Looks like Chris Christie is sick of the nutters, too:
Maybe it is just me, but why don’t more Democrats talk like that- forceful, in your face, etc. I know a lot of you think Christie is a dick, and I think a lot of the time you are right, but performances like this just resonate with people. But when Democrats do it, the media and others freak out (and that’s not even getting into our own side of the aisle- remember Peter Daou and others shedding tears when we were picking on Limbaugh?). Look at how some people they reacted to anything Rahm said. Jay Carney or Robert Gibbs say something mildly sarcastic and you can hear the entire press pool rush to fan Ed Henry and Chip Reid, who have no doubt fainted at the temerity of a Democrat speaking like that. Look at the fallout when Gibbs and others correctly pointed out that Fox is a propaganda organ for the GOP and not a news station.
I almost cheered when Obama “lost his cool” and gave (for him) a bracing attack on the Republicans. We need more of that. Not less. MORE DAMNIT. Do what Christie did- be confident, speak your mind, and if the truth is on your side, everyone who questions you can just go fuck themselves.
Mike M
I dunno – maybe because whenever progressives sticks up for their principles some douchebag makes a joke about ponies and shouts them down.
Just a thought.
Lolis
Anyone mind summarizing the video? It is blocked at my work.
chopper
hence christie’s immense popularity among the people of new jersey.
Samara Morgan
when i do it i get a timeout
Han's Big Snark Solo
Just because the other side is filled with dicks doesn’t mean I want my side to be.
One of the many reasons I loathe today’s Republicans is because they are rude, stupid and pig ignorant. These are not qualities I want to associate with.
Ol' Dirty DougJ
Love the idea, but it only plays in places like Jersey. Even then, it’s not clear it plays, Christie’s approval ratings are in the shitter.
People loved all Clintons’ aw shucks bullshit and in the end they hated W’s cowboy routine.
I am all for telling people to fuck off 24/7, but it’s not a magic bullet.
bkny
it was interesting to watch the reactions of the msnbc fratpac when that video of christie ripping into that woman re where his kids went to school(whose question was videotaped) and telling her to mind her own business and keep out of his.
tweety, joescar, barnicle — all of em had smirks on their faces; they love that bully boy. he’s on a diet, and if he even loses 50 lbs, he’s a candidate for vp. his popularity may be sinking in nj, but nationally, i bet he’ll appeal to a whole lotta people — esp if there’s a very weak presidential candidate. (though, i’m really fearing david petraeus stepping up..)
Jane2
Summary: Gov. Christie delivers a clear, forceful smackdown to the nuts, bigots and idiots who think Sharia law is around the corner in the USA.
Christie may not be a nice guy, and I certainly don’t agree with all he says, but when he speaks to truth, he’s excellent. The people he’s speaking against *are* crazies and I admire any American politician with the fortitude to stand up and say so, because it’s not easy in these days of faux outrage and assholedom.
El Tiburon
Yes, it is nice. The only democratic politician I can think of really is Alan Grayson. Oh, and Anthony Weiner. Woops.
On the pundit side you have David Sirota and Cliff Shecter and Keith Olbermann and Cenk. Woops.
bmcchgo
I would agree with you JC about Dems being more forceful, but I have to point out one downside to Christie’s bravado and antics.
NJ Women don’t like him.
And that is the main driver to bringing down his approval numbers.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
Imagine how shocked people would be if Sandra Bullock had said “Get those motherfucking snakes off this motherfucking plane!”
Democrats don’t talk that way.
kdaug
@Lolis: “It’s just crazy, and I’m tired of dealing with the crazies”.
Re: A Muslim judge he appointed to the bench, resulting in cries of “Sharia Law!”
Jody
We had one, and then they voted Mr. Grayson out for being ‘rude’. The Dems did, I mean.
His forceful rhetoric cheapened the discourse, don’tchaknow.
Jeffro
That’s the beauty of it: you can speak your mind, and then when the fragile flowers of the media or on the right start whining/fainting…you can just double down and speak your mind even louder about their wimpy response.
You know, sort of like they do to Democrats all the time.
matt
unfortunately, most Democrats are so milquetoast they don’t even ID as liberals but as ‘centrists’. of course they’d object to anyone going out and standing up for principle, vote for other people until the mean guy who says mean stuff goes away. Democrats want NPR hosts standing up for them.
beltane
The media has assigned everyone their roles. It is the preordained role of liberals to be weak and unassuming. Liberals who deviate from the script are condemned as shrill, strident, or extreme. That is why the media lapped it up when Dick Cheney told a sitting Senator to go f*ck himself, while calling the mild-mannered Barack Obama a “dick” for not being sufficiently solicitous of the Republicans’ tender feelings. I personally feel that every encounter between a liberal and a pundit should include a reference to the pundit’s salary, but that’s just me.
cleek
yeah, we had Weiner.
Harry Reid was sounding pretty feisty on NPR yesterday when he was talking about the FAA/union thing. but that might have been the first time i’ve ever heard him make a direct attack on anything.
Emanuel Cleaver (IIRC) gave a pretty nice smack down of the debt limit fiasco, too.
Amir_Khalid
@Samara Morgan:
Becoz u does it rong.
A ccouple of hints:
1. Don’t make it about how much you dislike the blogger.
2. Don’t make it about you.
PS: Hint no. 3: Keep your calm.
Aunt Moe
I don’t think the breadth of Christie’s appeal has been about politics or policy – I think it was always about his candor. People are starved for candor and he delivers.
Villago Delenda Est
My nym explains what must be done.
The heads of Henry and Reid, and the rest of their cocktail party going brethren, need to be placed on pikes outside the burning shell of the Kaplan Test building.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
Nancy Smash does a pretty good job. Okay, not like Grayson or Weiner or Barney Frank, but, we take what we get.
