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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFuck Chris Christie
The bullying prick won by 22 points for one simple reason: The media loves the asshole. He's a typical old-school Republican: Slave to the ultrarich. They own corporations. The corporations own the media. And the media tell the people what to think. So they pass his foul-tempered, thin-skinned bluster off as honest plain-speaking and the fucking sheep believe what they're told to believe. They're told he's a moderate and they believe it because the media tell them to.
Christie might not be a gibbering madman like the current Teapublicans but he's hard-right. He vetoed a raise in the minimum wage of a measly dollar, using the same excuses corporatists (a polite word for "fascist" always use. He vetoed same-sex marriage and let's not pretend that dropping the appeal was some outbreak of sanity. He dropped it because he had no chance whatsoever of winning. None. Zilch. Zero. Noticing when the courts crack the gavel on your head doesn't win you any points. He's slashed the state's Earned Income Tax Credit and property tax rebates, shifting the tax burden onto the poor in a big way. He pulled out of a regional environmental deal. He cut family planning and women's health, leading to the closure of six family planning centres and his unemployment record is dismal.
He's a dismal failure as a governor, propped up entirely by the media that kiss his ass and pretend he's more successful than he actually is. He's a mirage, a phantom. All media hype with the politics of doing absolutely fucking anything to suck the cocks of the rich and fuck over the poor. For most Teapublicans, hurting the poor is an incidental by-product of their agenda, something they don;t care about either way. But Christie enjoys it. He gets a thrill from knowing that he's making poor people suffer.
He is scum and slime, propelled by a worshipful, sycophantic media. What terrifies me is that I could have said the same about Reagan and the media lied about him so effectively that he got two terms as president and the entire right-wing (and more moderates than my sanity can tolerate) have literally declared him the greatest president in history and the Second Coming (mark my fucking words, the dominant religion in the GOP will be Reaganism within thirty years).
Fuck Chris Christie. And that's being nice. If I shared my hopes for the evil slimeball, this post would be (rightfully) pulled.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)that he was supported and even endorsed by Dems over the Dem candidate. Can't blame the media for everything. People have access to extensive news sources today so if they choose to rely on the Corporate Media, it is because they are hearing what they want to hear.
Rex
(65,616 posts)One of the reasons I have so many supposed 'moderates' on ignore. I guess personal integrity means nothing to some here.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)so I got to see an amazing thing today. Excuses as to why a Dem might want to vote for a Republican. I read that 30% of NJ Dems voted for the Republican. I also read that the State Dems derailed Buono's candidacy, some even endorsing Christie.
I hope no one tells me anymore that it is not acceptable to point out common ground with members of other parties. Rules should be consistent, not just for the 'little people'. Obama embraced him, I was told and that 'showed the NJ voters that he was not a TP lunatic'.
Unbelievable. If the Dem Party doesn't want Progressives as members anymore, they should just be honest and say so. We get the message that they don't respect Progressives, but they still need their votes, when they want them.
Rex
(65,616 posts)for associating with libertarians! I would LOVE to see those exact same people explain away why voting for a Repuke is a good thing! The two-face from self described 'moderates' is disgusting and why I don't believe a word some of them say. DINOs have no integrity. A huge difference between liberals and supposed 'moderates' imo.
warrant46
(2,205 posts)This place is not like it was 10 tears ago when the Chimp was President and was being fried continuously for his Criminal War that still seems to be going on.
Prophet 451
(9,796 posts)I can't put my finger on it(I missed my meds today which doesn;t help) but this place is definitely different than it was.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Party is more and more being controlled by the Conserva-Dems. The progressives are being push aside to make room for the Republicans moving into our tent.
We must work to get our party back.
noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)aka, moderates, have more of a problem with liberals/progressives than with rw republicons.
Prophet 451
(9,796 posts)The Very Serious People are corporatist to a man.
noiretextatique
(27,275 posts)they are kinda like the democratic version of teabaggers in believing that serving corporate interests somehow helps anyone, except the 1%.
