Joan Walsh: Chris Christie’s 2-hour pity party

[madaboutharry]

I Love Joan Walsh.

"New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is a very sad person today.

That’s what he told us Thursday, in a two-hour implosion of narcissism, self-pity and even a little bullying, although he also reassured us, “I am not a bully.” It was a shea-culpa: He blamed the George Washington Bridge scandal on Bridget Kelly, his deputy chief of staff, and said that he’d fired her without even talking to her, deriding her as “stupid.”

Oh, and Kelly’s partner in the plot to punish Fort Lee’s Democratic Mayor Mark Sokolich, high school friend and Port Authority appointee David Wildstein? Not a high school friend. In fact, in high school, Christie told us, “I was the class president and an athlete, I don’t know what David was doing.” Burn. And Sokolich? Christie never met him – although there are photos of the men meeting – and in fact, “I didn’t know his name until yesterday.”


http://www.salon.com/2014/01/09/chris_christies_2_hour_pity_party_a_mix_of_narcissism_and_bullying/

[Barack_America]

1. Everyone is enjoying watching this asshole squirm.

Not a one has stood up to defend him, which is possibly the most tell-tale sign of his being a bully.

Nobody likes you, Chris Christie.

And what's with all of the fitness references? "...learned about it while I was coming off the treadmill"...."I was an athlete in high school"? Trying a little too hard there, son.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. Except Fox and freepers

Fox News gave it 15 minutes versus 2 hours each for MSNBC and one other network. Apparently Fox broadcast a piece about ants going into space while Corpus Christie was giving his press conference.

There is no hint of Christie in the freeper Breaking News and Front Page News sidebar, at this writing.

[Kablooie]

21. The Teapeople are pleased though.

He was playing far to near the center for them.

[Jim Lane]

23. The Freepers are on it, too

The sidebars you cite have room for only a couple dozen threads. The most recent Christie post in their main Latest Articles section is this one, which went up a few hours after you posted.

Earlier this week they were much more into enjoying Christie's fall. They absolutely despise him. In fact, there's a significant faction there that was sure Christie would be foisted on the party as its nominee, thanks to the support of the GOP establishment, even though most rank-and-file Republicans want someone in the Cruz/Palin mold. (Some of them think Bridgegate is the work of Rove, his purpose being to knock out Christie and thus make Jeb Bush the logical RINO candidate. Bush will thus, by default, have the support of the GOP elites who pushed McCain and Romney, in the process cheating the conservatives out of the nomination.)

I did a search for FR threads with "Christie" in the title and there were 28 begun on Thursday. There were probably a few more that called him "Krispie" or used a term like "Bridgegate" but I didn't bother trying to be comprehensive.

You can find some of the same themes on FR as on DU (e.g., if Christie really didn't know, he's an incompetent manager, and his judgment of whom to hire is terrible). There are a couple unique twists over there, though. One view is that Bridgegate was engineered by the Clintons, prompted by a poll that showed Christie beating Hillary in 2016. A Freeper named Talisker elaborated: "I think Christie got sandbagged by his Hillarybot Chief of Staff. Hillary's got her little army of clerks and secretaries and other support personnel everywhere, and they are nasty as f***. She was a mole, as they all are, and after a long time of waiting she got The Call from The Boss."

(I'm no Hillary fan but if I thought she had that incredible level of foresight and cunning I'd be more willing to vote for her.)

Another theory, voiced by Freeper Mononymous, was that Bridgegate was engineered by Democrats to create a distraction from Gates's book. A rebuttal, by Freeper Washi, was that Gates's book itself was the distraction, intended to undercut the push to repeal Obamacare.

As I read FR, is it wrong that I'm smiling?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

24. Our smiles compete with our sense of disgust and our time reading there is limited!

Thanks for the summary of goings on there.

[calimary]

2. I love Joan Walsh, too - "shea culpa" referencing his blaming the bridge on Bridget!

That is almost TOO good!

He's just a prick, a coward, an asshole, and yes, VERY MUCH a bully. I've found over my 60 years that there's the same takeaway from this that there always is. NEVER trust a republi-CON. Just don't do it. Don't fall for it. Don't trust 'em. They lie like you breathe - every other second or so. They're scorpions in human costumes. And they'll promise you anything that sounds nice - before they inevitably sting you to death.

[renate]

3. he was so mean about the people who he threw under the bus

"I don't know what David was doing"
"stupid"
So unnecessarily mean and cruel (especially Wildstein... why bring up how much more popular he was in high school than Wildstein?) about people whom he used to work with and who have lost their jobs because of, if not him (I think because of him, but whatever) then because of the vindictive atmosphere he allowed to flourish in his office.