Reid has moments of feistyness but you hafta endure weeks of everything else he says in order to hear it. Not exactly “on feisty” 24/7.
sb
@El Tiburon: Second that.
Mind you, I’m a teacher so if Christie and I were in the same room he better have company with him but I liked what he did here.
Hunter Gathers
He’s not a bigot. Big fucking deal. Am I supposed to congratulate a motherfucker on joining the 21st century? Does he get a cookie? It’s 2011. Not 1962. I was under the impression that bigotry was frowned upon in this day and age.
Some fat asshole who yells at teachers and tells a constituent to go fuck herself when she asks why he sends his kids to private school is all of a sudden a fucking hero for not calling a Muslim a Sand Nigger?
Hey, I just fed and changed the diaper of my 10 month old. Where’s my fucking profile in courage?
Don’t kiss the ass of people who do the shit they are supposed to fucking do.
Governor Fat Fuck just jumped a 2 inch hurdle. Better give him a fucking medal.
Davis X. Machina
@bmcchgo: Throw in the men and he’s not-resonating with 47% of them.
All based on policy, I’m sure.
beergoggles
Well it worked for Ted Kennedy for a long time.. and then the media stopped paying attention to him unless he got even drunkier..
David Fud
A Republican standing up for a Mooslim? What is this world coming to? Sweet Fancy Moses, this presser is a talking dog smashing on the knuckledragging Tea Baggers. What a weird experience, seeing reality from a Republican on the teevee of all places! I want to send him $20 just because somebody shot it straight for once. (And I am no fan of Christie).
ET
This is what the media sees though the liberal media abuse:
Republicans talk tough = being tough (regardless of the reality)
Democrats talk tough = being whiney (regardless of the reality)
Hence Democrats don’t talk tough, there is no upside only a downside.
beltane
@Villago Delenda Est: You are mean and uncivil.
And by the way, will the heads on a spike be preceded by a good old fashioned drawing and quartering? It would be the height of barbarism to not follow proper form.
Waldo
Totally agree with all the points you make — so need to subject myself to another Chris Crisco rant, right?
kdaug
What does Bernie Sanders call himself, again – an Independent Democratic Social.ist?
Lawrence O’Donnell? “I’m not a Democrat, I’m a Social.ist!”
Yeah. Like that. More please.
Enough of the bullshit milquetoast triangulating. Embrace their derision. “Damn straight, I am!” And then explain what it means.
Brian R.
I don’t like the guy, but credit where credit is due.
I live in NJ, and Christie’s poll numbers aren’t down because he speaks frankly like this. They’re down because he’s stupidly rejecting federal money that people here want and because he botched local education issues.
If he were mealy-mouthed, his numbers would be even lower.
Just Some Fuckhead
@ET:
That’s not just the media. Look around you here, emoprog.
Samara Morgan
Summary: Gov. Christie delivers a clear, forceful smackdown to the nuts, bigots and idiots who think Sharia law is around the corner in the USA.
the only thing americans need to know about shariah law is that it forbids proselytization of the poor and ignorant. its in the Quran.
i bet christie doesnt know that.
and the reason that this is IMPORTANT is that freedom of speech legalizes proselytization of everyone, including the poor and ignorant.
therefore westernstyle democracy with freedom of speech is INCOMPATIBLE with Islam.
and that is why America just spent 4.4 trillion dollars FOR NOTHING.
Upper West
So much for Christie’s Pres. or probably VP chances — He thinks being concerned about Sharia law is “crazy?” Fuggedaboudit To the Republican primary voters Sharia Law is the second greatest threat to America (after Obama – although I’m sure they think he follows Sharia Law).
as for Chrstie, there’s being forceful and there’s being a dick. Here, he’s being forceful. With the teacher who asked the private school question he was being a dick. Because the Sharia Law question is obviously nuts and the private school question is reasonable.
NobodySpecial
The Onion says it all.
rickstersherpa
@beltane: I think Beltane has noticed an important point. The post-nineties media has its narrative, an when a character who is supposedly liberal breaks character, it is discordant and does not comply with the script.
As for Christie, well, even a broken clock is at least right twice a day. Give him credit for breaking with the the right wing noise machine to defend someone for whom he feels personal loyalty and friendship. Again, we have not seen such a defense for ACORN, Van Jones, Elizabeth Warren, and Planned Parenthood.
dpCap
@Hunter Gathers:
Totally agree. Just because he’s with the 1990’s doesn’t mean he’s not a douche.
Frankensteinbeck
Tough talk is satisfying, but because it makes you feel good doesn’t mean it works.
beltane
And to prove my point, the President is being condemned for delivering a Ramadan message http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/08/03/1002743/-Fox-News-gets-upset-over-President-Obamas-Ramadan-message,-fails-to-mention-President-Bushs?detail=hide Does this mean Obama is a self-hating Jew?
JWL
Cole: To think, months ago you had the gall to upbraid me after I wrote of being ill at ease with my incomprehension at just what angered the president.
As Dr. Leo Marvin once counseled, it’s all about “Baby Steps”. You’re coming along, and doing just fine. Keep it up, Tiger.
DonkeyKong
Democrats don’t talk like that? Can anybody name the asshole that said this?
“For nearly four years you have had an Administration which instead of twirling its thumbs has rolled up its sleeves. We will keep our sleeves rolled up.
We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace—business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.
They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.
Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred.
I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these forces met their master.”
The Populist
@Han’s Big Snark Solo:
Alan Grayson was brilliant at being in your face, having the facts on his side. The difference between us sane people and the psychos on the right is that our people like to use facts as our weapon. Those idiots just react.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
And later today on Birth of a Firebagger, Mr. Cole exhorts his minions to not just talk the talk, but to also walk the walk and never capitulate on your core principles, even if it means only one historic term…
.
