Quote of the Day comes from a woman who came to Chris Christie's "Town Hall" this morning in Kearny, with her two kids and a dog. The kids and the dog waited outside, with the cookies Christie's staff brought along. Lady asking the question said she was a 2nd grade teacher on maternity leave, and she wanted to implore Christie - who has called teachers "thugs" and their students "drug mules" - to find a way to work with NJEA, her union. But this is how she started her moment with the microphone:
"I'm scared to death to talk to you."
The post just below this one - Christie's real rules of the road show by interested observer - details some of the ways in which Gov. Christie uses intimidation to control what is said to him in the "Town Halls". They're advertised as a public forum, but say something he doesn't like and you leave yourself open to his ridicule or outright name-calling. And just like the right-wing radio hosts he increasingly sounds like, sometimes he just turns off the microphone of the constituent talking to him, while his own voice continues booming.
But a corollary to interested observers account of Christie's road show rules is that Christie always justifies his own poor behavior (hmm, seeing patterns?). And true to type, Christie today shifted blame off himself and back to the teachers union, claiming his invective against teachers is just a defensive posture against NJEA TV ads, to keep himself from being "crushed". As if.
Well. The first teacher Christie tried to make a Town Hall example of didn't shirk away quietly. She ran for Assembly, nearly won, and is running again.
Don't be scared of the big man. There's a lot of hot air in the mighty wind.
Moments after Iraq War vet and Navy SEAL William Brown was removed from Gov. Chris Christie's 'Town Hall' meeting in Roebling yesterday, with uniformed security still hovering nearby as he talked to reporters outside the doors, he had a calm conversation with several reporters who followed him out (apparently along with "at least 15-20 people who got up and walked out when Brown was ejected, according to one reporter on camera). You've seen that video. Star-Ledger posted it last night, the work of video reporter Ed Murray.
Even if Christie was minus that intel, Jersey Jazzman is right to conclude that there is something very wrong with Christie to be speaking to people this way, over and over in situations where people do not shrink away when he rattles his mighty mighty microphone.
There's new video today, an edited version of the exchange that focuses on Christie's words and actions, and not on Brown, whom Christie clearly felt provoked by. The video is from Burlington County Times (via phillyburbs.com, with a fuller version with nothing additional on the dispute). And what I find amazing about this is the very last line. He had Brown hustled out of the room, shouting after him and calling him an idiot. And telling the law student After shouting after Brown and calling him "idiot," and making a nasty crack about how the current law student would be perceived if he showed the same behavior in a court of law (uh, Governor, check yourself), Christie still can't let it go. He's forcibly ejected a student and vet wearing a tee shirt. Christie, whose leaving will be all security, black SUVs, and choppers for all we know. He's the Governor, the one with the big mic standing in front of the big flags, and he still has to remind the room that he's the biggest bigshot there is:
"Damn, man. I'm Governor. Could you just shut up for a second?"
Just as when Volta in the 18th century used electricity to make a frog's legs twitch and had no idea where it would lead, even esoteric and tentative research like this helps make our world richer and more understandable. - Rep. Rush Holt, PhD, the only physicist in Congress
The internets have been alive the last few hours with news that physicists might have detected the elusive Higgs boson, in theory (because nobody's ever seen it), the means by which everything in the Universe obtains its mass. Basic building block of the universe. Holy grail. God particle.
This is the missing piece - or may be, when it's finally confirmed - of the Standard Model of particle physics, "instruction booklet" of how forces and particles interact. Explainer of, if not everything, then a lot of the home universe.
Chills. Really, even though the mechanics of this elude my liberal arts mind, I have chills. Not just me. A few hours ago, my favorite tweet - from a science reporter in London: Never before in the field of science journalism have so few journalists understood what so many physicists were telling them! #Higgsupdate
Rush Holt, rocket scientist, vanquisher of IBM's Watson supercomputer, and tirelessadvocate of science, and R & D funding is pumped up, even though he's a plasma, not particle, physics guy. And though this news comes from the Large Hadron Collider, biggest particle smasher in the world, buried in a tunnel 500 feet below the Swiss-French border, there are 2 teams of 3,000 physicists each from all over the world that have been working on this for years.
I just looked back at the draft of this diary, loaded with links. This isn't the usual kind of thing we report on, but the only physicist left in Congress lives in NJ (and used to be my boss). Sometimes science is politics.
