Jon Stewart basically put the end to Christie tonight on the Daily Show opening segment, and I have to say, I have been loving this controversy. For a long time now I’ve been concerned that Democrats were under-valuing the appeal he has to the Morning Joe/Chris Matthews/Politico crowd, because they love belligerent people who give them good interviews and hence good ratings and lots of links. I also still think the establishment GOP is going to one day end the tea party madness, but who knows.
I viewed him as a real threat to Democrats in 2016 (although some of you thought I had some sort of mancrush on him, which was weird, because I did think he had some refreshingly honest moments, such as Hurricane Sandy or his lashing out at the teahadists over the appointment of a Muslim judge, but I would never vote for the damned guy), but it looks like he’s going to drown in his own vindictiveness and hubris before the fluffers in the media can administer life support to the last “reasonable” and “moderate” Republican.
The other thing about this whole Christie saga that I found weird was that a lot of commenters find it more appealing to attack me as being a Christie fanbois than realizing they live in a country where a lot of people like belligerent, over-the-top bully boys. We’re only a few years removed from Bush/Cheney, and it seems like a lot of people on my side of the aisle seem to confuse the appeal of the swagger to the media types (do I need to link to another DougJ post describing the press/David Brooks ho-yay regarding John Thune?) and the uninformed voters, whether it comes with a big Soprano’s style Jersey gut or a carpet-bagging shit-grinning know-nothing in a cowboy hat but with no cattle, and oh, a nice pair of Lucchese’s and a blue-blood daddy who happened to be VP and head of the CIA.
And I know what I am talking about, because I have spent since 2005-2006 wondering what the fuck I was thinking the previous 18 years since I started voting, because I clearly had my head up my ass.
Corner Stone
Nothing more sad than a little pre-self inoculation.
Jack Canuck
Perfect timing: I just ran across Brad over in a thread at LGM, sadly reminding people that John Cole at Balloon Juice has a mancrush on Christie. I just read that and thought, what blog are you reading? ‘Cause all I see is someone pointing out that a lot of people like assholes and bullies if they think they’re on the same side, or they think they can get good interviews and ratings from them.
Comrade Mary
ObDrunkenStupor: Not just your country. /sigh
Corner Stone
@Jack Canuck:
I agree. That was a kind of sad period.
If the enduring sadness could actually be broken into periods, that is.
Higgs Boson's Mate
It would be ironic if one or more of the Villagers was caught in the traffic jams that Christie ordered up.
trollhattan
Feel like I’m caught in the Christie singularity today, the way this story has ‘sploded. Did “we” really take him and his chances that seriously, or were we just presuming the implosion was only a matter of time and now are saying, “yup, this is it.”
I don’t believe he’d ever hew sufficiently to the party line to go further than the senate, if that.
mclaren
Christie remains a non-issue for Democratic national politics because he’s not nearly extreme enough for the Republican base.
Ted Cruz?
Now there’s a wacko extreme enough for the Republican base. But, of course, he’s so extreme that outside of the Republican base, his national electoral prospects are exactly zero.
This is what the ignorant foolish commenters on this forum don’t get about halfwits like Ted Cruz. Cruz is not remotely smart. Cruz is an ignorant incompetent halfwit, not “dangerously intelligent,” because all his extremist posturing gets him over with the Republican base but utterly repulses the great majority of voters in any national election. So Cruz may be king of the Tea Party, but if he runs for president against HIllary or Elizabeth Warren in 2016, he’ll get wiped off the map.
Intelligence isn’t cleverness or craftiness. A criminal who figures out a way to burglarize a business is crafty or clever. But in the long run he’s stupid, because if you keep burglarizing businesses, eventually you will be caught and you will wind spending 10-25 years in prison.
Ted Cruz is crafty. But he’s not remotely smart. Watch my prediction: he’s going to lose his senate seat within the next one or two senatorial electoral cycles, he will not move on to any further position in national politics (i.e., governor, cabinet position, ambassador, whatever) and he will quietly disappear from view to some shady private practice scam.
