Wait—this guy might be a bully? Photo: Dave Weigel
Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is in a lot of trouble. After weeks of sarcastic denials, he was forced to acknowledge that, at the very least, several close staffers and advisers did, in fact, engineer a massive traffic jam near the George Washington Bridge. The action was apparently an act of retribution against the mayor of the town of Fort Lee.
Christie gave a lengthy press conference (1/9/14) denying his involvement and expressing sadness at being misled by people he trusted. The scandal shows no signs of going away anytime soon, in part because his denials sounded rather far-fetched.
Now some in the national press—which has generally presented favorable coverage of Christie (Extra!, 5/11)—the danger is that he might start to be seen as a vindictive bully.
No really. “Stories Add Up as Bully Image Trails Christie,” read one New York Times headline (12/24/13), which makes it sound like Christie has an image that unfairly follows him around.
USA Today (1/8/14) reported:
Christie said he knew nothing about the plot, but it could sour his national image as a tough-talking, problem-solving pragmatist into that of a partisan bully.
The New York Times (1/10/14) referred to “what some critics have described as bullylike behavior” from Christie. And as Time magazine (1/20/14) reported, this scandal “may feed the perception that a man given to volcanic public outbursts may also use his office to bully opponents in private.”
Under the headline “Christie’s Carefully Devised, No-Nonsense Image in Peril,” the New York Times (1/9/14) explained that “what once seemed like a refreshing forcefulness may come off as misguided bullying.” The report added that
the timing of the blossoming scandal is dreadful, disrupting a highly anticipated plan to present the popular governor to the national electorate as a no-nonsense, bipartisan balm to a deeply divided federal government.
And the paper added that the scandal involves “nakedly partisan score-settling…the kind of behavior that Mr. Christie has forsworn at every turn.” It went on:
Bipartisanship has become a byword of his administration, turning his news conferences into celebrations of his ability to reach across the aisle.
This is a peculiar kind of reporting, which prioritizes image management over reality. Yes, this is certainly the version of Chris Christie that Chris Christie wants people to think about. But in reality, Christie’s “brand” is in no small part devoted to glorifying Christie’s bullying. In fact, it’s hard to think of many prominent politicians who have anywhere near Christie’s astonishing record of boorish behavior, directed at all manner of targets—from his political opponents (“hacks,” “one arrogant SOB”) to reporters who ask questions he doesn’t like (“Are you stupid?”) to state nonprofit groups he disagrees with (Fair Share Housing is a “hack group” that not worth “my time or my breath”).
So if the question is really, “Is Chris Christie a bully?,” it would be difficult come up with any answer other than yes.
But that’s not the only matter under consideration. There’s also the notion that Christie is bipartisan. And there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. Consider the case offered in a Star-Ledger op-ed (6/7/13) by Robert Weiner and Nakia Gladden:
Christie’s budgets cut social and economic programs. He included $500 million in cuts to education that the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional.
“The harm being visited is not some minor infringement of the constitutional right but a real, substantial and consequential blow to the achievement of a thorough and efficient system of education” in the state’s 31 poorest school systems, wrote Justice Jaynee LaVecchia, a Republican appointee, in the majority decision.
They went on:
Christie’s budget also eliminated after-school education for more than 15,000 low-income children and cut $21 million in elderly health services.
Using the word bipartisan to describe Christie is highly misleading with his work with the legislature. He vetoed more than 150 bills passed by his Democratic-led Legislature.
His vetoes blocked bills to allow marriage equality, raise the minimum wage and increase taxes on those making more than $1 million a year. He also twice vetoed a bill to make financing easier for consumers to rent or buy foreclosed properties as affordable housing.
This is not a particularly bipartisan record. See The Nation‘s John Nichols (5/15/13) for more on just how partisan Christie’s first term was.
The final matter: Is Christie—a bullying, partisan politician—the kind of person who would use his power to hurt his opponents? The suggestion that this is the first such case isn’t true. ThinkProgress noted (1/9/14) that
while Christie claimed that this was “not the way this administration has conducted itself over the last four years” and denied being a bully, accusations of political retribution have long surrounded the governor. For instance, former Gov. Richard Codey (D) accused the Christie administration of “sending a message” by denying him state trooper protection after he publicly disagreed with Christie. The same day, a Codey cousin was fired from his position at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a former Codey aide was removed from the New Jersey Office of Consumer Affairs.