Prophet 451
(9,796 posts)Watching teh corporate news on your tv is a passive activity, seeking out alternative news is active. And after thirty years of media drifting ever further to teh right (with the minimal exception of MSNBC in primetime), a lot of people simply don't know any better. They've been told since forever that the media has a liberal bias and they simply don't know to question it.
Rex
(65,616 posts)nt.
stopbush
(24,396 posts)dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)I was under the impression he won because more people voted for him.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)candidate and if prominent DEMS in NJ had not endorsed the Republican, the Dem candidate had a good chance of beating him.
You will be told that he won because of 'his handling of Sandy'. NOTHING could be further from the truth. He was in big trouble over his handling of Hurricane Sandy, an issue that, if Dems had wanted to win, could easily have been used against him, legitimately.
The only question left is 'why are Dems undermining their own candidates in favor of a Right Wing Republican?
Prophet 451
(9,796 posts)I reckon they're thinking that Christie will both run and win in 2016 and they're trying to store up political favours with Christie for teh future. As if Republicans understood gratitude anyway.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)I think you and I both know the answer to that question...
pscot
(21,024 posts)-Laelth
mindwalker_i
(4,407 posts)to steal a line from the Rude one.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)if the long game thinkers in our party want him to be the nominee in 2016, maybe there's a reason.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)But I think we have a couple names that could beat him.
Cosmocat
(14,564 posts)He IS going to be touted "the guy who is going to do to DC and take charge" like W was passed off as "the guy you would like to have a beer with."
And, people in this country are so fed up with DC, even thought it is the Rs being jackasses, that they will GLADLY go along with it.
Hill is the only candidate who can beat him as a D.
First, her own gravitas.
Second, her being a woman will offer the chance to differentiate. Any guy is going to be measured as a man, and will be marginalized as weak (with them REALLY pointing to BO an screaming how "weak" he was) vs Christie being the take charge guy we need.
With Hill his being a hard ass won't make her not being as hard ass as him a negative because she is a woman. Tough for a woman, but offering more of an acceptance that you don't need to be a screaming jerk off to get DC under control.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)And I would think that HRC supporters would have learned from 2008, that proclaiming inevitability early and often is no guarantee of anything.
That said, I think odds are decent she will be the nominee, and if so she will be a formidable one.
Interestingly enough, Ive heard Al Gore's name floated a few times in recent weeks. Enough to make my little old ears perk up.
Interesting.
Prophet 451
(9,796 posts)Personally, I don't see Gore running. I think he's satisfied being an elder statesman and promoting global warming (that sounds wrong but you know what I mean). Although I agree with Bill Maher that he should make a second movie called "Inconvenient Truth 2: what the fuck is wrong with you people?" (I'm trying to avoid going off on another rant about climate change deniers).
But given that Gore provably won in 2000 and got cheated out of it by the SCOTUS, he'd be an interesting run. Hell, I remember suggesting a Gore-Kerry run as the Restoration Ticket.
I think it's going to be Hillary. I can't see anyone ready to slot into position with the backing, skills and name recognition. I could be wrong, of course.What makes me nervous is that, if she runs, A) we're likely to see the return of the media's hatred of the Clintons; and B) the Republican habit of treating the highest profile Democrat as evil incarnate pretty much started under the Clintons.
What I'm saying is that there used to be a firewall between the crazy right fringe who think everything to the left of Hitler is CommuSocialFascism and the mainstream right who did teh actual governing. It was during Bill's admin that the rise of conservative talk radio, Fox news and the completed fundie takeover on the state level eroded that firewall. Then it was dedicated to propping up DimSon. And now we have the absolute murderous, treason-in-all-but-name hatred of Obama (and, despite what the right tells themselves, we were nowhere near this bad to Bush). If Hillary runs, all of that hatred will be trained at her, all of the old lies/scandals will come up again along with some new ones (if she runs and wins, I guarantee they will impeach her over something). And the press have always hated teh Clintons.
Against that little hate-parade, you'd have a Christie who was being all but annointed by an adoring media. People think teh Teabaggers and Religious Reich wouldn't go for him but that gives them credit for having actual principles. If the GOP nominated Satan himself, the Teabaggers and Religious Reich would vote for him. Their religion isn't Christianity, it's Republicanism and anything (and I mean that word as a cast-iron absolute) is not just allowed but divinely ordered if it supports the Republican party.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)But yes, the GOP has been taken over by the nutbar brigade, no question.
