Conservative NJ columnist destroys Chris Christie

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By Paul Mulshine

Chris Christie's not kidding when he says he'd like to spend more time with his family.

Obviously being governor is taking too much of his time.

That would be the only possible explanation for the bizarre remarks he made in Freehold Friday.

I expected him to apologize for his inexplicable decision to fly to Disney World Sunday morning as a blizzard was brewing.

Instead, he attacked the other elected officials who stayed and tried to do the job he should have been doing.

He praised the state's efforts in his absence and placed blame on some of the locals for screwing up.

"I would give the folks in New Jersey state government and the county government an A for the effort we put in," Christie said. "We probably get a B for results."

What? The state screwed this pooch all the way to Pluto, as it were. State roads were impassable for days after the storm. One highway, Route 18, had to be closed because of the state's neglect.

Things barely improved even after the snow stopped falling Monday.

As late as Friday morning when I was driving south from Newark - almost four days after the snow stopped falling - key state highways at the Shore had lanes still blocked by snow.

And if you check the Asbury Park press article on the press conference, you'll see listed underneath a number of roads still not cleared. Some are state, some local, but in New Jersey the buck stops with the governor -- unless that governor's name Christie.

But how would Christie know that? He's been away in Florida.

He should have been in Jersey, driving the roads I've been driving since the blizzard began - right after he flew over the blizzard to get to the sunny south.

Most of the state was not hit all that hard. On Wednesday I drove through Senate president Steve Sweeney's home county of Gloucester and you could see grass sticking up through the snow in places.

But in Ocean and Monmouth counties, drifts of 4 and 5 feet were common - and still are. Major four-lane state highways were reduced to two lanes through Wednesday.

This guy is entirely out of touch with reality. Note this attack on local mayors:

When asked about mayors who said they were forced to divert their resources to unplowed state roads instead of clearing local roads Christie said, "I know who these mayors are and they should buck up and take responsibility for the fact that they didn't do their job."

They didn't do their job? Did our governor perhaps take some LSD during his trip to Disney, as the hippies used to do in the '60s? He must be hallucinating.

Many towns did an excellent job of cleaning their own streets. But what's the use of clearing side streets when the main arteries are impassable? Christie has to take responsibility for the fact that the state didn't do its job when he was at Disney World. Instead he blames the locals who stayed and tried to make up for the abject incompetence of his administration.

And as I've noted, the worst clean-up job was done in the very counties that gave the governor the most votes. Sweeney had no reason to help out all those Republicans. But is Christie seriously trying to convince us that even if he'd been here in Jersey he still would have shafted the very people who put him into office?

In that case, he is the single most clueless politician in America.

Even more bizarre was his reason for not returning to Jersey once the severity of the storm was obvious:

"He said since he flew on a commercial airline it would have likely been impossible for him to return to the state earlier ..."

Now, this is absolute b.s. The severity of the storm was obvious before he got on the flight Sunday morning. By then the noreaster was already hitting us hard.

By the way, I've noticed that just about everyone I've spoken with so far has assumed Christie left the state last week and was surprised by the storm. Not at all. He flew out Sunday morning right into the teeth of the storm. He wasn't literally on the last plane out, as if he were fleeing Saigon or something. But the airport was closed later that day.

Then there's this:

"I wouldn't change the decision even if I could do it right now," Christie said. "I had a great five days with my children. I promised that."

That has to be the single dumbest statement I've heard come out of the mouth of a Jersey politician in years. He had five great days with his kids? Is that the single most self-centered statement you've ever heard uttered by a politician?

Let me make two obvious points, governor:

1. We all would like to take our kids to Disney World. But if you wanted to spend more time with them you shouldn't have run for governor.

2. You made a promise to the people of New Jersey long before you made a promise to your kids.

A simple "I'm sorry, I screwed up. I won't do anything this stupid ever again." would have sufficed.

And then there was this:

When it became clear that the storm was getting worse, Christie said his wife warned him to not "even think about" canceling the trip.

As one hardened New Jersey pol said to me about Christie, "He needs to grow a pair." If he's more worried about keeping his wife happy than keeping the voters happy, then he's in the wrong job. And if this guy doesn't realize how big he screwed up, he might as well leave for good, take Guadagno with him, and let Sweeney run the state.

If the Shore is going to keep getting screwed by the governor, it would be nice to know we didn't vote for him.

http://blog.nj.com/njv_paul_mulshine/2010/12/does_christie_think_hes_still.html

Edited January 3, 2011 by \

[lostinblue 1,989]

Some blogger trying to make a katrina - bush connection to a small snowstorm. This event is not much that would ever involve a governor. Every thing is handled at a local level.You have a storm and try to stay ahead of it. If that cannot be done you pull your crew in and wait until it is safe. Everyone knew about this storm in advance. Some pretty stupid people go out in the storms.(I have to get my beer man) This blog should be about the stupid people on the roads after a few days warning.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I love it when the anti government crowd complains when the government isn't there to provide services. This is what they lobby for. As they say, when you get what you want, you don't want what you get.