The time when ignorant incompetent zitbrains like Ted Cruz could prosper and rise in national politics has ended. Ted Cruz is the Ed Meese of the 2010s. Ed Meese rose to the exalted position of attorney general of the United States before getting indicted and convicted and sent to prison. Today, Ed Meese works as a hack for a right wing think tank pumping out garbage white papers in support of the latest Republican-approved atrocity (global warming is a hoax, evolution is bad science…whatever).
That was only possible because Ed Meese appeared on the scene in national politics at the moment when Ronald “Senile Sociopath” Reagan hoodwinked the gullible American people into falling for his supply side trickle-down scam. Today, the public has learnt better, and are no longer falling for that crap. So Ted Cruz will not follow the career trajectory of an Ed Meese.
He’s much more likely to wind up in private practice laundering drug money for the Mexican cartels, or running PR for some giant oil company that’s murdering native indians in some rain forest to extract billions in ill-gotten gains.
Perhaps not the life at hard labor in pound-me-in-the-ass prison Ted Cruz deserves, but still a far cry from the stellar careers of the Reaganauts and Nixonoids and the reptilian denizens of the drunk-driving C-students maladministration.
Mary G
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: No Villager would be caught dead in New Jersey; that’s why Christie thought he could get away with it.
Keith P
Hope he’s finished. I don’t think I can stomach the media fawning over how blunt and forceful a leader he is after spending so many cycles running stories about how mean yet weak Obama is.
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
Jesus, John. Can you write one fucking post about Christie without rubbing your nipples and making growly noises?
Tyro
they live in a country where a lot of people like belligerent, over-the-top, bully boys.
True. But only when they pick the “right” targets– city dwellers, professors, public employees, teachers, the poor, unmarried women.
Christie just got outed as screwing over a bunch of car driving upper-middle-class suburbanites. One thing about that crowd is that they love to dish it out, but they can’t take it– they believe that the government exists specifically to cater to them,and when a bully-boy turns on them, it’s not considered fun and games anymore… they take it personally.
Corner Stone
Man. I should probably stop reading this blog when I’m butt naked. Because the sexual tension I’m getting right now…it’s intense.
Anya
I just don’t get the accusation that JC is a Christie fanboy. Just because he pointed out that Christie can be a threat to Democrats because he comes off as a no nonsense regular guy doesn’t mean he wants to marry the guy or vote for him. Christie was able to hide his extremism and charm democrats into voting for him because of his regula guy appeal. So, why hate on John Cole?
Corner Stone
@Tyro:
***swoon***
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Anya:
Exactly!
lamh36
What did Stewart say in his segment for those of u without the cables
Hunter Gathers
Not being a bigot (appointing the Muslim judge) gets you a cookie.
I didn’t beat my wife today, do I get a cookie?
trollhattan
@mclaren:
Ted Cruz will self-immolate and then ask for another can of lighter fluid. If Christie has a certain likable bluster about him, occasionally, Cruz is perhaps the most repellant politician I’ve seen on the national stage. Each time he opens his yap, an angel loses her wings.
Villago Delenda Est
Yes, some people love belligerent, over the top bully-boys.
Like Ernst Röhm.
Until they find out something about him that doesn’t sit well.
Anya
Christie is toast. Even loony NMax is turning on him.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I never liked Christie,but I never doubted that if he could get through the primaries he was their best candidate. All day today I heard him referred to as “moderate” when he’s with Paul Ryan on the social contract and a hardcore anti-choice pol, selectively anti-gay or neutral depending on his audience. For the lo-infos and the tote-baggers, who just want their taxes cut without being embarrassed by anyone as odd and exotic as Santorum or Mike Huckabee, that moment on Letterman when he pulled the donut out of his coat pocket would have won him half a dozen states.
And I thought that with him and Cruz on the same stage, I might finally get that Godzilla vs Mothra ego-fight I’ve been waiting for in the GOP primaries since ’08 with McCain and Giuliani
sacrablue
I’m not sure about the Villagers, but CNBC is headquartered in Fort Lee, extremely close to the George Washington Bridge.
