Washington: Depending on one's perspective the New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is either a tell-it-like-it-is straight talker or a brash and abrasive bully.
Either way he is now also a Republican presidential candidate. "There is one thing you will know for sure: I say what I mean and I mean what I say," he told supporters during a 20 minute speech in the gym of his former high school.
The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said was, "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?"
"Come, we shall have some fun now!" thought Alice. "I'm glad they've begun asking riddles. — I believe I can guess that," she added aloud.
"Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?" said the March Hare.
"Exactly so," said Alice. "Then you should say what you mean," the March Hare went on. "I do," Alice hastily replied; "at least--at least I mean what I say--that's the same thing, you know."
"Not the same thing a bit!" said the Hatter. "You might just as well say that 'I see what I eat' is the same thing as 'I eat what I see'!"
"You might just as well say," added the March Hare, "that 'I like what I get' is the same thing as 'I get what I like'!"
"You might just as well say," added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, "that 'I breathe when I sleep' is the same thing as 'I sleep when I breathe'!" (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 7)
"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here." (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 6)
24 comments:
I listened to Christie. I hope he gets on the debate stage. I would like to hear more. A lot more.
Sometimes listening closely and withholding quick judgement is most appropriate. Christie is one of those times to do so IMO.
Given the choices in the GOP it just makes good sense. Given the alternative democraticchoices as well.
It's instructive how intelligent folks of different political leanings might view Alice in Wonderland. And therein lies the interesting
factor.
So far Christie and Fiorina are the only two GOP candidate that deserve second looks
IMO.
As for the Party of the Donkey, Sanders gets a second look. At least he is honest as news as I can tell.
via Daily Kos:
Tom Moran:
Most Americans don't know Chris Christie like I do, so it's only natural to wonder what testimony I might offer after covering his every move for the last 14 years.
Is it his raw political talent? No, they can see that.
Is it his measurable failure to fix the economy, solve the budget crisis or even repair the crumbling bridges? No, his opponents will cover that if he ever gets traction.
My testimony amounts to a warning: Don't believe a word the man says.
If you have the stomach for it, this column offers some greatest hits in Christie's catalog of lies.
Don't misunderstand me. They all lie, and I get that. But Christie does it with such audacity, and such frequency, that he stands out.
Tim Moran... Daily KOS.
As partisan as it gets.
Bullies and Blowhards deserve representation so Christie will do well with them.
Fiorina should be quite adept at blaming others for her mistakes. According to NBC she blamed her dismal performance at HP between 1999 and 2005, one of the greatest companies of all time, on "the worst technology recession in twenty-five years."
Nice.
Let me put it more starkly with Christie. Just imagine if Christie had been elected our president in 2008 and it was he who had been charged with repairing all of our broken relationships with allies after the Cheney presidency instead of Obama.
Tom Moran is on the editorial board of New Jersey's The Star Ledger and has been covering Christie for 14 years. He doesn't work for the Daily Kos, the Daily Kos picked up Moran's editorial after Christie announced and linked to it.
I'm sure, like all editorials, there's some bias, but it's a pretty good bet that Moran knows a lot about Christie and his relationship with the truth.
Hm, seems Christie, in a widely and what is near forever a democratic state had to work across the aisle with the other side.
Who knows at this point. At least I'm keeping my ears open and my mind clear of clutter and rhetorical BS from both sides.
As I fully anticipate the hyperbolic onslaught and innuendos, along with falsehoods from both sides, popcorn and beer will be kept readily available for the evening news cycles.
It's going to be surreal this time and it sure as hell I going to be a gag!
Also, Christie bragged about how he'll make Washington work by getting people to work together. He's immensely unpopular in his own state:
From Business Insider:
"The chart below shows the change in Christie's fortunes, illustrating how the percentages of Americans who hold favorable and unfavorable views of the New Jersey governor have shifted over time. Christie's net favorability peaked in January 2013, when 51% of Americans had a favorable opinion, and just 23% had an unfavorable opinion.
Those numbers have flipped upside-down, with polling this month showing 27% favorable and 55% unfavorable"
If his own state and the people who have known him as governor since 2010 think so little of him, how does he translate that into a winning position to get the nomination? He apparently failed in his goal of "working together," in his own state, since he's alienated so many voters, Dems, Repubs, and Independents, in New Jersey.
