Chris Christie-Accounts of Petty Retribution Reinforce Christie’s Bullying Image

[Gothmog]

The George Washington Bridge incident that has been reported on by Rachel Maddow and others is not an isolated incident. Christie has a history of making people who irk him pay for their sins http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/25/nyregion/accounts-of-petty-retribution-reinforce-christies-bullying-image.html?hp

But the gesture would come to seem genteel compared with the fate suffered by others in disagreements with Mr. Christie: a former governor who was stripped of police security at public events; a Rutgers professor who lost state financing for cherished programs; a state senator whose candidate for a judgeship suddenly stalled; another senator who was disinvited from an event with the governor in his own district.

In almost every case, Mr. Christie waved off any suggestion that he had meted out retribution. But to many, the incidents have left that impression, and it has been just as powerful in scaring off others who might dare to cross him.

Now, the governor is dogged by another accusation of petty political revenge. Two close political allies ordered the abrupt shutdown of two local access lanes on the George Washington Bridge in September, gridlocking the borough of Fort Lee for four days. The borough’s mayor said it was punitive because he had declined to endorse the governor’s re-election.

There is a pattern here of Christie taking petty retribution against people who oppose him. That same pattern makes the story about the George Washington bridge a potentially good issue if Christie is the GOP nominee. The leadership of the GOP is already taking steps to eliminate debates and caucuses to try to give Christie the inside track for the 2016 nomination. While the tea party may hate Christie, I can see him getting the nomination because the GOP leadership will be desperate to win. The DNC is doing a good job of developing the facts on this issue in case that Christie is the candidate.

[Omaha Steve]

1. K&R!

[rocktivity]

2. If Christie's the best they've got, he'll succeed only if we allow him

to continue his bulldozing, bullying ways.

Which means we'll need a candidate who's willing to push him back -- a Grayson, Warren, or Sanders.


rocktivity

[nilesobek]

3. He has the word "Christ,"

twice in his name. Indignant, how can he be wrong? This will be the GOP opposition in 2016.

[blkmusclmachine]

4. Chris Crispy has the NJ Bully pulpit.

[Gothmog]

5. Christie's actions are helping to build the narrative

Christie's reaction to this story is actually helping to build the narrative that Christie is a bully http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/christie-playing-into-enemies-hands

I don't know whether Chris Christie was personally involved in the boffo Bridge Closure payback earlier this year. And I find it very hard to believe he got his fingerprints on it. But he's managing so far to play into the hands of his political opponents and all national Democrats in the way he's handling the story. In fact, he's doing so so completely that I suspect he's in a situation in which he's simply not characterologically capable of behaving otherwise.

First, there's dismissing the story as no big deal. Whether that's true or not is a subjective judgment. But if your cronies really did massively inconvenience a whole city as part of a political payback that actually is a pretty big deal - and one that raises specific vulnerabilities for Christie and he tries to move on to the national stage.

Second, don't make false statements that are actually secondary to the story itself. If he ordered his friends to do this (something for which there's no direct evidence and I can't imagine it went down that way) then, okay, maybe he just has to deny that. But saying that Fort Lee officials didn't say anything about the traffic jams at the time seems easily refutable. Why burn through credibility on something like that, especially since it's not clear that complaints like this would make their way up to the governor's office.

[ailsagirl]

6. Christie was on a collision course

Sooner or later something was going to give. He really is an effin' bully and it serves him right.

[Gothmog]

7. Rachel covered this story tonight

Rachel did a great job

[JustAnotherGen]

8. Kick