Marc
No, we just correctly valued the pull that crowd has with actual voters.
Keith P
@Anya: I figured Jon Stewart to be a bigger CC fanboy. Last time he was on TDS, they were all but giving each other handjobs while talking about how awesome Springsteen is.
Villago Delenda Est
@Anya:
Noisemax (and their target audience) have been anti-Christie for a long time. For over a year, in fact…hugging the near sheriff is an unforgivable sin to them, and then there is his lack of vehement hatred for Muslims. That’s two strikes, right there. on the Teahadi score card.
GregB
Did anyone have Christie in their January square on the GOP political career dead pool?
He is done. The staffers he’s hanging out to dry are going come back and knee-cap him like he’s Nancy Kerrigan.
The on-camera melt-down he’s due to have will be epic.
Raven on the Hill
“The other thing about this whole Christie saga that I found weird was that a lot of commenters find it more appealing to attack me as being a Christie fanbois than realizing they live in a country where a lot of people like belligerent, over-the-top bully boys.”
Bravo, John. I mean it, folks. If we intend to win this one, we constantly need to remind ourselves we are not like most voters, and we need to pay attention to what most voters think and want.
Me, I’ve been asking myself why conservatives are so destructive for a while. (I wrote about it here.)
lamh36
As I said in the last thread why wasn’t an announcement made saying that the aide Mrs Bridges was being placed on leave or had tendered her resignation at the same time as the Christie evening statement dump?
I’m thinking that as soon as her silence is bought and ensured, then by the time I get back to the story tomorrow, the aide will have been relieved of her duties
Suffern ACE
@sacrablue: MSNBC is one town down the line, but I’m guessing their stars are reverse commuters. They could get to work, but they couldn’t get home.
I’m still not certain what lanes were closed. There are a lot of approaches to that bridge. Depending on which side they decided to close, they could tie up the north or south side of fort lee. South side is where the asians live. North side is where the well heeled would approach from. I’d love that defense. “We did not punish voters. Only the Koreans”.
MattR
@trollhattan: As a New Jersey Democrat, I assumed this day would have come a long, long time ago. But then it didn’t and instead a whole bunch of Democratic politicians endorsed his reelection. That made me think this day would never, ever come. So I am relieved that it has and that people are finally starting to see the Chris Christie that I have always seen.
Mike in NC
Rachel Maddow is now putting the kibosh on Outlaw Jersey Whale.
Jim, Foolish LIteralist
@Suffern ACE: I thought the MSNBCers all or mostly aired out of 30 Rock?
master c
enjoying this implosion ALOT dont know why. John-youre good haters gonna……you know.
Bill E Pilgrim
I’m not sure where that weird “fanbois” spelling that people use came from, but since you’re basically writing “fan wood” in French, I think in this case I’d use a different spelling.
MattR
@Suffern ACE: From one of the original articles about the closures. (written back in September)
Violet
@lamh36: Christie can’t buy her silence if she has broken the law. Prosecutors can, but that’s not the side Christie is on. She probably hasn’t been fired yet because Christie is trying to figure out how he can buy her silence and she’s busy hiring a lawyer and figuring out her best options.
At this point I think it’ll be every man or woman for themselves. Loyalty will not be in play.
Suffern ACE
@Jim, Foolish LIteralist: That could be. But then that would be the same for CNBC. I wonder what is housed in that Englewood Cliffs complex. Something for NBC news. There’s a job posting for an Admin Assitant. I think we need someone to apply to give us the inside scoop.
Is ESPN actually in Connecticut, or is that one big lie, too.
Anne Laurie
@Anya:
It’s a Man Thing, sweetie. You don’t think elk grow out those giant wasteful antlers every year to impress the does, do you?
Accusing Cole of being ‘a Christie fanboi’ is the intertoobz version of locker-room trash-talk — it’s not sincere, except insofar as the effect it has on its intended audience, of which you & I are not members (thank goddess).
MomSense
For your enjoy, twitter is now featuring #2016GOPFilms.
