Chris Christie aides' emails suggest intentionally created traffic nightmare

[Admiral Yi]

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=chris+christie+yells+at+teacher&sm=1

This what you talking about?

[DGuller]

I suppose you are referring to the teachers heckling his press conference?

I haven't seen it.  Anyone have a link?

My bet is he is referring to the regular stream of videos recorded and released by his aides where he berates someone during a town hall meeting.  His team always comes to town halls prepared to record the beat-downs as they come and post them on YouTube.  You're going to need to drink a lot of kool-aid to not see bullying tendencies in that kind of behavior.

[Admiral Yi]

I'm ridiculous.

[DGuller]

I'm ridiculous.

[DontSayBanana]

Look at it this way: either he's directly involved, in which case he's not fit for executive political office, or he's incapable of keeping his overly vindictive minions from pulling stupid stuff, in which case he's not fit for executive political office.

Frankly, those of us in NJ seem so confused when he comes up because Republican media all but calls him the Second Coming of Reagan.  Those of us that have to live under him on a daily basis think he's a completely uncharismatic schoolyard bully who only won as the lesser of two evils, because the Democrats fronted really terrible candidates in the past two elections.  Corzine should have dropped out after all the crap that was flung and stuck to him, and Buono's campaign was almost non-existent.

[Admiral Yi]

That explains his approval ratings then.  What's he at, around 80%?

[Neil]

I don't buy that either.  He is a law-and-order guy.  I don't see him crossing that particular line.

I don't see an alternative explanation that passes the smell test.  If Christie would really find such a plot deplorable, then what exactly is the motivation for so many of his aides and allies to act behind his back?  What would they be risking their careers for?

They could simply be 'working towards the Führer'.  After all, if Christie had to make every decision himself, why would he even have aides?

[DGuller]

Look at it this way: either he's directly involved, in which case he's not fit for executive political office, or he's incapable of keeping his overly vindictive minions from pulling stupid stuff, in which case he's not fit for executive political office.

Frankly, those of us in NJ seem so confused when he comes up because Republican media all but calls him the Second Coming of Reagan.  Those of us that have to live under him on a daily basis think he's a completely uncharismatic schoolyard bully who only won as the lesser of two evils, because the Democrats fronted really terrible candidates in the past two elections.  Corzine should have dropped out after all the crap that was flung and stuck to him, and Buono's campaign was almost non-existent.

I wouldn't argue about the first election, it was an election that Corzine lost rather than an election that Christie won, but I think you're dead wrong about the second election.  Christie faced a terrible candidate like Buono precisely because no non-terrible Democrat wanted to be slaughtered by him.  Christie won his re-election on his own merit.  That said, I think a lot of "Christiecrats" thought that he was an effective politician with a mean streak, and this scandal can destroy that generous perception.

[Kleves]

I don't see an alternative explanation that passes the smell test.  If Christie would really find such a plot deplorable, then what exactly is the motivation for so many of his aides and allies to act behind his back?  What would they be risking their careers for?

Are aides overreaching/acting on their own any less likely than Christie risking his presidential aspirations over something so petty?

[alfred russel]

I suppose you are referring to the teachers heckling his press conference?

I haven't seen it.  Anyone have a link?

My bet is he is referring to the regular stream of videos recorded and released by his aides where he berates someone during a town hall meeting.  His team always comes to town halls prepared to record the beat-downs as they come and post them on YouTube.  You're going to need to drink a lot of kool-aid to not see bullying tendencies in that kind of behavior.

Yes.

[Admiral Yi]

Do I need to drink a lot of kool aid to not see bullying tendencies in that video I linked?

[DGuller]

I don't see an alternative explanation that passes the smell test.  If Christie would really find such a plot deplorable, then what exactly is the motivation for so many of his aides and allies to act behind his back?  What would they be risking their careers for?

Are aides overreaching/acting on their own any less likely than Christie risking his presidential aspirations over something so petty?

It seems highly unlikely to me.  What's the motivation for them to act alone?  They conspire to commit an act that they know can be dangerous for their careers, and yet even if they succeed, there is no benefit to them.  They lose if NYT catches them, they lose if honest Chris catches them and gets rid of them as dangerous loose cannons, and they don't really win much for themselves if all goes according to plan.

It's a very popular PR device to claim that the aides lost their mind in the attempt to please their boss, and the poor boss got completely floored when he learned how the aides he thought he could trust let him down so badly.  It gives plausible deniability, and it often works well enough to shield the top boss, but it's total bullshit.

[DontSayBanana]

It's a very popular PR device to claim that the aides lost their mind in the attempt to please their boss, and the poor boss got completely floored when he learned how the aides he thought he could trust let him down so badly.  It gives plausible deniability, and it often works well enough to shield the top boss, but it's total bullshit.

It also gets less effective the closer you get in the chain of command- that's why suggestions his aides are in on it are considered "damning."

[DGuller]

Do I need to drink a lot of kool aid to not see bullying tendencies in that video I linked?

I don't know what video you attempted to link to, but in any case, the claim wasn't about any particular video that may or may not have been cherrypicked.  The claim was about a pattern of behavior, where his team is always prepared to capture and broadcast him dressing someone down, and then in effect brag about it by posting in on YouTube.  That's literally building yourself up by tearing other people down, and if you take the fact in that previous sentence as a given and still don't see any bullying tendencies in that, then I'm not sure there is a way to get through, honestly.

[Sheilbh]

The problem is it fits into his personality.

How so?

He is a bully.

Yeah. I've always thought this side of his personality was part of his attraction but also his biggest risk.

I think there's now a story about a 90 year old woman dying because her ambulance was held up because of this.

He needs to fire everyone involved, say he had nothing to do with it and hope to God that's true.