Special for late-nighters: Quote of the Day is a tweet tonight from JR Bohrer, friend of Blue Jersey. You're going to have to click through to Jack's link to find out why it's so funny.
Quote of the Day is today's Tweet from Courier-Post columnist @Jeremy_Rosen:
ICYMI @GovChristie took state chopper to his Camden appearance 2day... nothing wrong with that, but is he scared of city streets?
Thwock. Thwock. Thwock. Gov. Chris Christie availed himself of the mammoth state helicopter down to Camden this morning for the 35-mile ride from Trenton. In Camden, a city with far fewer police to keep a watchful eye on the Guv, he announced the future expansion of what sounds like a good idea (unless it masks another privatization initiative) to shift drug offenders into rehab programs instead of prison.
Christie did his press conference at Cathedral Kitchen, the largest emergency food provider in Camden; feeding since 1976 "the homeless, the jobless, those with disabilities or addiction problems, the working poor," from "infants to the elderly".
It's great to see Christie draw attention to Cathedral Kitchen's work. But seriously, did Christie's cocksure press operation give any thought at all to how arrogant it looks for the governor to chopper in - at great public expense - to a place where hungry people come to be fed, on the day after we learned there are twice as many New Jerseyans are relying on food stamps than 4 years ago?
Thwock. Thwock. Thwock. Guess nobody thought of that.
Quote of the Day is from U.S. District Court Judge Noel Hillman, who has put off for now the decision whether Carl Lewis will be put on the ballot for Senate in LD-8, but late Friday denied an attempt by Carl Lewis' lawyer to question LG Kim Guadagno about how she arrived at her decision to throw Lewis off the ballot. The Lewis team has long suspected Guadagno, in her dual role as LG and Secretary of State was unfairly swayed.
Here's what Hillman said, to the suggestion that Guadagno, whose boss is perhaps the most political governor in the nation, might be acting as a Republican:
Any allegation that the governor, as powerful as he may be under our state constitution, would improperly control, influence or dictate the result of the process is to me blatantly false.
I'm not an expert on New Jersey residency requirements, or on the strength of Mr. Lewis' candidacy. But I do know a sadly ridiculous statement when I see one.
Today's Quote of the Day comes from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling:
There are all kinds of courage,' said Dumbledore, smiling. 'It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.
"I have reached the point where I say enough," Obama told the leaders, according to the account. "Would Ronald Reagan be sitting here? I've reached my limit. This may bring my presidency down, but I will not yield on this."
"It is astounding that the Republicans claim to want to help the economy, but instead are cutting over 600,000 jobs, nearly 18,000 of which will be in New Jersey," said Senator Menendez. "It used to be that Republicans understood that transportation investment was necessary to spur economic growth and create jobs. Now, I guess they think if we give the rich enough tax breaks they will get off the golf course, get in a bulldozer, and start building roads."
We have 2 Quotes of the Day today, both from Rachel Maddow's commentary last night, on Sweeney, in a segment called Democrats Doing it wrong in New Jersey. The first laments NJ's sad-assed Democratic performance of the last few weeks, compared to a more heroic midwest state:
New Jersey, you are not Wisconsin.
And as for Christie punking Sweeney and the block of Dems who voted with him, and his 'fightin' words' about Christie after that, Maddow says this:
The time for fighting, generally, is between the opening bell and the closing one. You can fight and win, you can fight and lose but lose forward like Wisconsin Democrats did, fighting like hell and thereby inspiring the people that they fight for. But if you instead assume the fetal position during the fight (inaudible) and then come up fighting once it's all over, the technical term for that is "too late". On union rights or on any of what are supposed to be core Democratic Party principles, if you surrender and you still get beaten up, you're doing it wrong.
Here's the video:
Couldn't scrub the short ad. Just deal with it. Vid clocks in at 8:01, with what's behind the Minnesota budget. shut-down leading, the fight for right in Wisconsin, and the failure to fight for right in NJ. Want to skip right to NJ? Skip to the 4:55 mark.