I can't imagine that one of these people isn't going to think "Well, fine, if that's the way it is" and decide to get back at him by telling the truth about what happened, especially since they no longer have any loyalty-based reason to turn down an immunity deal. He was just so deliberately vicious and contemptuous about these people who had sold their souls to do his bidding.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

4. The problem is the underlings are going down one way or another and they know it.

They can either protect Christie, take the fall and receive legal fees and "consulting" jobs ... or .... they can squeal and still end up out of work with no legal help or "no show" jobs provided by Christie's donors.

[TlalocW]

5. Okay, someone go look for his high school yearbooks

See what groups/teams he was on - not only because I sincerely doubt he was an athlete, but I bet there are some pictures of him and Wildstein together. It would just a little extra layer of, "Christie's full of shit," to the narrative.

TlalocW

[Laxman]

9. A Profile of Mr. Wildstein FromThe Bergen Record

http://www.northjersey.com/news/ny_metro/030312_Ex-blogger_is_Governor_Christies_man_inside_the_Port_Authority.html?page=all

Livingston is not that big a town. The high school is large by NJ standards, but not that big. They both went to the same much smaller Jr. High School.

[arthritisR_US]

6. Great article! nt

[Cha]

7. Fucking liar.. What gov doesn't know the mayors in their State?

the size of NJ?.. am I wrong?

I can't believe those who thought Christie did so well in his marathon pity party!

Thanks for the article, madaboutharry

[sheshe2]

8. It is the only marathon he will ever run.

And all he did in this one was to run his mouth off.

Oh...and I am not a bully! Can you believe that, Cha?

[Cha]

10. Hey she.. Just been reading these "Best Tweets during I-Am-Not-A-Bully Presser.."

Jody Rosen @jodyrosen
Follow
"I haven't had a lot of sleep the last two nights." I thought #Christie first caught wind of story when he stepped off treadmill yesterday?

6:38 AM - 9 Jan 2014

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/09/best-tweets-during-chris-christies-press-conference/

HipChick http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024306302

I didn't see the marathon but am getting a good sense of what went on thanks to so many tweeting and writing about it. Just incredible what went down those 4 days in NJ on the GWB. Like a lot of people I can't fathom the vengeance behind doing something so unbelievable stupid to their citizens.

Trying to understand the Culture of Bully that Christie created. And, of course, now it's all about how sad he is.

[sheshe2]

14. I watched him stand up there and lie...

toss his employees under the bus and cry poor me, I did not know! Yeah right!

Thanks for the tweet, Cha. Hmmm, lost sleep over something he knew nothing about!

[Cha]

15. It sounds terrible, she.. I should have added "cruel" to "stupid" in my previous post about what was

done to the people of NJ.

David Waldman @KagroX
Follow
I couldn't pick the mayor out of a lineup! I wouldn't know a traffic study if I tripped over it! Your world frightens and confuses me!

daveweigel ✔ @daveweigel
Follow
Did Christie accidentally fire the staffer who tells him when to end a press conference?

Rude Pundit's Sage Advice to Christie..

I do not want this Culture of Bully anywhere near our White House!

[Marie Marie]

16. Cha, Re your last sentence:

Can you imagine this vengeful bully taking that infamous 3:00 AM phone call? Yikes!

[Cha]

22. Hell No.. I wouldn't want to! The Universe smiled on

the world when these emails were exposed.

[beachbum bob]

11. Wait until other incidences of

Political coercion and retribution come forward. ...Christie on defense will embolden others to step forward.....if nothing was being asked why was punishment being given out?

[Stuart G]

12. and....other instances of coercion and retibution will come forward..

Unless everyone else is lying about Christie. Evidently, that is how he operates. Many have said this who ought to know.
If, when the others come forward, there will be more press conferences, where he will repeat .."I am not a bully." but it will be clear that this one sentence was the biggest lie of all.....

[myrna minx]

13. K&R

[rocktivity]

18. Not since my last Bon Jovi concert

Last edited Wed Jul 22, 2015, 10:49 PM - Edit history (3)

has anyone from New Jersey given me two hours of so much pleasure.


rocktivity

[okaawhatever]

19. I hope his comments about his employees gain more traction. For all the stories i've read, this is

the only one that mentioned his calling Bridget stupid or using that pathetic excuse that he was class president and didn't know Sokolich. Christie has no dignity. He's a sad, pathetic man.

[Thor_MN]

20. Only question is what dog he is going to kick.

You KNOW someone is going to be on the receiving end of a revenge tantrum. No way does he let this pass without taking it out on someone.