Some of them are quite amusing.
KG
@Villago Delenda Est: there’s probably some third strike we don’t know about inside the event horizon of the wingularity
RandomMonster
You are capable of poetry, JC. That was delicious.
cbear
My fervent hope is that in the very near future a discerning member of Christie’s household staff offers him A Wafer Thin Mint after dinner.
dww44
@mclaren: I’m one of those ignorant foolish commenters who think that not only is Ted Cruz crafty, but he is intelligent in the accepted sense of the word. His views are detestable, his ego is elephantine, his ambition is great, and his political skills are being honed. He’s one to watch out for. He will make mincemeat of his current competition for the 2016 nomination. And, as Christy has indeed taken himself out of that picture, Cruz’s stand up competition in a GOP debate has been very much weakened.
FWIW, I’ve never thought that Cole was a Christy fanbois and don’t know where all that is coming from.
Suffern ACE
@MattR: They did stick it to the Koreans of Fort Lee and folks of Edgewater.
gene108
I hope this kills Chrstie’s Presidential chances.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/12/26/2016-cnn-poll-clinton-deadlocked-with-christie-but-leads-other-gop-presidential-possibilities/
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/11/18/new-york-poll-christie-beats-cuomo-but-trails-clinton/
A lot of people on this blog said I was nuts in overestimating Christie’s chances in 2016, if he was the nominee, but as the CNN link shows, a hypothetical poll in November shows him winning New York over New York governor Cuomo.
Unscathed Christie up against any Democrat but Clinton could easily flip NJ, PA, and apparently NY, if his image does not take a serious beating.
MomSense
@MomSense:
A couple of my faves.
Minority Deport
Start Wars
Soylent Green Eggs and Ham (Starring Ted Cruz of course)
Joel
Stewart has come back with a vengeance this year. Good to see he still has it. The Daily Show is still suffering from the SNL-like problem of segments running too long, but it’s hard to expect more when so little supporting talent remains.
Anne Laurie
@mclaren:
Not often I get the chance to say this, but seriously: From your keyboard to the FSM’s orrichetti!
@Bill E Pilgrim: Nah, I think the double entendre is intentional. In fact, giving the fanbois woodies might actually be more like one of Nanny Ogg’s single intenders!
hitchhiker
What a fun day it’s been. I keep thinking of Miss Coulter during the ’12 primary season saying that if it’s not Christie it will be Romney and they’ll lose. I hope she’s as depressed as Frank Luntz alone in front of his tv set, fantasizing about collaborating with Aaron Sorkin.
You think Rand Paul is having a good time tonight?
Just Some Fuckhead
@gene108:
Ain’t like she’s never done that before.
Roger Moore
@Anya:
The closer we get to the primary, the more that kind of thing is going to happen. The Republicans don’t have an obvious candidate, so they’re trying them all on for size. The moment one of them shows the slightest weakness, everybody else who thinks they might have a shot will turn on them to get them out of the way. The winner will be the last one to screw up. Is it any wonder popcorn futures are going through the roof?
KG
@gene108: that may just be a way for NY respondents to voice disapproval with Cuomo at the moment. Nobody (thank every deity ever) has declared yet, once that happens and people start actually campaigning, those numbers will change
TS
@lamh36:
From her bio http://nj.gov/governor/admin/staff/
she has 4 children – no mention of being with a husband (but I have no idea on that) – so it might be an expensive buy.
MattR
@Suffern ACE: And pretty much everyone else not coming in on the Palisades or 95 (and it sounds like some of them coming from 95 got slowed up by the reduced number of tollbooths on the upper level. That can slow you up even if you have EZ-Pass). Those are the three entrances to the bridge, right?
trollhattan
O/T For my fellow Commiefornians, gov Jerry’s budget has been leaked.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2014/01/read-gov-jerry-browns-budget-proposal.html
Some analysis here.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2014/01/jerry-brown-budget-will-propose-repaying-school-funds-bolstering-reserves.html
Quite a bit of education funding restoration and health services restoration to begin reversing the double hits of the recession and Ahnold’s administration (can I keep making fun of Christie after suffering six years of Ahnold?)
