and difficult” in blocking two nominees. Mr. Codey, a Democrat who had served as governor following the resignation of James E. McGreevey, responded that he had not only signed off on the nominations, but had held a meeting to try to hurry them along.
Three days later, Mr. Codey was walking out of an event in Newark when he got a call from the state police superintendent informing him that he would no longer be afforded the trooper who accompanied him to occasional public events — a courtesy granted all former governors. That same day, his cousin, who had been appointed by Mr. McGreevey to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was fired, as was a close friend and former deputy chief of staff who was then working in the state Office of Consumer Affairs.
[….]Later that year, the governor was pressing hard on Alan Rosenthal, the Rutgers political scientist whom Republicans and Democrats had chosen as the tiebreaking member of the commission that was redistricting the state’s legislative districts. Mr. Christie wanted Mr. Rosenthal to vote for the map put forward by the Republicans on the commission, but instead he chose the Democrats’ plan, saying it offered more stability.
Soon after, Mr. Christie used his line-item veto to cut $169,000 for two programs at Mr. Rosenthal’s institute at Rutgers.
After McCain selected Palin, I spent about 20 hours over two days reading (via Sully, I admit) about Sarah Palin’s vengeful streak — her jihad against her husband’s sister ex-husband, the climate of fear she created in Wasilla, and the sheer number of enemies she’d made in the Alaskan legislature.
When someone has a lot of enemies, those enemies come out of the woodwork in a national campaign. And that someone will make more enemies in the course of the national campaign.
There’s a big difference between jerking off Joe Scarborough (or Bill Kristol) and being a viable contender for president.
I think Christie is toast as a national figure.
Eric U.
I suspect if Christie got the treatment he deserved, he’d have all the troopers he needed, in state prison
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
Chris Christie is the bigger man here, by keeping his head down as these political hit pieces feast on his larger than life reputation. Bully for Chris Christie! While many will suggest Christie has a slim chance and a narrowing window, he has made huge inroads with sensible Independents and conservative Democrats and will use them to pad his already hefty lead among Republicans.
Amir Khalid
The questions about Christie are
1) Who decided to put him in the toaster?
2) Why now?
On a side note, it bugs me when people misuse the word “jihad”. A jihad, strictly speaking, is a righteous struggle or effort. Feeding the poor, fighting for human rights, working at a job that contributes to society, trying to improve oneself as a person, that kind of thing. A vendetta against a former relative, waged by misusing one’s powers of public office, is pretty much the opposite of a jihad.
Baud
Not to Joe Scarborough or Bill Kristol.
maya
But, but….. “The enemy of your enemy is your friend, grasshopper.” Yodareagan
How is making Democrats enemies harmful for a Repvblican?
MattF
It suggests, at least, that the Washington press wasn’t digging much in NJ for dirt on Christie, at least not until very recently. I imagine that there have been various people in Trenton who have interesting things to say about the Large One, but they just didn’t find an audience before.
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
@Amir Khalid:
I blame the Jihadists.
TR
New Jersey resident here:
Christie as a national candidate just ain’t gonna happen. Too volatile, too dickish. He’s going to tell some legendary figure at the Iowa State Fair to fuck off, or he’s going to shit all over some NH king maker. He’s definitely going to go nuclear in the debates, and the base will eat him alive.
Yatsuno
@Eric U.: There is also some shady shit he pulled with expense accounts while he was a USADA that would also make good oppo research. This is a man Willard scrutinised and said “Hell to the No” to regarding being a VP. The Outlaw Jersey Whale has skeletons. A shit ton of them. He’ll never make it past his current level.
Wag
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:
FTW!
I largely agree the the broad points made in your post
Cassidy
But he gives Cole wood for being such a plain spoken guy! I bet he loves Snowden as much as mix and the other knuckleheads around here do. Won’t be long before we get swooning.
Schlemizel
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:
See, its shit like that that make me want a “LIKE” button on posts.
@TR:
But the base loves abusive, loud and rude as long as its aimed at the DFH (anyone with whom I disagree at the moment)
dollared
@Schlemizel: I’m with you. Acting like a Mussolini on the way up is clearly part of IOKIYAR.
Belafon (Formerly anonevent)
@Cassidy: Hey, Cassidy! Someone has hacked your account and is parodying you. All they seem to bring is Snowden.