After then State Sen. Sean Kean (R) told a reporter that Christie erred in not calling for a state of emergency sooner during a 2010 blizzard, Christie’s staff banned Kean from attending the next news conference Christie held in Kean’s home district. A Christie aide told the Star-Ledger that Kean “got what he deserved.” Rutgers Professor Alan Rosenthal saw his state funding slashed after backing a redistricting map more favorable to Democrats and last year, confirmation of a judicial candidate recommended by State Sen. Christopher “Kip” Bateman (R) suddenly stalled after the legislator voted against Christie’s public medical education system reorganization.
And the mayor of Jersey City, Steven Fulop, offered other evidence that Christie’s office might have seen the failure to endorse the governor as something to be punished (Salon.com, 1/9/14):
“Nearly every single meeting we have requested with state commissioners with regard to proactive Jersey City issues has been unfortunately rejected over the last six months, along with countless requests we made to the Port Authority,” he wrote in his afternoon statement. “Cancellations include an entire day of meetings with state commissioners scheduled to be in Jersey City that was abruptly cancelled, with each of the commissioners individually canceling within an hour of the time I communicated my intention to not endorse.”
And Christie has made other decisions, like his unprecedented refusal to renominate a state Supreme Court justice (New York Times, 5/3/10), that seemed obviously calculated to advance his political goals and expand his power. That move set off a long-running fight over judicial appointments that some reporting suggests could play a role in the current George Washington Bridge scandal.
And the New York Times‘ Michael Cooper (10/10/13) reported an interesting story about an investigation of local Republican corruption in Hunterdon County that was abruptly halted; the Christie-appointed state attorney general killed the investigation and some of the local prosecutors were fired.
And none of this even touches Christie’s long-running attacks on public sector workers and school teachers—residents of the state that bear the brunt of some of Christie’s policy decisions, along with his scorn.
As CNN‘s Jake Tapper summed it up (1/9/14), the current Christie scandal
hits at the heart of Christie’s carefully honed image as a straight-talking, no-nonsense governor interested in bipartisanship and efficiency.
That’s true; but that image should have been forcefully challenged by the media a long time ago–who instead put considerable effort into helping him hone it.
Not in the least surprising that no corpress headline hack took advantage of the obvious irony in all this
“From ‘Bridge Builder’ to Bridge Blocker?”
as opposed to Obama who’s bullying cost lives
As a low level observer and having been on the receiving end of such political tactics years ago, I find it astonishing that this is astonishing. This is politics. What’s the point of struggling for power if you can’t use it to bludgeon your opponents? What’s astonishing is that it’s apparently being prosecuted, but, of course, that’s Democrats getting even, big time.
This is a perfect parallel to what the “whip” does in Congress, isn’t it? Whips party members into line with threats and bullying (No party funding for your next campaign, buddy!) and that’s regarded as perfectly above-board, right?
Do they really think that dirty tricks went out with Nixon? Or that it’s only Republicans who do it.
@dan: Didn’t an elderly lady die when her ambulance was stuck in bridge traffic that Christie created or something?
And it’s whose.
Wasn’t it Christe’s mother who told him “It’s better to be respected than to be loved?” Or, some such thing.
If you start with a cage containing five monkeys and inside the
cage, hang a banana on a string from the top and then you place a set
of stairs under the banana, before long a monkey will go to the stairs
and climb toward the banana.
As soon as he touches the stairs, you spray all the other monkeys
with cold water.
After a while another monkey makes an attempt with same result
.. all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon
when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will
try to prevent it.
Now, put the cold water away.
Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one.
The new monkey sees the banana and attempts to climb the
stairs. To his shock, all of the other monkeys beat the crap out of him.
After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the
stairs he will be assaulted.
Next, remove another of the original five monkeys, replacing it
with a new one.
The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous
newcomer takes part in the punishment…… with enthusiasm, because
he is now part of the “team”.
Then, replace a third original monkey with a new one, followed by
the fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the
stairs, he is attacked.
Now, the monkeys that are beating him up have no idea why they
were not permitted to climb the stairs. Neither do they know why they
are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.
Finally, having replaced all of the original monkeys, none of the
remaining monkeys will have ever been sprayed with cold water.
Nevertheless, not one of the monkeys will try to climb the stairway for
the banana.
Why, you ask? Because in their minds…that is the way it has
always been!
This, my friends, is how Government operates… and this is why,
from time to time:
ALL of the monkeys need to be REPLACED AT THE SAME TIME.
Latest statement from Christie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmzsWxPLIOo
A most important piece of reporting is missing in action, what about the damage these shenanigans caused and who will pay for it. People did died and a pregnant woman had to deliver out of the reach of medical care and how many others suffered money and health damages because politicians think they are immune to prosecution.
NJ’s wealthy get behind a Republican governor every now and then to freeze their taxes and the rest of us pay for it.