.
rickstersherpa
What would we do without “the Onion,” “the Daily Show,” and “the Colbert Report.”
Pat
Now don’t you go and make Obama break out the slapping gloves!
beltane
@DonkeyKong: FDR would have been devoured alive by our 24/7 cable news maggots. Can you imagine Mark Halperin’s reaction to such a speech?
Maude
In NJ, there was a lot of talk about this. The Righties were shouting about Muslims. Gee, thanks Bush.
He is having pot distribution centers open this year. The law is there and he is going with it. The pot is for medical use.
He upped the amount of money for Charity Care which is for hospital care. He didn’t cut food stamps. He’s toast if he tries a national run.
The straw was the helicopter and the limo at the baseball game.
He has screwed up a lot.
The state has serious unemployment.
Cris (without an H)
The Dean Scream
WereBear
And look what happened to Grayson. He was drowned in oppo money.
bottyguy
I agree that Dems should talking like that more. I think the reason that the media has a freak out about it when it happens is that they know they can go to some GOP nutter and get some Scarlet O’Hara reaction that will make good TV/Radio.
satby
Well, I’m glad Christie was so forceful in rejecting the bigots and nutters; and I’m touched that he’s so tired of dealing with them. Since he’s a rising star in the bigots and nutters party, maybe he can do something about that.
The Moar You Know
@Jody: Precisely. We must always take the high road lest we become…(shudder)…them.
Fucking pansy-ass party full of pearl-clutchers who faint at the first furrowed brow of disapproval. Sometimes I hate being a Democrat.
Quiddity
While I don’t like Christie on policy grounds, I was aware of his talk and agree with Cole about its effectiveness.
Democrats and liberals, when getting flack for appointing a Muslim, tend to do the following:
Say that we should appeal to our better nature.
Remark that Islam is a religion that has high ideals and a venerable tradition.
Point out that discrimination is un-American.
All totally cerebral, philosophical, and lame.
bkny
listen to dick durbin or harry reid — it’s depressing as hell. their entire demeanor is ‘kick me’; they SOUND like beaten down puppies — fer chrissakes — what the fuck was reid doing on the floor reminiscing about his friggin pomegranate bushes back in nevada.. gawd, i want to puke when i see them on camera.
Zach
See also: Bloomberg’s speech regarding the “Ground-Zero” mosque. It didn’t move public opinion much, unfortunately, but I wish Obama had taken the same tone in regard to some fundamentally screwed up things that’ve happened in this country: keeping GTMO open, denying terrorism suspects real trials, calling Sonya Sotomayor a racist, etc. Some things are just wrong even in the he-said/she-said world and it doesn’t hurt to say so.
cat48
First time I’ve been able to tolerate listening to Christie. For once, he’s not attacking a teacher.
Speaking of Judges, I read that Jerry Brown appointed Goodwin Liu to the State Supreme Ct.
I prefer “blunt Obama” at times, but the Media has a difficult time with it.
mk3872
You answered your own question, Cole:
When Obama slaps down the GOP, he’s belittled as being a “professor” or “lecturing”. When Dems talk like this, they’re being “partisan” or “nasty”.
Conservamedia always responds thus: “Dem Gov Hates Christians”
ornery curmudgeon
performances
As you said.
The Moar You Know
@Lolis: Sure. Christie just insured that the Teahadis will destroy any chance he had at re-election. Which was minimal even before this. But you don’t get to call teabaggers who believe in the Caliphate and Sharia takeover “the crazies” and live as a Republican.
Pat
Fool me once..
“What we have done, Larry, also is set a new template. In the future, any president, this one or another one, when they request us to raise the debt ceiling, it will not be clean anymore. This is just the first step. This, we anticipate, will take us into 2013. Whoever the new president is, is probably going to be asking us to raise the debt ceiling again. Then we will go through the process again and see what we can continue to achieve in connection with these debt ceiling requests of presidents to get our financial house in order.” – Sen. Mitch McConnell
WaterGirl
@NobodySpecial: I laughed, and then I realized that Onion article is why god made the phrase “sad, but true”.
geg6
Jeebus, Cole.
If there is anyone I don’t want Democrats emulating, it’s this asshole.
He’s a fucking bully who needs punched in his big, fat face by someone like me. Way smaller than he is, so he can be shown as the cowardly, self-hating piece of shit he really is. I’ve taken down bigger asshole bullies than this guy. I think he’d crumble without me even having to hit him.
Just like every bully since the beginning of time.
gnomedad
@Hunter Gathers:
Unfortunately, that’s “man bites dog” news among that crowd.
DonkeyKong
Learned helplessness, as a technical term in animal psychology and related human psychology, means a condition of a human person or an animal in which it has learned to behave helplessly, even when the opportunity is restored for it to help itself by avoiding an unpleasant or harmful circumstance to which it has been subjected.
Doing something once or twice will never break the cycle.
Alyson
As a woman, this is not all that mystifying. We deal with a double-standard all the time.
When I’m telling other people what to do in the context of the consultant job I was contracted for, I’m called bossy and a bitch. When my male partner does the same thing in the same way, he’s called strong and a leader.
It’s about preconceptions.
Pat
Fool me twice…
The Moar You Know
@DonkeyKong: Sure can. He’s been dead for 70 years. The quote is more than 80 years old. The way you’re talking, you’d think he said it last year. Got any examples from this century?
Svensker
Not wild about the fat bastard but he does well in speaking his mind here. Good for him.
harlana
Sooo, you’re saying use the “bully pulpit”?