[The_Dude 1,142]

I read a different about the same premise, and what I don't get is ####### people are so mad about this? Seriously, does the governor in NJ now drive snow plows?

[Ban Hammer 13,475]

I read a different about the same premise, and what I don't get is ####### people are so mad about this? Seriously, does the governor in NJ now drive snow plows?

maybe they expected him to help shovel.

if the absence of one person makes the state go to hell in a handbasket, then something's wrong with the overall bureaucracy of the state.

[The_Dude 1,142]

maybe they expected him to help shovel.

if the absence of one person makes the state go to hell in a handbasket, then something's wrong with the overall bureaucracy of the state.

I hardly doubt that the state was ever in any sort of danger of breaking down. A few alarmists whining is all. You really want Governor Christie helping people shovel their driveway? Have you seen this guy?

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The outrage is for two reasons.

1. The overtaxed taxpayer of New Jersey created a Lt. Governor position in 2005. The intention of the job is so we never have to have an "acting governor". In the absence of the Governor, Lt. Governor takes over. Well.. they both went on vacation at the same time. What are we paying for again? It's Christie's job to manage his team and he failed. Instead, he called Sweeney the day before they were both leaving to tell him oh btw you're acting governor now kthxbai!

2. The conservative outrage is coming from Ocean County. He is Governor because of margins racked up in Ocean County. Ocean County didn't get the worst hit of snow but they did see the most road closures for the longest period of time. Granted, there is little Christie could have done to prevent this even if he was in-state.

As for politicians taking up shovels, that's exactly what Newark Mayor Cory Booker did. And he tweeted about it every 15 seconds while at it.

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Today:

"It's not something that I think will happen again because we're both aware of having to coordinate our schedules," Christie said.

Now he knows. I wonder what he thought the role of Lt. Governor was.

[chri'stina 190]

As an outsider to NJ I also don't understand what the big deal is. I guess you have to be local to understand it better.

[The_Dude 1,142]

I read in a different story that Christie is trying to spin the position of Lt. Governor as someone who will take over the role of governor if the position is vacated for any reason, not so much as a substitute teacher sort of roll that everyone else seems to be suggesting.

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I read in a different story that Christie is trying to spin the position of Lt. Governor as someone who will take over the role of governor if the position is vacated for any reason, not so much as a substitute teacher sort of roll that everyone else seems to be suggesting.

He's the only one saying that

[The_Dude 1,142]

He's the only one saying that

None the less, what would Christie have been doing had he been in state? He'd be in his office, meeting with adivsors and yelling at people over the phone, the same thing that he was able to accomplish in his hotel, in Florida.

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None the less, what would Christie have been doing had he been in state? He'd be in his office, meeting with adivsors and yelling at people over the phone, the same thing that he was able to accomplish in his hotel, in Florida.

Here's what Paul Mulshine (conservative columnist) had to say about that:

Sweeney says Christie never called him from Disney World

I just got off the phone with former Acting Governor Steve Sweeney.

I asked the Senate president about the governor's statement at a press conference in Freehold Thursday to the effect that he and Christie had been in contact during the time Christie spent at Disney World:

"Senator Sweeney and I consulted on all of the significant decisions that needed to be made during the period of my time out of the state," Christie said at the press conference. "We never once disagreed on what needed to be done."

The reason they didn't disagree, Sweeney told me, is that they never spoke.

"I never spoke to him the entire time," Sweeney told me. "He and I never spoke until he got back."

Who's telling the truth? It sure looks like Sweeney. He made similar statements to News12 New Jersey on Wednesday, even before the governor got back.

And this is great reading. More Paul Mulshine.

In what may have been the most bizarre moment of the press conference, he attacked those mayors for clearing the state roads that he himself had failed to clear.

As the Star-Ledger reported, "When asked about mayors who said they were forced to divert their resources to unplowed state roads instead of clearing local roads Christie said, 'I know who these mayors are and they should buck up and take responsibility for the fact that they didn't do their job.'"

They didn't do their job? Does this man even know that it's the governor's responsibility to clear state highways?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

As for politicians taking up shovels, that's exactly what Newark Mayor Cory Booker did. And he tweeted about it every 15 seconds while at it.

How do you shovel snow and tweet at the same time? Seems to me you can do one or the other but not both.

[The_Dude 1,142]

Ouch. I bet that is the angle that they are going to run with on this one. However, if this is a planned vacation, wouldn't the Lt. Governor be at fault here?