Isla
What is with these awful ‘moderate’ Republicans that keep being pushed as presidential material by the establishment media every couple of years? It’s the political version of what the fashion and entertainment media does with skinny blonde starlets. In both cases, the appeal is largely manufactured and, despite gracing magazine cover after magazine cover, these people never truly become big stars. Christie has about as much chance of becoming the next president as Sienna Miller has of becoming the next Marilyn Monroe.
Chris
@Amir Khalid:
I always figured “jihad” was the exact equivalent of “crusade.” But since it’s from a culture different from most Americans’, it’s the bad word and “crusade” is the good one…
Villago Delenda Est
Three words sum up this obscene fuck:
“Respect ma authoritay!”
Robert
What? The loud mouth that will scream down teachers who ask him in person why he’s thinks NJ schools are failing is a bully? Where was this editorial in October when it could have saved us from another four years of this jerk in office? My goodness. I have family and friends who voted for him who work in education because he kept saying Buono was a crazy person with no experience. He tricks people and politicians alike into voting against their own interests and then punishes them for the slightest offenses. Christie needs to be stopped at the state level before he runs the entire country into the ground. We need many more articles to salt the earth so no further political ambitions can ever take seed.
Baud
@Cassidy:
I actually thought Christie fell on the national security side of things.
Villago Delenda Est
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:
David Broder, is that you? Posting via the T3 connection to the deepest depths of Hell?
Hal
@Amir Khalid:
Same thought I had, and my guess is some Republican insiders who want a true conservative. Personally I think some serious conservatives are extremely pissed at Christie for not pulling a Jan Brewer on Obama, more than anyone realizes.
Beyond his mean streak, he will also have to explain his justification for using 5 million dollars to film a Jersey’s open! type commercial featuring his family when he could have gone with something 2 million cheaper, but hey, than he couldn’t use it as a free campaign ad, um, I mean advertisement to benefit the citizens of NJ.
BTW, where is all that Sandy money? People are still waiting.
Alexandra
That’s OK. You weren’t alone. DKos was a riot, too. Merry Xmas and all that jazz, Mr Doug J.
srv
Hillary has more bodies than business suit colors, and they all go with black helicopters.
A governor being mean is trivial in comparison.
Chris
@Hal:
I pray that this is true.
The last big realignments in politics happened when the dominant party imploded, the fractures between its component parts too deep to be healed (Republicans did it in 1912, Democrats in 1968). The last couple elections have put stress on some serious fault lines in the GOP, and hopefully it’ll only get worse.
The Dangerman
@Hal:
My guess is it’s insiders that have looked at the “true conservatives” and have shit their pants over the choices (insert Santorum joke here). This has the fingerprints of someone that wants the alternative to the whack jobs to be Jeb.
Roger Moore
@Chris:
You’re leaving out 1932, when the Republicans imploded because they failed miserably at governing but didn’t really undergo a civil war.
Bob
@Cassidy:
Yeah, Cole is a dick on that count.
FlipYrWhig
@Amir Khalid: How about “fatwa”? ‘Twould also work for JSF’s purposes.
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
@Cassidy:
Thanks for saying the same shit you always say. It never gets old.
burnspbesq
Two months short of three years before the election, the only certainty is that nothing is certain.
Baud
@burnspbesq:
I’m not certain about that.
MikeJ
@FlipYrWhig: A fatwa is just an opinion. Anyone can issue a fatwa, and the fatwa can say that something is good as easily as it can say something is bad.
Poopyman
@Amir Khalid: I did not know that. Thanks!
catclub
@srv: Your post suggests to me that old news – in this case, the list of murders and shady dealings that Hillary Clinton has been accused of, turn into forgettable news. This list of horribles coming out about Christie may bet treated the same way in three years.
I doubt it, if there is real meat on the skeletons, then the stories do not get ignored. But it as useful a theory as any.
FlipYrWhig
@MikeJ: Aw, but on the bright side it can be both an arbitrary decree _and_ a fat joke. Spoilsport.
Chris
@Roger Moore:
Not entirely, I’d just list 1912 as part of what set the stage for that. The falling out between the progressive and conservative wings of the GOP and the fact that the conservatives ultimately kept control gave the progressives an incentive to start moving over to the Democrats – in the same way the falling out between segregationists and civil rights advocates among the Democrats got the ball rolling on the segregationists changing parties. Something that helped pave the road for later presidents like Roosevelt in 1932, and Nixon or Reagan depending on who’s counting.
Although, I should probably have said 1947 rather than 1968 for the beginning of the Democratic fracturing.
(Though for all of that you’re right that these things aren’t always what causes the realignments. It just looks like there could be a good chance of it happening to the modern GOP, too).