Now, can Jerry make it rain?
Bill E Pilgrim
@Anne Laurie: Oh I doubt it. The “wood” allusion being intentional. I think it’s just a cute spelling. Plus it’s actually “fanboi”, unless it’s plural, John just misspelled it, and boi doesn’t spell wood, or anything else I know of in French.
Even if it were actually meant, the amplifying, heightening…. enlarging, er …effect would be just too repulsive in this case since we’re talking about Christie.
RK
Is Cole a conservative dem with regard to economic policy, or did the Shiavo and Iraq debacle make him cross over there too?
Amir Khalid
@Bill E Pilgrim:
Ah. I put “fanbois” into Google Translate and it came up empty.
Splitting Image
@Bill E Pilgrim:
From urban dictionary:
1. in the lesbian community, a young transgendered/androgynous/masculine person who is biologically female and presents themselves in a young, boyish way; a boidyke; often also identifies as genderqueer.
2. in the gay community, a young gay man;
3. in the BDSM community, someone who presents themselves in a young, boyish way and is usually a bottom/submissive.
Basically, “fanboi” couples the connotation of fanboy with a slur on someone’s sexuality.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Amir Khalid: There’s no such word. Try “fan bois”.
And, as always, I was just kidding.
Though you will get “wood fan” if you separate them.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Splitting Image: That’s weird, I didn’t see that definition at all. I saw the one about being a fan, an aficionado.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fanboi
I did know the term by the way, I was just having fun.
Yatsuno
@trollhattan: Martin should be pleased. Looks like he’ll have some more budget money to play around with.
trollhattan
@Bill E Pilgrim:
Brain bleach, aisle me!
That spelling was common a long time back in gadget blog comments (first place I saw it) and still shows up in camera forums (to poke fun and, say, a hopeless Nikon fanatic). Doubt it means anything more than LOLcat speak does.
Mike E
@TS: Her name is BRIDGET. Wow. Just, wow.
Bill E Pilgrim
@trollhattan: That’s always been my impression, on both counts.
Splitting Image
@Bill E Pilgrim:
I copy/pasted it from the entry on “boi”. I didn’t check UD to see if “fanboi” got its own entry. I suppose it will eventually.
Bill E Pilgrim
@Splitting Image: Oh I see. Yes fanboi is what I searched UD for. And got the results I linked above. That’s interesting though.
John Cole
@Splitting Image: I honestly had no idea. I will refrain from using the term anymore. I thought it just meant someone infatuated with something…. I apologize.
Violet
@John Cole: Couldn’t you substitute “fanboy”?
pseudonymous in nc
The point about Christie was that he’s a northeastern Republican who uses a little bit of carrot and a lot of stick in order to do the government thing, and in the current climate of national politics, where GOP standard-bearers are complete fucking nutbags who are in the business of not-government, a vindictive bastard who thinks there’s a purpose to government is a novelty, even if that purpose includes sticking it to people.
James E. Powell
I think it’s still too far out to deem Christie’s campaign for the 2016 nomination dead. He is ambitious and his fans in the corporate press/media will not desert him over something this trivial. If he is indicted for something, though I cannot imagine what, it would kill his campaign. But a public “scandal” over his abuse of Democratic elected officials? That’s political porn for the Republican base.
What we ought to be concerned with is our own party’s nominee and the fact that at least half of the country has had all they can take of an intelligent, reasonable, analytical president. They are longing for an angry alpha male who will abuse everyone who they fear or despise. Doesn’t give me much hope at all.
We need to set up a scenario for Hillary Clinton to speed slap a New York Times reporter.
RK
“We need to set up a scenario for Hillary Clinton to speed slap a New York Times reporter.”
Clinton can just show everyone the blood on her hands from her Iraq vote.
muricafukyea
“….but I would never vote for the damned guy”.
LOL…says 2 time Bush voter. Mr. anti drone, anti war who voted for Bush the second time in the middle of the Iraq quagmire when anyone with half a brain knew it was a quagmire.