I've always wanted to see Al run again. But right now I give better than even odds for Hillary being the nom. And in her favor, she knows the game and she knows how to fight back. She's probably more prepared than most for the inevitable onslaught.
Cosmocat
(14,564 posts)I guess I should have waited a day to speculate that Hill would be the nominee ...
Cosmocat
(14,564 posts)of course it is too early and anything can happen.
If it were today, this is pretty much how it would break down.
BTW - I had no skin in the game in 2008, so I wasn't a "Hillary supporter."
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)but, too early to commit.
DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)if it is between Hill and CC, where does the left go?
Oh yeah, we get sent out of the room either way.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)will get through to the primaries, no one else has a chance and then they all get to show Wall St which one of them will be their best bet. We just get to go along for the ride.
I'm way more interested in Congress from now. I think the WH has been totally coopted and no one WE might want there, has a chance. Not until we get a government in place that can undo all harm that has been over the past several decades.
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)Everybody's overthinking this.
New Jersey is a special place where the "Democratic Party" (and there are often several of them at war with each other) is more like Huey Long's or Tammany Hall's. Everything is done by machine, and I hear Norcross is still alive and well, but I don't know who's running Essex, Union, or Hudson now. When I lived there Ray Lesniak used his law firm, job as state senator, and county leader position to run half the state.
The Joisey machines are not driven by anything you could call policy or good government by any stretch-- they are driven solely by what is in it for the bosses and apparatchiks. Sometimes a decent guy like Rush Holt sneaks in, largely because he's someone they can point to and he's no threat to them. Sometimes you get Sharpe James.
The NJ governor is possibly the most powerful governor in the country. He appoints legislative committees and holds the pursestrings, among other things. With his poll numbers and Sandy ads, no county leadership was going to oppose him and suffer his obvious wrath when he wins.
Christie as President? He's term-limited in Joisey, so he can't hurt anyone after this and the knives will come out. If he tries to run, he'll implode the first time he lectures the press or anyone else in his special style.
TheKentuckian
(25,026 posts)and prove to be focused no further than the next election and then only in the context of fighting the last war.
djean111
(14,255 posts)Really, endorsing Republicans if the Dem nominee is seen as not able to win - WTF??? A whole new ball game!
boomersense
(147 posts)chance if he runs. It really is impossible to forecast 2016 even in a wild guess because 2014 will have such unusual events taking place--Iran, Immigration, etc. And the budget meeting in December, where "earned retirement benefits" cuts will be discussed. If agreed to by the Democrats, that would be it for me. I still cannot believe the horror that Cucinelli is got so many votes. He is like something out of the Twilight Zone.
Prophet 451
(9,796 posts)The "liberal" party is centre-right by any rational standard. The "conservative" party aren't conservative at all, they're far-right radicals. And their base (teh Teabaggers) are literally, demonstratably Fascist. And I'm not using that as a nasty word. I took my minor in PoliSci, I'm using that word in it's strict technical sense. But they are provably Fascist.
And they have this entire alternate reality that they live in. Alternate theology that owes less to Jesus than to Ayn Rand; alternate history that turns the Founders into fundie Christians who only intended to cover Christianity in the 1st and wanted you to own a howitzer; alternate PoliSci that rewrites the entire politicl spectrum just so they can blame both Communism and Fascism on the left (even though, because they;re rewriting the spectrum purely for political ends, assigning them to teh left is entirely talking-point based); alternate legal theory that has nothing to do with the legal theory taught in the rest of the world (my major was law and I'm currently doing a Psych degree); alternate dictionary. Alternate everything, just so they can exist in this strange little bubble where they're never confronted with even slightly discomfiting facts. When I point out that they're misusing the phrase "politically correct" as a means-anything snarl word and supply the dictionary definition, they tell me that the fucking dictionary has a liberal bias.
boomersense
(147 posts)but my country, America, was destroyed by Ronald Reagan years ago. I don't understand much about anything anymore. As informed as you sound, I would wager you have some idea what is going to happen. We're in a Perfect Storm with no sails or engine. If TPP is voted in, prepare to abandon ship.