We'll see. There's always Trump or Hillary. Two great choices, eh?
"I'm Chris Christie. I know that I'm going to offend some of you during this campaign, but I assure you that I'm considered polite by New Jersey standards."
Christie's "politeness by New Jersey standards" must extend to progressive and conservative blogs as well huh?
"As I fully anticipate the hyperbolic onslaught and innuendos, along with falsehoods from both sides, popcorn and beer will be kept readily available for the evening news cycles."
It's called American politics and it's been going on since Jefferson called Adams "a blind, bald, crippled, toothless man who is a hideous hermaphroditic character with neither the force and fitness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman."
In turn, Adams called Jefferson "a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father."
So the b.s. and hyperbole is a tradition since the days of our Founding Fathers. It's up to us to wade in it without having it infect us.
All politicians pander, play with the truth, and overestimate their ability to solve domestic and foreign problems.
It's been this way forever. We voters need to figure out who will do the less damage.
What I've observed is that the country didn't do particularly well from 2001 to 2008, and with all his warts and failings, Mr. Obama has accomplished some impressive achievement, despite the unrelenting obstruction he faced from the opposition party.
There's no such thing as a perfect presidency or president.
Why we Americans bitch and moan when we don't get that perfection is a total mystery to me. Even our Founding Fathers, while they were in office made some dreadful mistakes.
Christie needed to run for President because this is his last chance to remain in politics.
He is smart and entertaining and would be a hoot to watch in a debate. His record in getting anything done in NJ is dismal partly because he over promised and partly because it is NJ where corruption and unions make it impossible to get anything accomplished.
The parade of republican candidates shows a great deal of diversity but hopefully the winner will be Rubio. It does look like no one wants to spend any money of the DNC anointed choice and her only opposition is not even a democrat.
There's an undeniable fact that voters need to keep in mind. After Hurricane Sandy, President Obama showed up in New Jersey and met with Gov. Christie to work with him on the recovery.
Governor Christie was VILIFIED by TGOPers for being seen to cooperate with the Democratic president.Significant numbers of TGOPers saw his cooperation and embrace of Obama as traitorous. Christie's reaching out to the opposition didn't work very well for him then, why would it work for him in Washington DC, where partisan politics is worse, should he become president?
His bragging that he'll get things done through cooperation rings hollow, since when he attempted to work with President Obama after Hurricane Sandy, his party kicked him in his butt for doing so.
That fact, and the fact that he's abrasive and hot tempered (two bad personality traits for a world leader) will work against, not for, Christie.
You want entertainment in a president? Vote for Will Farrell, he'll give you more cowbell.
So the b.s. and hyperbole is a tradition since the days of our Founding Fathers. It's up to us to wade in it without having it infect us.
Both Jefferson and Adams were a helluva lot smarter than the present crop of dimwits.
That fact, and the fact that he's abrasive and hot tempered (two bad personality traits for a world leader) will work against, not for, Christie.
Shades of HRC?
Good stuff is the link from NJ Starr Ledger:
"The scariest part came when Christie promised a new get-tough approach on foreign affairs, where he has zero experience, as if he can bring his belligerent "sit down and shut up" routine to the world stage.
"We have to stop worrying about being loved, and start caring about being respected again at home and around the world," he said.
Uh-oh. Boots on the ground in Ukraine, anyone?
This campaign is starting four years too late. The mojo Christie had in 2012, when he became a star, is dead and gone."
So many presidential candidates on the GOP side, how to choose between them? Give any of them an inch -- each wants to be a ruler. Speaking of rulers, how about this criteria for choosing between them: Which one of these candidates would you want to be with on a nude beach?
(I thought so! Me neither.)
Nor would I want to be on a nude beach with any of the democratic candidates either.
Which one of these candidates would you want to be with on a nude beach?
Thanks, Shaw.
I as just ready to dip into a cold macaroni salad.
Christie absolutely does not have a temperament that should allow him anywhere near the presidency.
Bluster and threat make bad foreign policy especially.
So do lies and deceit. a HRC speciality.
Depending on one's perspective the New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is either a tell-it-like-it-is straight talker or a brash and abrasive bully.
He waited too long to jump in. He'll never be able to compete with Trump in that field.
Which one of these candidates would you want to be with on a nude beach?
That sheep is a candidate?
Not the best way to pick a leader, in fact, but I doubt Christie would poll well on that question either.
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