Oh noezzz but Obama got Bin Laden that god damned war monger.
You are such a hypocrit wr0ng way Cole. Yes, tell us more fairy tales about how your Republican (zebra) stripes have been forever changed.
You came very close to getting this next statement right. I fixed it for you wr0ng way Cole.
” I have spent since 2005-2006 wondering what the fuck I was thinking the previous 18 years since I started voting, because I clearly
hadstill have my head up my ass.”FlipYrWhig
@John Cole: So the Avril Lavigne song “sk8r boi”… Was that also a slur? What are you apologizing for?
Another Holocene Human
@Bill E Pilgrim: The term boi originated in Lesbian and Trans* subculture and covers cis-gendered, trans-gendered, and female “boys”.
Another Holocene Human
@Splitting Image: boi is not a slur. Stop being a dumbass.
ETA: it’s the “fan” part of “fanboi” or “fanboy” which is derogatory. And in this case the spelling variant may simply be silly l33t 5p3a|<. FFS.
seaboogie
@trollhattan: Rain would be nice. I feel like I am waiting to exhale. Drought is a curiously angsty thing.
Keith G
@Splitting Image: That’s your interpretation….and I am not sure why that matters in the big picture.
@John Cole: Jesus christ, political correctness run amuck. Your usage was not offensive.
Schlemizel
the two interesting things – that simply agreeing with some things, hell maybe even praising some inflamed asshole when they do or say the right thing, makes one a fanboi. I notice that a lot in my life, people seem to want cartoon character opinions. Black and white cartoons at that. People are more complex than that though.
The other is I’d love to know who got the long knives out for Krusty. Was this just a snowball rolling down hill that got big, who really started it & did it get a push from the sort of people who were afraid of facing him in a primary battle?
kindness
Repubs like to think they are the tough crowd. So they loved them some Christi. It didn’t matter that Christi was a bully and fighting 5 levels below his weight class (duh oh!). It should have but let’s face it, the conservatives out there willingly overlook the obvious bad because they think if they ignore it everyone else will too. IE – Perry running for Prez in 2012 (and again in 2016).
I doubt Christi could ever have overcome the Teahaddist faction and won the nomination but this is good in that it lances the mancrush (boil) our Serious Village Elders had on Christi.
Alien Radio
@Another Holocene Human:
This.
Very much associated with geek culture, a Fanboi has little to no discriminating judgement in the sphere of their fandom.
Thoughtful David
I’ve always like the spelling of “fanboi”, although I didn’t know its connotations from the LGBT community.
Reason is, in Portuguese, “boi” means an ox or bullock. I always that that was an appropriate thing to call most people who qualify being called “fanbois”.
In Portuguese, though, “fan” would be spelled “fã”, although pronounced the same.
Hence, “fãboi” would be a “fan-ox”, but pronounced “fanboy”.
cleek
oh ye of such prognostications, forget not that God hates predictions.
cmm
Two things about the bridge thing that really piss me off are 1) the crack about it being too bad about the kids because their parents vote Democratic–that just sums up the juvenile crap the right likes to sling. Everyone pays taxes and deserves roads that work. Everyone. The idea that you get control of the levers and use them to only help your people AND actively Fuck over everyone else offends me so deeply. 2) I haven’t seen anyone comment on this yet, but this shitshow started on September 10 and went all week. Did it occur to anyone that the anniversary of 9/11 is a day off extra security alerts for a REASON? Especially in the NYC area. What if a terrorist attack had occurred? They couldn’t exactly untwist the pretzel they had created in a few minutes. What if they had had to suddenly start moving emergency equipment in to NYC in a hurry, and /or move people out? That was a pretty serious risk to take for the sake of a dick sizing contest. Assholes.
Keith G
@Thoughtful David: People are overthinking this. It is just a cutesy way of saying something. I first saw this related to nyms on message boards in the early 90s (don’t ask).
I doubt Gov Christy is done. This is just a bump. The schadenfreude here is very premature.*
* Unless his prints are found on this and I doubt that they will be.