Wait, no . . .
celticdragonchick
I think that a “Nixon in China” thing is going on here. The village cheers if Democrats go after their own (remember Clinton and Sista Soulja), and they get thrills if the GOP actually does likewise. Anything else is “shrill” and “partisan” no matter how truthful or substantive.
freelancer
@WaterGirl:
Metallica’s prolific but I wouldn’t exactly call them “god”.
gene108
Yeah, but most of the time when Republicans are being “forceful” the truth isn’t on their side.
Anyway, Democrats usually stick up for their principles, in matters concerning whether one of their own is an Islamic terrorist or not or wants to impose Sharia law.
The problem is these statements of principle usually get drowned out by the right-wing noise machine.
I mean, how many Democrats ran from supporting President Obama because he is a Kenyan-born-Communist-Marxist-disciple-of-Osama bin Laden-Muslim-who-pals-around-with-domestic-terrorists-and-plans-to-convert-us-all-to-Taliban style Islam?
What makes Christie’s speech sadly interesting is (1) a Republican is being honest and forceful and (2) Republicans rarely stand up to the wing-nut whurlitzer, when someone is called out for not being mean enough to brown people.
If this was a Democrat, it would be ignored, because Democrats are expected to and do stand up for minority rights.
boss bitch
You answered the question in your post.
Cynicor
I automatically don’t trust Sohail Mohammed now, because Chris Christie is on his side.
harlana
@bkny: Ugh, saw that, absolutely pathetic
oh now Tweety is playing clips of republicans calling the president a liar
you know, I don’t remember any Dems coming out and defending the president when these bags o’ dicks called him a liar.
James E. Powell
Howard Dean. And I don’t mean the scream. Early in his campaign, he gave a speech in California. Near the end he said, “I’m tired of listening to fundamentalist preachers!” I sent him a hundred bucks and became a Deaniac. No regrets.
burnspbesq
@Ol’ Dirty DougJ:
Christie’s approval ratings are in the shitter because of his policies, not because he’s loud, abrasive, and opinionated. You can’t live in New Jersey if you’re not loud, abrasive, and opinionated.
That video clip may be the only thing I’ve ever heard Christie say that was 100 percent dead-on.
@Cynicor:
That’s remarkably stupid.
samson
Daddies have to be like that sometimes. We respect that in Daddies.
It’s unbecoming for Mommies though. Mommies have to do what Daddies say … and sometimes kiss our boo boos.
SteveinSC
I’m in for it. Fuck the sons-of-bitches. Bill Maher and Keith are in, too.
boss bitch
liberals shouldn’t be calling anyone milquetoast. Its a label that’s been slapped on you for decades.
If you want an asshole you better have thick skin and be able to handle it when they come after you.
harlana
@DonkeyKong: The speech bears listening to, especially where the crowd goes wild when he says “I welcome their hatred”
I wanted to post the audio here the other night but I didn’t feel like getting yelled at for being a smelly dfh.
Felinious Wench
Look at Governor Schweitzer of Montana. His stunt of branding and burning Republican bills was pure political theatre.
His approval rating is 60%.
Edit: Article on the Brand of Shame: http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_0b81ef20-6602-11e0-a8ca-001cc4c03286.html
Davis X. Machina
@harlana: Check the date of that speech. It’s more like “I welcome their hatred, but I accept their macroeconomic analysis of the situation.”
Nine months later, the economy, down she goes.
The prevailing wisdom is the prevailing wisdom because it prevails. Few are immune.
Not even FDR was ‘FDR’.
harlana
@James E. Powell: I loved Dean, I campaigned hard for him here where I live (in a very red state). His fatal mistake was to suggest he might break up media monopolies. I was totally in love with him as a candidate, my anti-war candidate.
Uncle Clarence Thomas
.
.
Delivery for boss bitch!
.
Delivery for boss bitch!
.
The satan sandwich you ordered has arrived – So delicious, it’s stacked with thick layers of alternating cat food and cat shit, and topped off with a freshly cut slice of the finest organic prickly pear cactus so you won’t feel like ordering another one.
Mangia!
.
.
boss bitch
@Felinious Wench:
If only he could brand an actual Republican.
geisha gurl
@Hunter Gathers:
Thank you.
chopper
@burnspbesq:
as much as i like to make fun of new jersey, that isn’t true at all. lots of people in NJ think christie is a fat, pushy boor who makes the whole state look bad.
harlana
@geg6: All you’d have to do to take him down is make him jog a couple of yards.
I hear he has a personal trainer. doesn’t seem to be working out so well.
Felinious Wench
@boss bitch: He implied castration.
Gotta love that.
chopper
@Pat:
right, and then clinton got and signed a clean bill, nothing other than raising the debt ceiling. wait, the bill had other shit in it? oh, shit. i guess the motherfucker compromised! off with his head!
Jewish Steel
@Frankensteinbeck: Oh, yeahhh? (pokes chest)
Dave
Lost in all these whining comments about how people don’t like Christie is the fact that what he’s saying here is perfectly reasonable.
Democrats don’t talk like this because they fear that making demands of Republicans will make CNN sad.
Nevertheless, they really must start making forceful demands of Republicans.
Cassidy
@Alyson: don’t be such a…..
I keed, I keed.
erin
@John Cole
Remember when Obama showed a flash of emotion from the press briefing room in response to the McConnell plan (which he should have accepted)?
When David Brooks saw that, he complained about Obama’s “temper”:
http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/07/david-brooks-obamas-anger-management-sponsor.html
I used to be somewhat skeptical about the idea that if Obama just got mad, the only people making an issue of his ‘temper’ would be the far right, not people like Brooks.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
Puppy vs ducks
Elie
Christie does have a nice “commanding” presence for those who mistake that for “the goods”. Like the Dog Whisper says, we always want a pack leader.