None of Christie’s arrogant, vindictive, bullying behavior has been a secret, though the so-called “liberal media” has repeatedly given him a pass (maybe out of fear of retribution). It’s all catching up to him now. Of course, he knew about this-he even asked Gov. Cuomo to get the Port Authority to lay off their investigation a month ago. Hope this kills any of Christie’s presidential hopes-imagine this type of boorish behavior in the White House dealing with other nations. Thankfully, it’s contained now to within New Jersey.
Since Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein and vice-presidential candidate Cheri Honkala were placed in indefinite detention for blocking traffic ( http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/17/green_partys_jill_stein_cheri_honkala ), why not Chris Christie? [ 1/9/14 Daily Kos — Christie asked Cuomo to back off investigating Fort Lee. In Mid-December: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/01/09/1268413/-Andrew-Cuomo-needs-to-put-the-last-nail-in-Christie-s-coffin ]
I’ve been pointed (as different from appointed or disappointed) by MSNBC since Olbermann left or Comcast bought in, because they are now similar to FoxNews in their service to the Democratic Party, but I have to say, their coverage of this scandal is comprehensive but somewhat reserved. I think the “some reporting” link is insufficient mention of Rachel Maddow’s brilliant and plausible theory concerning the target of the retribution. Also mentionable is the obvious disdain most New Jerseyans must feel for their compatriots who work in New York.
I think Gregory Kruse’s post referring to Rachel Maddow’s theory is spot on. There is much more here than just vengeance for not receiving a Democratic “endorsement” for governor. Personally, I think Christie has the potential to be a pretty dangerous guy when given too much power. He’s very manipulative and vengeful, not to mention hot-headed. Not a person I’d want to see in the White House EVER. Add up all the “stuff” that has swirling around him …. just look at many of the past photographs of his fury …. it all adds up and tells a much bigger story.
Robert, I don’t know if you made the monkey story up or read, but it is apropos to the situation in the country today. Dan, who has B.O. bullied and what war did he start that cost lives? It seems that it was gwb that started two wars and lost sight of the mission in the first one before he started he second one.
“misguided bullying” – as the NY Times puts it…whatever does that mean? It seems like an attempt to cut Christie a whole lot of slack – loosen the entire noose – and give the Gov credit for “guided bullying” whatever that means.
Silver Fox, a cousin sent it to me as a joke. But yes, it fits.
I’ve been thinking about this Peter O’toole move as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ruling_Class
Jack assumes his place in the House of Lords with a fiery speech in favor of capital and corporal punishment. His colleagues applaud wildly, completely unaware the speech is the ranting of a lunatic, …
Anyone read the story that reported that this story has had more press than Benghazi,fast and furious,and the IRS scandal combined?No surprise.Two lessons to be learned here by Christi.The left will love you if they think you are eating your own.But the minute they believe you may be a threat to their power base,or their candidate….they will eat you- alive!Will Christi be found wanting in this?Doubt it.He is too shrewd a political player to come out so loudly unless he was in fact innocent.It is interesting how different he is from BAM who simply refuses to answer on any scandal.But I think it is all overblown.Christi will not receive conservative support.We smell a rat.A deal maker.A guy who would walk on the beach with a president for a photo op -used against his parties candidate.A guy who reminds one a bit of Nixon(has a list of grudges that he wont forget)He and Hilary?Two bad choices as far as I can see.Certainly both parties can do better.
While it’s always tempting to feed the FAIR Troll, I’ll confine this belated comment to the subject at hand. It’s now four days after this FAIR posting on Governor Christie’s behavior, and I’m concerned that the media, and FAIR as well, have failed to fully confront the implications of the George Washington Bridge lane closings.
For sheer malevolence, no abuse of power in American history — not Tea Pot Dome, not Watergate, not Reaganomics, not the war on Iraq — even begins to approach it. Whether he knew about it or not, Christie’s administration deliberately endangered people, including many of his own constituents.
Yet today Cristie was inaugurated for a second term as governor of the most densely populated state in the union. In noting the event, a CNN article makes no mention of the scandal, and describes Christie as “a likely contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.” A New York Times article focuses on how much Bridget Anne Kelly’s friends like her. She is the Christie assistant who emailed a New York and New Jersey Port Authority official that it was “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”
The media should be demanding that the Governor of New Jersey be recalled. Instead, they are attempting to cast him in a favorable light.
Saying that this Bully’s (is anyone CONFUSED about who I’m referring to with that epithet?) real danger is in becoming KNOWN as a bully, is just painting over the real Chris Christy, to try shifting the debate.