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader:
Your comment embiggened me.
Mike with a Mic
@The Dangerman:
It could be multiple culprits. The take down of Christie started not that long after the take down of Rand Paul for lifting shit from wikipedia.
It’s funny because the Republicans wanted a shorter nominating process with less debates to avoid the short of savage inter party take downs and purity battles that wrecked them in 2012. This may have resulted in the possible candidates wanting to destroy their competition before the actual primaries even start.
catclub
@Mike with a Mic: “savage inter party take downs and purity battles that wrecked them in 2012”
1. intra-party
2. I see Romney as the best of a bad lot, and if you short circuited the GOP primaries then there is a chance of Perry or Newt or Cain or Santorum (yuck!) being on top at the end of the abbreviated primaries. I don’t think any of those would have done better.
3. Romney winning quickly might mean no purity battles, but then the far right still claims they do not trust him, even after all the purity battles he went through. He still would have to keep proving himself to them, rather than being able to tack to the center.
Cassidy
Did we get some newly commissioned hall monitors all of a sudden?
Nile Kinnick
Liz Phair. I love it!
Morzer
Just to refudiate the Christmas spirit a tad further, Gawker has decided to go full-frontal nuclear on Rupert Murdoch:
http://gawker.com/did-rebekah-brooks-fuck-rupert-murdoch-and-his-son-lach-926651851
Amir Khalid
@Morzer:
I’m happy to learn that there was someone capable of fucking with Rupert Murdoch.
Keith G
@Cassidy: I think of them more as garbage sellectors – they point out the stinky stuff.
Roger Moore
@Chris:
If you want to claim that 1912 set the stage for 1932 and 1948 set the stage for 1968, then you have to accept that realignments are gradual rather than sudden, and I think the ultimate conclusion will be that there’s always a gradual realignment of some kind going on as different issues come to dominate the political scene. That said, I think there’s been a very important different kind of realignment going on over the past 20 years or so, which was a realignment from state parties to national parties as the center of political power. That’s led to increased partisan polarization and hardening of ideological positions, and to the kind of lock-step voting we’ve seen more and more of.
Cassidy
@Keith G: I think of you all as entitled whiners. I’ll comment how I feel and if anyone doesn’t like that, they can cram it right up their ass with a rolling pin.
Corner Stone
Ooooo…so kinky! Things crammed up other places if someone disagrees!
That totally does not say anything about anyone!
Keith G
@Cassidy: What type of rolling pin, honey?
Cassidy
@Corner Stone: Still stupid. Still a drunk. You’ve been commenting all day. The ex have the kids? All by yourself? Go drink some more.
Cassidy
@Keith G: Whichever you prefer.
Jewish Steel
@Morzer: Grody
Corner Stone
@Cassidy: Poor thing. I’d feel sorry for you except for the latent abusive sexual aggression and hatred for anyone you can’t physically dominate.
Your poor wife and kids. I hope they have a safe out.
Keith G
@Cassidy: Something in mahogany would do. Dark wood can be so versatile.
Old Dan and Little Ann
Testing on new iPad.
Baud
@Old Dan and Little Ann:
Well, someone had a merry Christmas.
Cassidy
@Corner Stone: My wife and kids went back home about an hour ago after spending the day at the station. No matter how hard you try to be smart and witty, the end result is I’m happy and you’re a lonely drunk. You can try all the insults and attempted bullying you want, but I will always be better than you. You’re small, petty, and alone. My family drove an hour to spend Christmas with me while I’m at work. Go drink some more.
Mike in NC
OK, I just puked up a glass of eggnog over that image.
Corner Stone
@Cassidy: I’m the bully? When was the last time I told you I wanted to beat you in front of your kids as an example to them?
God. Being a “fireman” and a first responder must be the worst sort of thing for someone like you. Carrying those big powerful hoses, fantazising about holding life and death in your hands…for someone with your weak mentality that’s got to lead to really bad outcomes.
drkrick
@Schlemizel:
That stuff might get him nominated, although I doubt they’re really quite that dumb. But it will ensure he never gets elected.
David Koch
IOKIYAR.
Can you imagine if a Democrat had this. Imagine if Joe Biden had used his connections and office to fire an ex-brother-in-law or to close the Golden Gate Bridge for five days. It wouldn’t just be impeachment, he’d be facing a prison term.