I also get what you didnt say John.. without putting too fine a point on it, that you wished Obama (and probably other leading Democrats), would do this more often.
I think they try, but it just doesnt come off like it does for Republicans. Obama has been as forthright on several occasions, but its usually spun somehow negatively.
Also, I push back on the notion that a strong person necessarily comes across so directly. It would be great to acknowledge the different types of personal and leadership “strength”. As none other than the great Winston Churcill said: “Talk softly but carry a big stick”
DKF
It’s all well and good that people like Christie are complaining about the kooks now, but he and the rest of the Republican “moderates” should have done it a long fucking time ago. The Crazy Horse that they cynically and calculatedly fed and nurtured over the years has long since left the stable, and there is nothing the allegedly sane Republicans or anyone else can do about it. It’s their own fault. They now have the Republican Party they deserve. Assholes.
Cassidy
I never understand why this is so hard. People are pack animals. When you operate with that kind of instinct, it’s usually easy to get what you want.
Elie
@Hunter Gathers:
LOL! well said
Amir_Khalid
@Samara Morgan:
Oh, and hint no. 4: Not everything revolves around your obsessions, OK?
burnspbesq
@chopper:
I was kidding. As a proud, 201-fa-life son of the Garden State, I’m allowed to make cracks like that.
Hal
Christie’s approval is shit, so who cares if he’s in your face? If Christie had better policies a state like NJ would be behind, he could be a church mouse on the volume front and still have a 60+ approval.
Why do Dems always crave bullshit public theater and then bitch when there aren’t enough Christie like idiots on our side? I don’t want theater, and I want policies I can support.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@burnspbesq: My dissertation chair was Joisey, loud mouth, know-it-all, arrogant, phony blue collar schmuck.
eta gumbah
General Stuck
@Felinious Wench:
He was my graduate teaching assistant, and used to grade my term papers and essays marking a big bunch of red pen ink all across them. Then I would say WTF are you doing that. And we’d get in a yelling match for 5 or 6 minutes, then go about our business. The dude was and is a wildman, and it doesn’t surprise me a bit him doing the branding thing. he is a very smart dude, beyond the bluster.
PS – He was right about my writing style being awful in those days, where I would write 5 paragraphs when one was plenty. I don’t that so much anymore.
Jewish Steel
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): If only Obama would amble his fat little body at those Teaparty ducks…
Best part: puppy rolls backwards out of dog house.
eemom
@Hunter Gathers:
I wholeheartedly endorse that comment, except that insofar as calling a fat fuck a fat fuck is deemed a violation of P.C. Code section eleventy three hundred point z, I disclaim all knowledge thereof.
Raven (formerly stuckinred)
@Jewish Steel: Yea, he couldn’t get in past the other pups butt!
ericblair
@Elie:
Yeah, funny how a black guy getting angry could be spun negatively.
You really need the media in your back pocket to get away with shit like this, otherwise they’ll make you look like a nut. I seem to remember this guy Dean and his Scream, for instance.
Bludger
Grayson 2016
Mnemosyne
@Alyson:
Yep. And, just like this thread, if we can’t overcome that double standard through our own willpower, it’s proof that we’re losers, not proof that the double standard sucks.
I’m wondering how many of the people here declaring that it’s simple and easy to overcome a double standard and you’re a loser if you can’t do it are middle-aged white men. I’m guessing at least 80 percent, and probably more.
Oh, but now I’m a whiner for pointing out that double standards exist, which totally proves that there’s no double standard. Sigh.
boss bitch
@Felinious Wench:
OUCH!
Danny
They got FoxNews, Limbaugh, 75% of the villagers, etc etc in their pocket. We don’t. Their core supporters are soldiers, christian firebreathers, mmuricans and quarterbacks. Ours aren’t. So dem politicians aren’t gonna turn straight talk express overnight; not without changing our institutions, the village and our base..
joel hanes
@Cris (without an H):
>> But when Democrats do it, the media and others freak out
> The Dean Scream
The Wellstone funeral.
OzoneR
which is why Christie is unpopular in New Jersey?
eemom
@Mnemosyne:
I don’t like Roseann Barr, but I saw her do a great riff once about how when a man does XYZ, he’s bold, brave, commanding, etc.; when a woman does XYZ, she’s a BITCH.
OzoneR
@Ol’ Dirty DougJ:
it resonates with Republicans, not with Democrats, hence Alan Grayson’s flameout
OzoneR
Not for nothing, I hear a lot of Democrats talk like this on Muslims. A lot of them forcefully called out Peter King on his hearings.
Cain
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Hey I talk pretty tough, you should hear me in the shower.
Danny
But when do we get to see John as a damn the torpedoes straight talkin progressive talk radio host?
Just Some Fuckhead
@Cain:
Are you coming on to me?
Maude
@Amir_Khalid:
You are delightful. I am so glad you are here.
Joel
Democrats don’t talk that way because they’re afraid to. And considering the volume of death threats rolling into the presidential office these days…
Quiddity
@chopper: With Clinton, the compromise was small:
That’s peanuts compared to trillion dollar cuts (and who knows what else). Also, Clinton did not have anything like the opportunity Obama had last year, when he extended the Bush tax cuts, to demand a debt ceiling raise as part of the deal.
OzoneR
@Quiddity:
Yeah, all he did was gut welfare and completely deregulate the banking industry.
Nope, not like he could’ve asked that for NAFTA or anything.
Elie
@Amir_Khalid:
I agree with Maude… great to hear your thoughts and share asides
boss bitch
@Quiddity:
what would you have given up in that deal to get a clean raise?
OzoneR
@burnspbesq:
I don’t know man, I live in New York, but have a lot of friends from Jersey and their man reason for disliking him is because they think he’s a loudmouth bully with an ego to match his size.