Cervantes
Is he not OK on gun control as well?
Aimai
@cmm: good point.
Sherparick
JC, nuance does not play well in the tribal wars, and we liberals are just as much a tribe as the other guys (only difference is that some of us know it). All tribes like a good hate on the others, especially when it is so well deserved. Christie is an obviously talented politician and is still (the Repub base might warm to him since they love fu@@** with the Democrats and the hippies) their best chance of winning in 2016 (I think Scott Walker is number 2, and really, to know Scott Walker is to hate him).
Actually, you can see why the Republican Movement Conservative network (Limbaugh, Demint, Norquist, etc.) base suspects Christie and loves Walker. There was Christie’s Hurricane Sandy moment with Obama, his working with the regular machine Democrats in New Jersey and the unions outside the teachers and his sticking up for his Muslim friend he appointed a judge and now signing the New Jersey Dream Act . All of these make Christie a Rhino to the “real murikans” who think Sarah Palin is a savant. Yes, he of course still has the basic agenda a tax cutting, plutocratic serving, Republican agenda which makes him cherished among the bond traders, bankers, and stock brokers of Englewood and Short Hills, New Jersey. But there are still traces of humanity.
Now Scott Walker is a guy who has the same Nixonian, ratfucking inclinations, but also he gives the Right all their red meat as well. Walker has been militant against the Democrats and all unions and determined to sell of as much of Wisconsin as possible to private interests. Further, despite several simmering scandals, Walker has been bullet proof. I still hope that enough sensible, humane voters show up in November 2014 to send Walker packing, despite the huge amount of Koch money that will be going into the race.
http://uppitywis.org/blogarticle/if-chris-christies-scandal-bad-scott-walkers-scandals-arguably-a
gnomedad
I may have forgotten something, but this is the most significant essay I can recall from you in a while. Welcome back, Mr. Cole.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Sherparick:
To win the presidency a Republican candidate has to win over Democratic voters. No way Walker could do that.
Chris
@kindness:
I’ve never understood why people think this. He’s no more hated than Romney was in the last election cycle (and Romney had the additional offenses of being a Mormon, being a former pro-choice, pro-gay, pro-Obamacare governor, and not even seeming human). But Romney had the money and the establishment behind him, so he was able to cruise through to the nomination despite the furious efforts of the teabaggers to find anyone else.
If he can do it, certainly Christie can.
Chris
@cmm:
It’s also exactly the kind of thing “Chicago style politics” (you know, that phrase they’re always throwing at Democrats) refers to; the methods of the machine politics era, when you could tell voters “want roads, sidewalks, police protection, job relief, and good government in general? Then you’d better vote Tammany! Or else!”
Another one for the “it’s always projection” column, with Obama being a “Chicago style thug” because he’s from Chicago (and black) while Christie, who’s been governing as a 21st century Boss Tweed/Mayor Daley from the outset, is their special-interest-battling hero.
Sherparick
@mclaren: The problem is that since Reagan, the Republicans nominate their most mainstream candidate (G.H.W. Bush, 1988, 92; Bob Dole, ’97; G. W. “Compassionate Conservative” Bush 2000, 2004; John McCain 2008; and Mitt Romney, 2012). In all those campaigns the Conservative base fragmented between the Theocon candidates, the neo-Confederate candidates, and Austrian Economics candidates. In 2016 we will see Cruz, Walker, Huckabee, and Santorum, and perhaps Sarah Palin (it could boost book sales) run. I expect Christie would have rough time in Iowa and South Carolina, and later Texas, but I would expect him to own New Hampshire and the rest of the Northeast and Midwest and then to do well in California and benefit from the division in the Conservative Movement’s votes..
Penus
Interesting that after a month of national garment-rending over a purported violation of Phil Robertson’s First Amendment rights, no one is mentioning that the New Jersey governor’s office used its power to punish a mayor (and his citizens) for exercising his.
rk
@trollhattan:
I hate Ted Cruz. It’s purely a physical reaction on my part. There is something about his face (I wonder if it’s only me) but there is something wrong with the combination of the smile, the lips and the nose that makes me want to punch him hard and break his nose. Never felt like that with anyone before.
elftx
Ted Cruz is lurved in TX and the “right money” will continue to back him.