Prophet 451
(9,796 posts)Free trade agreements always benefit the corporates, never the working people.
Cosmocat
(14,564 posts)Spot on analysis, and it is REALLY hard to deal with how far entrenched they are how far to the right they have drug the entire country.
People here are fricken itching to cut their own social security benefits.
THAT is how fucked up this country is right now.
Aldo Leopold
(685 posts)ellie
(6,929 posts)I read that the asshole defunded Planned Parenthood in NJ and he is a great liberal hero. Fuck him.
LeftofObama
(4,243 posts)calimary
(81,238 posts)political "Second Coming" or something. Maybe they should all be sent kneepads by us viewers and listeners. With a little jar of Vaseline or something. CRIMINY the man-crush that some of these talking heads have.
I agree with you, Prophet 451. FUCK chris christie and his so-called "plain-speaking" bullshit facade! Just FUCK him. Mean pushy bullying belligerent assholes stomping around with mountain-sized chips on their shoulders are a TURN-OFF!!! I find the whole in-yer-face schtick to be tiresome and loathsome from the get-go.
Marie Marie
(9,999 posts)Calimary - give me your phone number. I want to call you in the middle of the night to talk me down after waking up screaming from the nightmare I am about to have. Eeeew- yuk!
calimary
(81,238 posts)I find chris christie disgusting. I see nothing there that is appealing. NOTHING. But there they are, all the chattering class, acting as though he's the new savior of the world or something. YUCK!!!!!! Why this guy is being damn near worshipped is just utterly beyond me.
PFunk
(876 posts)He also won because the democratic candidate (who from what I've seen was actually a good one) was NOT backed by the dems (i.e. DCCC) and was left twisting in the wind. Apparently the dem establishment (NOT the base) wanted Christie to win. Which is why it's better to bypass them and start supporting candidates directly.
KG
(28,751 posts)but at least they didn't vote for some friggen paulite!
katmondoo
(6,457 posts)joeybee12
(56,177 posts)alterfurz
(2,474 posts)--or elephant, as the case may be.
c588415
(285 posts)it would blurt out , " Oh sweet Jesus, somebody get this fat smelly water-buffalo off of me; even a horse has its limits!"
spanone
(135,831 posts)nradisic
(1,362 posts)Christie is a mirage...poverty way up; unemployment worse than most states; property taxes way up; school funding way down...Fuck Chris Christie!
lordsummerisle
(4,651 posts)Vashta Nerada
(3,922 posts)K and R
trof
(54,256 posts)K&R
Nanjing to Seoul
(2,088 posts)Look how I got vilified by saying I won't be classy for his bullying of teachers and destroying of education. . .and I was insulted constantly in another threat.
Screw Krisp Krispy and the horse that died when we rode in on it.
vishnura
(247 posts)Backroom politics and deal making had a lot to do with his victory.
I'm not worried though, he will go down in flames, wait until the race for 2016 begins!
kairos12
(12,860 posts)HoosierRadical
(390 posts)I agree with OP's sentiments, Christie is a rightwing blow hard, Cory Booker should not have punk out, he really wanted to be Governor, but after hurricane Sandy, Christie received so much undeserved praise for NOT spitting on President Obama, had Cory ran, I think he would have been able to eek out a victory, over Christie, there is no way, 20% of AAs & over 50% of Latinos would have voted for Christie over Cory. Plus the party would have gotten behind Cory and all the mishandling about the sandy relief money would have gotten out.
Of well, don't worry, this bully will never be president, this guy is believing his on press, can't wait to see this guy implode of the national scene when he starts to get scrutinize.
TheKentuckian
(25,026 posts)his wholly owned finger at the global corporatist Obama for being too mean to Wall Street?
No knight in shining armor there either. That state is a cesspool that makes my own crooked, machine state look like a model of democracy.
Cosmocat
(14,564 posts)NJ is truly a different bread, and his in your face style very much resonates with the people who live in NJ.