Draylon Hogg
Didn’t the UAE buy all the ports in New Jersey a few years ago? Is that why this salad dodging oaf is being nice about Muslims? Want candor? Read the Rude Pundit on Mr. Christie.
Maude
@OzoneR:
Thank you. He also put the offset onto Social Security.
He’s worth over $110 million. Gee I wonder where he got that?
shortstop
@Ol’ Dirty DougJ:
I have adopted this as my slogan for August.
Davis X. Machina
@OzoneR: Running in a +2R district, first termer — Grayson was a classic wave-election casualty. He could have gone all Kanye West, Alan West, or Alan Watts, and it wouldn’t have made a difference, most likely.
moonbat
@General Stuck: I think Sweitzer would make a good presidential candidate after Obama’s second term. He could turn the mountain west blue and folks from Pennsyltucky and Joisey would probably get him too.
(Yeah for the return of the Reply button!)
OzoneR
@Davis X. Machina:
he won 38%, biggest loss of any Dem incumbents. Even Bobby Bright, who never voted with the Democrats in a R+15 district won 49%.
Derf
BAhahahah..John Galt Cole concern trolling again. “Why can’t Dems be more like Christie”
Stay douchy John!
Tonal Crow
Yes indeedy. Good rhetoric appeals to the emotions. Is our Democrats finally learning that?
burnspbesq
@OzoneR:
I don’t think your friends are giving you the straight story.
They’d have problems with Christie even if he was Mr. Civility.
And if he were a Democrat, the story would be “yeah, he can be an ass at times, but he’s fighting for us.”
moonbat
Here’s some tough talk: I am tired of the self-hating Democrats forever whining, “Why aren’t we as big a bunch of assholes as those people across the aisle that we HATE?”
Seriously, people. There’s a reason they call us the Mommy Party. We actually care about people. We don’t damn the torpedoes and screw the consequences. We look a little farther and care a little more than assholes like Christie could possibly imagine. And like it or not the people that are drawn to the Democratic Party aren’t attracted to blowhard assholes. You can be a Gov. Schweitzer who is obviously forceful, but I would argue that his little political theater was infused with a lot of humor too and that is what his supporters responded to, not just the forcefulness. What I would like to see is the Dems using more humor like this to disarm the Republican assholes. One thing you have to admit about the modern Republican Party is that it has zero sense of humor. Laughter beats chest thumping every time.
OzoneR
@burnspbesq:
which would explain why so many of them were happy to see Anthony Weiner go
Keith G
The quotes below do not represent the majority of comments here but they do account for a sizable number. The last two were from earlier threads.
A) The problem is these statements of principle usually get drowned out by the right-wing noise machine.
B) But when Democrats do it, the media and others freak out
C) Tough talk is satisfying, but because it makes you feel good doesn’t mean it works.
D) The media has assigned everyone their roles. It is the preordained role of liberals to be weak and unassuming.
E) Just because the other side is filled with dicks doesn’t mean I want my side to be.
**) I didn’t vote for Obama to become a king or dictator
**) Sigh, if only Obama was willing to exercise the Oliver Cromwell option; order the military to dissolve Congress and declare himself Protector of the United States for life.
There seems to be a number of folks resigned to a notion that the Democratic tribe can not access its inner warrior and fight with aggressive tenacity for the survival of the tribes core beliefs. When did we become weenies?
Maybe we deserve to be mocked.
Go back and scan threads on this blog from the 2nd week of November 2008. There was a whole lot of crowing and back slapping over how the GOP was on the mat for a decade, a generation, forever.
Instead of listening to us, they got back to work. While the economy helped lift them back, they still put together resources and a mindset to get them to a place where they could succeed.
We don’t have to become like them, but we do have to be able to engage them on their terms when it is necessary. Democrats need to learn how to be resolute, steadfast, and when necessary, combative.
There is a significant number of folks who seem not to be able to trust in a politician, or a political party, who will not dig in and fight for core beliefs.
edited
Matt
Note to Gov. Christie: you’re tired of the crazies? Tough – you dance with the one that brought ya. Those are YOUR crazies, and the ones that aren’t mad at you because your union-busting “didn’t go far enough” are probably the only support you have left…
chopper
@Quiddity:
so all this stuff about clinton demanding a ‘clean bill’ and ‘staring down the GOP’ and ‘calling their bluff’ isn’t horseshit because the bill he signed only had 2 of newtie’s pet policies in it?
nice try.
no, the compromises weren’t of the magnitude obama made. but the dude still compromised and gave the GOP some shit they wanted in return for a debt ceiling bill.
if clinton was dealing with today’s GOP he would have made the same compromises obama did.
Liberty60
WRT this post and Freddies earlier, while there IS a time for conciliation and soft spoken compromise, there is also a time for loud bold hyperbole and bumper-sticker messaging.
There is a lesson to be learned from the Right, which is to frame the narrative in bold clear moral terms- for example, the budget is not an abstract wonkish issue, but one of life and death, freedom versus servitude.
Another lesson to learn is to start locally; the Tea party didn’t just materialize, it has always been the fringe right side of the GOP, and has steadily been collecting power and influence beginning with school boards and city councils.
Third- defend the tribe- notice how teabaggers will claim that GWB was not one of them, but leap to his defense and shed blood for him? Obama needs to be to the left what GWB was for the right- somebody who might be criticized in private, but goddam if we will let anyone outside the left take a shot at him.
El Cid
I hope people aren’t suggesting that occasionally being loud and angry when a person or persons has done something very wrong is being an “asshole” or a “dick”.
One of the best bosses I ever worked for was an even-tempered, fair, respectful guy who worked hard and ran a company right.