For best movie reference to the NJ debacle, I rather like: Glory Days
EconWatcher
@rk:
Cruz and Cantor both have that effect on me. Smugness seems to be etched permanently into their facial futures.
Omnes Omnibus
Christie was, at best, going to be 2016’s version of Giuliani. Remember when he was going flip New York?
LanceThruster
Re: Christie’s damage control —
Those deck chairs on the Titanic aren’t going to rearrange themselves.
Paul in KY
@Raven on the Hill: The ‘conservatives’ turned a linchpin state in the ‘Pan Arab World’ (Iraq) into a state that is controlled by Shias & thus cannot and will not help out other Arab regimes.
You should never take their stated objectives at face value (IMO).
Dearolddad
Christie, doesn’t look so tough on TV pretending to be the victim. He will still be the only chance the teabaggers have at winning the oval office but I don’t think the hardcore righties will let him thru the primaries. Don’t beat yourself up about your past John. I once voted for Frank Rizzo. He was the Philly version of Christie, a blowhard of a bully.
Chris
@Paul in KY:
IMHO, the notion that turning Iraq into a Shi’a affiliated country was deliberate on the neocons’ part is far fetched. Especially since that would have allowed Iran to get a foothold in the Iraqi government, a prospect which the neocons would’ve found much scarier than an alliance with other Arab regimes. (As would their Likudni pals).
No… Occam’s Razor to me says that the neocons honestly believed that Chalabi and his exiles were representative of their country, that once Saddam had fallen all the Iraqis would cheer The Return Of The King, and overnight the country would become a nice respectable pro-American government with liberty and tax cuts for all. (And some permanent military bases for the Americans).
Mnemosyne
@Paul in KY:
As Chris said, the problem with making Iraq Shi’a is that it then allies them with Iran rather than the Arab states like Saudi Arabia, which one would think would be the last thing Israel would want. So I do tend to agree with him that putting the Shi’a majority in charge was a bug, not a feature.
Dennis_H
The reason I never thought Christie had a chance isn’t that he’s a bully. It’s that he’s a northeastern bully. Like Rudy before him, he has the “I’m a tough guy!” thing going, but it’s in a way that the rest of the country pretty much instinctively hates. No matter how much he appeals to the “Daddy party” mentality, he’s still too much one of “them” to win the nomination.
In other words, Chris Christie was almost too annoying to be Governor of New Jersey. What on earth makes people think he’d play well in Peoria?
Bob In Portland
Killing a 91 year-old woman must hurt your polling numbers.
Julie
@rk: Not just you. My husband, who’s pretty even-keeled and dispassionate about politics, can’t get over how weird Cruz is. I just want to punch the guy.
cmm
I have had the same instinctive reaction to Cruz but I.assumed it was because something about the shape or expression on his face makes me think of Joe McCarthy, minus most of the 5 o clock shadow.
GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)
@Anya:
Because people like fuckhead and corner stone are powerless little pissants in real life, so they come troll here and abuse the bloghost.
Paul in KY
@Chris: Likud Israel is not in the least frightened by Iran (no matter what they say). They have had dealings with the Iranian regime in the past & probably get along better (under the table) than they do with the Arab regimes.
Once again I must hilite that Iran (and Shias in general) is not Arabic & short of an attack on Mecca, will not get involved in any Arab kerfluffle with Israel.
Likud Israel just wanted Iraq to become a ‘failed state’. Whether Arabs controlled it or the Shias, they didn’t want it to be in a position to help the Palestinians (as Saddam had been doing).
Paul in KY
@Mnemosyne: Israel doesn’t mind them being allied with Iran, as Iran will never get involved (to the extent that Saddam’s Iraq would) with the Palestinian situation.
Iranians are not Arabs. The Arabs generally think they are a bunch of heretics.