The Vindication of Tom Moran

by: KendalJames

Mon Sep 06, 2010 at 12:47:18 AM EDT

promoted by Rosi

It's easy to imagine the high-fives and doofy text messages between Christie and his gang when the Tom Moran viral video first started catching on. [Watch the video here - Rosi]

Holy crap, right? He totally took a legitimate question about his confrontational style from a reputable journalist and turned it into a bloodbath! No matter that the governor's response itself completely answered the question; all attention was now trained on Moran's twitching remains. Confrontational style? Honest. Refreshing. Move along, and let me humiliate you like the true bully I am, so you never mess with me again. Oh, and everyone in the room better take note. Chris Christie - here to kick your ass if I don't like the question.

The Moran clip helped cement Chris Christie as a viral video genius.
(find out why below the fold)

KendalJames :: The Vindication of Tom Moran

"Christie for president!" they shouted from the rafters. "Chris Christie is a wholly competent, completely trustworthy and thoughtful golden god, and I want to marry him" said conservative talking heads. Our brave governor, showing the world that all you need is a YouTube account and a bunch of words, true or not.

But ironically, it was another video and the subject of Tom Moran's now-famous question - that "confrontational style" - which ultimately gave New Jersey its first authentic look at Governor Chris Christie. Confrontation - used as a rhetorical tool for deflecting blame and ducking responsibility. How many times have we heard Chris Christie loudly proclaim, "I'm the governor"? And yet when faced with his VERY FIRST opportunity to show that he is, in fact, responsible and willing to take his licks, what we saw was confrontation - punches thrown at President Obama, bureaucrats, and then Bret Schundler. We've learned from Bret Schundler, of course, that Christie likes to "play offense" on things that might make him look bad - that is, instead of being honest and intellectually responsible. - you know, all that leader-y stuff. Wasn't this the governor who said that "words matter?" Wasn't this the guy who said he would talk to us like adults?

The information age is unforgiving for a guy like Chris Christie, who, as a former prosecutor is used to controlling the narrative, which may or may not include making inconvenient truths disappear. In the end, his hype as a master of viral video proved to be little more than a fluke of good luck, bolstered by not having previously (recently?) been caught in a lie and possible cover-up. Not to mention, it seems like other folks - the U.S. Department of Education, for example - make videos, too. And although he doesn't like the questions right now, he's not kicking anyone's ass - in fact, he's keeping his mouth shut and telling his inner circle to do the same. What a tough-guy.

Chris Christie's confrontational tone sold him out, making him look like a belligerent, uninformed political opportunist - not a very clever one - and has revealed areas of grave concern within the Christie Administration.

High fives and doofy text messages between Moran and his gang - commence.