Cassidy
@Corner Stone: Just keep drinking, just keep drinking…we can always tell when you’re deep in the cups. It’s about the time you pick a fight with someone. So what happened? You get a 2 minute phone call the kids were obligated to make and them decide to start early. I’m assuming early anyway. If I had to guess they’d call you early to get it over with as soon as possible. Is feel sorry for you if I didn’t despise you so much.
Just keep drinking, just keep drinking….
amk
This guy won’t get past the first round of primaries.
Corner Stone
@Cassidy: Wow. Project much?
Maybe you should take one hand off your little soldier and actually type something coherent?
Cassidy
@Corner Stone: Have another drink. Keep working that liver for us. We thank you for your effort.
muricafukyea
Ha…accidental troll Ball Juice Doug breaks wr0ng way Cole’s fat bastard Christie loving heart.
muricafukyea
Accidental troll Ball Juice Doug breaks wr0ng way Cole’s fat bastard Christie loving heart.
Corner Stone
Hmmm. Troll Cassidy or troll muricafukyea?
Ah, same same.
Villago Delenda Est
@David Koch:
Surely you remember the scandal of Bill Clinton’s haircut closing down every airport within 500 miles of LAX and shutting down all the freeways and causing dogs and cats to live together?
Hell, yes, if a Dem did half of what Christie has done, we’d never hear the end of his perfidy.
Cassidy
@Corner Stone: Just keep drinking, just keep drinking….
Peter
Corner Stone, Cassidy, if I was in charge neither of you would be back until 2014. Get a fucking room and stop shitting up the blog with your idiotic grudges.
Corner Stone
@Cassidy: If you need me as some sort of rhetorical punching bag, that’s fine with me.
Anything to keep you from actually beating your wife again.
How horrible that must be.
Cassidy! Please! Lay off the steroids and get help!
Corner Stone
@Peter:You’d rather Cassidy beat his wife and children some more?
What kind of monster are you, Peter?
Cassidy
@Corner Stone: Just keep drinking, just keep drinking….
Cassidy
@Peter: This is normal for ChickenShit. He gets drunk, a lot, and picks a fight with someone here. He’s one of those “liquid courage” types. I think he’s a piece of shit, sink don’t mind ridiculing him evening it sounds cruel. And I’m bored.
John Casey
@srv: If you really believe that, why would you say it publicly?
cleek
nah. i think there are a lot of people who get off on this kind of petty vindictive tough-guy-ism. and, that it’s not going to be what hurts Christie. what will sink him is that he’ll end up being a wishy-washy sell out when his advisers smooth him out, and will fail to live up to the tough-guy hype. the media will write long stories about how they miss the Old, Tough, Christie.
Corner Stone
@Cassidy:
Hmmm…
Califlander
I was ready to start calling him Chunky Jon Huntsman or Chunky Rudy …
I think “Fat Nixon” is more accurate.
Corner Stone
Sink don’t mind, fool!
Tim in SF
If I recall correctly, none but none of karibu Barbie’s Wasilla enemies succeeded in more than the odd magazine story every once in a while. It never took over a news cycle and it’s doubtful it cost her votes.
Fred
#1) Christie (unlike Palin) doesn’t try to be a snarky stand up comic. He doesn’t come off as a half bright publicity hound.
#2) The rubes really love the Mr. Nasty routine. They think mean = tough.
I’ll always remember how GWBush was unelectable because he was such an intellectual light weight and a mean little punk. Thank god he never took the White House. Imagine how much damage a freak like that could have done to the nation, the world.
I’ll also always remember how stupid the “Both parties are the same” third party voters are. Screw your damned protest vote. If the Dems run a yellow dog, vote for him. He/She will be better than the best the GOPers come up with. Store that in your DNA!
Cervantes
@Corner Stone:
Assuming they exist.
CASLondon
Man, Doug, I think we have generationally very similar iTunes.
Liz Phair! Such a great album, that one.
BruinKid
@Villago Delenda Est: So you’re saying Christie is the Eric Cartman of politics? Yeah, I can see that. :-P
Reyn
@Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader: I very much doubt that Governor Christie can win the GOP primary – he is too far to the center. If he could however, this type of scandal … you may call it political hit pieces, but I have to tell you, my partner and I are among the more than 1,000,000 who called for governor Spitzer to resign, which he did, in the wake of his prostitution scandal, and I think these types of shenanigans — appearing suddenly on Chris Christie, who I too considered electable if he could get through the primary as recently as 3 months ago — end his chances. I certainly know that while we would have considered him BEFORE learning about them, now we won’t. He’s just another Jersey pol – and no Jersey pol should really be in the W/H – from either party, we thought he was better than that — we were wrong.