But if someone screwed someone over? Or irresponsibly slacked off? Or lied, or whatever? And I mean stuff done with really bad, serious implications or repeated disrespect and bad work ethic?
He would go off as fiery and loud as needed. And no one other than the guy who was a slack-ass jerk for whom other people had to keep covering thought he was being an “ass” or a “dick”.
And if he did get overbearing or lose his temper when it wasn’t right, it didn’t take him long to apologize, and he meant it, not just to the offended person or persons, but to us in general for losing control.
Liberty60
@Keith G: You phrased it more gooder than me.
chopper
what’s funny is hearing liberals and mcconnell talk about how ‘now there’s a precedent’ and from now on raising the debt ceiling will include some republican budgetary shit.
fuck, clinton broke that seal back in 95. despite a far better economy, despite a far, far lower national debt level, despite a far saner GOP more willing to blink, despite the horrid PR newt pulled off tilting the polls in clinton’s favor, the dude still signed a bill which was half debt ceiling and half ‘contract with america’ bullshit. he let them manufacture a crisis that was even dumber in context than this one and he caved on a ‘clean bill’. but hey, he let a bunch of federal employees get furloughed to show his resolve.
yet for some reason people lionize clinton as the ‘master negotiator’. fuck that.
Alyson
@Mnemosyne:
My business partner, a middle-aged white male Republican from Texas, was actually evangelized by witnessing the double-standard in action: “I said x and they acted like I was a genius, but you’d already said the exact same thing. It’s like they didn’t even hear you!”
Reminds me of a scene in Mad Men when the young woman secretary delivers great creative work, and the men are impressed but stupified: “It’s like watching a dog play the piano.”
My partner and I have now adjusted our process to reflect this reality. He gives all the marching orders, which I design behind the scenes. It was just too inefficient for me to have to coat everything in sugar and perform the necessary bowing and scraping to get anybody to do anything.
Keith G
@Liberty60: I have been thinking on this for a long time. There are many drafts in my head and I still am not done “tuning” it.
Stillwater
@Keith G: The Fighting Democrat spirit, IMHO, died when unions lost control of politicians. The spirit you’re talking about derives from one thing: funding. If we could elect tru-blu Dems without them having to take corporate cash, and finance reelections without them dipping into special favors, we might get that back.
The TP without the Koch Bros funding is just a bunch of old teetering pissed-off white people complaining that their Party doesn’t take them seriously. Our version is the Firebaggers, without the age.
gnomedad
@harlana:
Speak!
Stay!
Seems to work …
Keith G
@Stillwater: Yeah, you have ID’d a key issue.
Still, the drive to belong, to feel a part of something, is one of the strongest components of being human. It is visceral.
The 08 Obama campaign tapped into this with one of the most susceptible age cohorts – 18 to 25 (and to a somewhat similar degree, the rest of us). But, those feelings of attachment require maintenance and renewal. Much has been written about the Democratic Party’s failure here, but this is a bit off topic I guess.
It can come down to a question of, “Do I belong to a group that will stand and fight for the things that I believe in and need and do I feel good when I am with them?” That is an emotional inquiry not a logical one.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Raven (formerly stuckinred): Thanks for that.
Rome Again
Hey John, Glen Greenwald just hat tipped you on Twitter regarding this story. I tweeted you.
Mnemosyne
@El Cid:
Actually, I think it’s the other way around — Chris Christie is always a dick to people, and he shouldn’t be cheered just because he’s on the right side for the first time in, what, two years in office?
Personally, I think it’s a lot more powerful when someone who’s generally even-tempered gets pissed off than when someone who’s always being a dick about something manages to get something right. Unfortunately, what the media is really responding to is alpha-male posturing, not righteous anger, which is why they pooh-pooh it when it comes from Democrats.
If we really wanted the media to swoon over Obama, we’d put him in a flightsuit and land him on the deck of an aircraft carrier. That’s the kind of “masculine” bullshit that meda insists makes you a “real leader,” and unfortunately way too many people on the left have bought into that same shallow posturing as being “real leadership.”
Linda
Nobody’s gotta huff or puff or put on a flightsuit. Just stand up and take the stupid criticism, and throw it back. Period. Don’t back down or appologize for being right, and don’t try to make everybody like you. Nutters won’t, period. Consider insane, stupid nutter criticism part of the atmosphere, like oxygen. Defend yourself and keep moving. Attempting to make everybody happy is a losing proposition. Just don’t bother.
priscianusjr
@OzoneR:
Felonious Wench
@General Stuck:
THAT is cool.
Just got back to Houston from Yellowstone. I heard all kinds of stories about him from the Yellowstone guides. The man is beloved.
General Stuck
@Felonious Wench:
I love Montana, after spending a very fun two years there. But the long and very cold winters were just too much, or I would be living there now.
burnspbesq
Just listened to Christie’s statement again, and there is a big “wow” moment in the first minute.
He said (approximately), “Now, there were a lot of people inappropriately detained by the FBI after 9/11.”
That’s a fairly extraordinary thing for a former US Attorney to say.
Thymezone
Okay, so let’s vote for politicians who say this: Spending at 25% GDP and collecting revenue at 15% is not sustainable over the long term. You have asked for a government that costs upwards of 20% and elected a government that insists that 15% of GDP is too much taxation. If you want a responsible and functional government, you are going to have to elect people who start with that truth and aren’t running around in circles trying to lie to you and cover up the truth about what we are doing. You can’t elect some officials who want to administer the social safety nets, and others who won’t provide the means to pay for those safety nets, and then complain when it doesn’t work and looks ugly.