I think that is the overwhelming factor in his popularity in this state.
Substance, unfortunately, means little to people in elections.
Submariner
(12,504 posts)so I'm surprised the workers in NJ don't hold that against him.
JHB
(37,160 posts)Plus, that was a year and a half ago -- with the presidential election and Sandy in between to pull attention away. The decision by national and NJ Democrats outside of the Buono camp to de facto not oppose Christie meant that money and other resources would not be "wasted" reminding voters that Christie was quite happy to cost taxpayers money, jobs, and needed infrastructure so that he could strike a pose for TP radicals.
Zeke L Brimstone
(89 posts)Terribly sorry if I'm being rude, here, but I'd really rather not!
yurbud
(39,405 posts)at least in any way that he would notice.
Maven
(10,533 posts)And in the lazy and simplistic American understanding of leadership archetypes, 'belligerent prick' is coded as 'decisive' and 'strong'. Meanwhile, a lot of liberals warmed to him after Sandy because secretly we want to believe that all belligerent pricks really have a heart of gold, if only they would see the light. * But no, sometimes a prick is just a prick. That's what Christie is: a prick. And that's why the media likes him. There's nothing they like more than a unyielding, bullying sort, which is exactly why we find our country and politics in its current sorry state.
* Come to think of it, this is why oftentimes 'reformed' freepers receive a warmer reception on DU than firebrand actual liberals. We're die-hard believers in redemption, both one of our most admirable qualities and the thing that does us in most often.
boston bean
(36,221 posts)Corruption Inc
(1,568 posts)Our corporate media is a sales tool that uses emotion, not rational thinking, when they air everything. They air blowhard criminal (R)s because it's what 1/2 their idiot viewers want so, the whore media provides it for sales, sales of anything from drugs to cars to junk food to oil.
If people didn't respond to it the media would stop it. The sad fact is a huge number of Americans are dumber than a box of rocks. If Faux went away tomorrow a new network would replace it in a week and spread the exact same propaganda and lies.
Point the finger of blame at the idiot people who are dumb enough to demand all the lies they want to hear from the MSMedia. Once we start looking at who the real idiots and criminals are, the sooner we can start jailing them for their crimes.
Prophet 451
(9,796 posts)They're run ragged at work, working harder than their parents for less money, probably doing the work of two or three people. When they get home, they don't want news that makes trhem think. They want reassuring pablum that reinforces their beliefs.
But they can be better. I believe in the magnificence of the human spirit. Yes, they're dumb and short-sighted and resentful and incredibly petty. But they can be so much more.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)I agree, 100%!
The New Me
(4 posts)The only reason Christie won again was b/c of this:
https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADFA_enUS491US492&q=picture+of+Christie+with+Obama
His GOP deserted him and refused to vote funding to help Sandy victims.
gopiscrap
(23,759 posts)Pretzel_Warrior
(8,361 posts)JEB
(4,748 posts)The media thinks its perfect for their barbecue. National heart attack waiting to happen
Faux pas
(14,672 posts)Should be the progressive battle cry!
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)On April 29, 2011, the boundaries for the state-run tourism district were set. The district would include heavier police presence, as well as beautification and infrastructure improvements. The CRDA would oversee all functions of the district and will make changes to attract new businesses and attractions. New construction would be ambitious and may resort to eminent domain.
The tourism district would comprise several key areas in the city; the Marina District, Ducktown, Chelsea, South Inlet, Bader Field, and Gardner's Basin. Also included are 10 roadways that lead into the district, including several in the city's northern end, or North Beach. Gardner's Basin, which is home to the Atlantic City Aquarium, was initially left out of the tourism district, while a residential neighborhood in the Chelsea section was removed from the final boundaries, owing to complaints from the city. Also, the inclusion of Bader Field in the district was controversial and received much scrutiny from mayor Lorenzo Langford, who cast the lone "no" vote on the creation of the district citing its inclusion.
Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)The media acts like it doesn't MATTER to the people what it is,...just "things".
napkinz
(17,199 posts)Him and his ugly wife to boot. I will never forget her laughing at that teacher while TIME's evil elephant in the room was chewing her out.