Because just as it was with the ugliness of Bush’s war administration, it isn’t the pols who are at fault, it’s the people. The people elected a centrist administrator with progressive tendencies and then bitch because he isn’t liberal enough to please liberals, or conservative enough to solve a budget trainwreck he did not create.
It doesn’t do a lot of good to fawn over politicians who are “candid” when the people themselves are not candid. They are confused, illiterate, conflicted, demanding, self interested, and selfish. They want easy answers to tough problems and want to be told how great they are even after they elect a government that couldn’t work together well enough to run a neighborhood association, much less a country.
AxelFoley
Damn, John, sometimes you can be…what’s a kind word?…naive. You know (or should know) damn well that if PBO acted like a douche like Christie does, the media would jump all over his shit and that’s all we’d hear from now until next November.
This is still America, where a black man cannot lose his cool. A white guy can go all ape-shit, and he’ll be called passionate. A black man does the same thing, and he’s a thug.
TJ Parker
Oh puhleeze. Obama has done almost exactly the same thing. You just react differently because Christi is fat.
bob h
I live in NJ, and do not find much swamp-fever Republicanism here. Christie can get away with being principled on subjects like this.
Bob
This is New Jersey folks. Christie can get away with this because the state is incredibly diverse in population. We don’t have Teahadists here in large numbers. They voted him in because they felt Corzine was weak, but they never bothered looking deeper into his political history, which screams “Do as I say, not as I do.”
He’s a scumbag.
Mettle
Words come with more “umph” and ideas sound more convincing when facts back the assertions. That explains why Dems don’t have the verve of rhetoric as often in the current debates, in my opinion. And looking at the comments to this piece, civility is a rare commodity too. Yikes!
Craig
Must…resist…cheering…for Chris Christie…
Paul in KY
@Samara Morgan: Samara, I like you & your passion, however, I have seen you post the those particular comments about 32 times (give or take a few).
Could you please come up with some fresh rants?
Paul in KY
@beltane: I disagree. FDR would have had many pithy comebacks when the villagers started whining.
One thing FDR never forgot: He was on the side of right & he was telling the truth. I wish some of our modern politicians would take that to heart.
chopper
@Paul in KY:
unless you were black or jewish.
Paul in KY
@chopper: I think you can say that about just about any politician (except for the black/Jewish ones) from that era.
He also tried (better than any prior President since Lincoln) to help out Blacks during the depression. His attempts were unfortunately sometimes sabotaged by the racist Southern Democrats & Southern members of his own staff.
Jose Chung
Yes, Chris Christie is impressive. But isn’t his effectiveness more than being “forceful” and “in your face?” He is absolutely persuasive in this clip, his arguments sounding logical and fair-minded.
But what’s all this crying on the other side of the aisle? Do you really think it was persuasive and fair-minded, not to mention appropriate, for the White House itself to make blanket (and pathetic!) statements denigrating Fox News in a way that only the nutters on the Left embraced?
Joe Buck
Jose, everyone knows that Fox News is a political organization, not a news organization; Obama’s statements “denigrating” Fox News weren’t controversial to anyone but wingnuts (that is, independent voters and even many conservatives agreed with them).
Paul in KY
@Jose Chung: The sad thing, Jose, is that he didn’t go far enough when lambasting the ‘fair & balanced’ Faux News.
Jose Chung
Joe Buck, fine. (But I bet you wouldn’t be saying that if Fox swung to the left.)
So the White House’s continuous and blanket attacks on Fox News at the beginning of Obama’s presidency were not “controversial” because you agreed with them. Fine.
How about the vice president and Democratic congressional leaders’ comparing the Tea Party to terrorists and to Satan? Were those comments controversial only to “wingnuts” as well
because “everyone knows” that the Tea Party are like terrorists and hostage takers?
Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937
a mean fat fuck is still a mean fat fuck even if he finds his nuts occasionally.
Jose Chung
The prevailing view on this blog seems to be that it is altogether fitting and proper to use the power of the presidency to label speech that is critical of you “propaganda.”
Jim Cap
Oh please: Christie’s corrupt, and an arrogant, boastful bully, but he’s not an idiot. He pays attention to the polls, just like any other politician.
And he sees the trend lines: His “Tough Guy” act, which was interesting to some people at first, is now growing old.
Christie sees that he’s increasingly unpopular, and in some polls his negatives actually outweigh his positives. He can see he was heading in a bad direction, and he’s already thinking about his re-election campaign, which will be in full swing in about 22 months.
So, he chooses this “issue”, which is really a Straw Man, and which doesn’t cost him anything, to go after “the crazies” and thus look “reasonable”, which he hopes will make people forget about his ultra-right wing agenda that has had such a negative impact on most New Jersey residents.
It won’t wash, Chris. We won’t forget what you did to New Jersey’s education, transportation, jobs and other critical issues just because you separated yourself from the most radical, unhinged extremists in your own party: Ironically, some of the very people who like you the most, and who have seen you speak all over the country!
But we’re not buying it. Sorry.
Ray Watson
@Hunter Gathers:
Dude, angry much?
giantslor
“Why don’t more Democrats talk like that- forceful, in your face, etc.”
You answered your own question.
“But when Democrats do it, the media and others freak out.”
Why? Republicans are expected to do it. Democrats aren’t, so when they do, everyone freaks out. Democrats need to do it all the time so people don’t freak out anymore.
Floski
@Brian R.:
Wow, he’s actually rejecting federal money? That is balls up principled.
People in all the states complain about government spending, without realizing that the states are basically heavily subsidized by the federal government in their existence. A conservative who is actually refusing federal money is… wow.
Politically? Not smart. Because as much as people bitch about spending, NONE OF THEM WILL TURN DOWN MONEY FROM THE FED. So we’re going to keep spending and spending.
Scumbag Americans: complain about spending. demand more federal money.