"I would have hoped that Chris Christie would have learned, now one year on the job, that there is a difference between being a leader and being a complainer. I am disappointed," said Wisniewski. "Constantly, we hear the Governor complain that someone else isn't doing their job when he in fact isn't doing his. He chose to default on two year's worth of pension payments and now he wants to blame public employees, the Speaker, the Senate President, and who knows who else. When will this Governor learn that the buck stops at his desk? That his choice to cut funding to education and municipal aid has caused property taxes to skyrocket 23%. That his demonizing public employees has made any compromise with them all but impossible. That his veto of job creation legislation has left New Jersey residents without the jobs they need," Wisniewski continued. "I'd like to see this Governor lead this state and stop blaming everyone for why he can't."
Today's Quote of the Day comes again from Loretta Weinberg, transparency advocate and not somebody you want to bullshit about Chris Christie's disclosure-averse slush fund, Reform Jersey Now, whose contributors - only released as it dissolved - have made us wonder whose back was getting scratched for all that cash.
Weinberg's got big questions for Bayonne Medical Center, who forked over $25,000 to Reform. That sent up red flags for Weinberg, who's a sponsor of a bill (S1468) requiring for-profit hospitals to disclose more info about both their finances and investments. Weinberg told The Jersey Journal (via nj.com) she's not buying the hospital CEO's fish story (given to politickernj) that the $25K was to bolster "public policy that will enhance the ability of hospitals".
Why? Because where does it say that Reform Jersey Now supports health care? Because Reform used its cash to put out robo-calls & mailers against Asw Connie Wagner, who sponsors that hospital tranparency bill in the Assembly? And in a one-hospital town maybe that hospital spending serious coin on a political group, as Wagner points out is worth discussing, particularly for the locals, who don't get much choice of hospital in their time of need, and have to pay what the Medical Center charges as the watch their money go into Christie's privately-controlled fund.
Maybe this is Bayonne Medical Center's real story. Weinberg:
I believe the donation was designed to curry favor with current administration. There was not one mention of health care in Reform Jersey Now's mailings, and not one in its mission statement. The idea that the group had something to do with health care is implausible.
For the record, Bayonne Medical Center's CEO Daniel Kane said he had "no specific comments" on how Reform Jersey Now had supported health care but said Weinberg's allegations are unfounded. Maybe this story would go down better if Reform Jersey Now didn't cloak its activities, or could point to one shred of health care public policy it worked on with Bayonne Medical Center's cash. Maybe people struggling to pay family medical bills there would like to know what the hospital's really buying from Christie's slush fund, as their bills go up.
Since Christie & Guadagno's vacationing during the 2010 blizzard - and not returning once the emergency was declared - became national news, the governor's spokesman has been working overtime doing damage control for his boss.
It's a big snow, definitely, but the world is not coming to an end.
Can no one in the Christie administration go a day without that belittling tone? He goes on to say:
We are a northeastern state and we get snow - sometimes lots of it like this - and we will get through it just as we always do.
Yes, as I returned to New Jersey after being snowed in elsewhere, I saw a lot of public workers out salting and clearing the roads, emergency services workers tending to accidents, shopkeepers clearing a path to their doors to stay open, low-wage workers in double-layer work gloves pumping gas for weary drivers, waitresses in double shifts at McDonald's keeping the coffee fresh.
Yes, we'll "get through it as we always do". That'll be us, your constituents. That's who I see out working and getting "through it". Your boss and his LG still have another few days of play in the sunshine, so maybe stow the snide at least till the governor's back on New Jersey soil. Till then, it sure as hell is lost on me.
Today's Quote of the Day comes via Senator Loretta Weinberg, and it took a day or so to sink in, how cheeky it is. We're glad we've got a senator way up in the 37th District who rides it right up to the Governor's door. As her first year with us closes, we're also glad she's part of the Blue Jersey community, too. Here's LW, as quoted by The Record's Charles Stile, after Gov. Christie disparaged her work to reform pay-to-play rules, an effort she invited him to collaborate in, but he never returned her calls or any of her efforts to include him. Stile's last line is her quote:
Despite the sharp words, Weinberg said she would be willing to discuss the matter with Christie privately, "as long as I have a chance to answer before I'm escorted out."
Today's Quote of the Day is from the website of Gannett's Courier News and Home News Tribune, which posted their analysis of Gov. Chris Christie propensity to turn far too many encounters with his public into ugly confrontations.
The article discusses one of Christie's "YouTube moments" (as his staff calls them), and how he treated a member of his audience at a "Town Hall" in Parsippany. From Christie's confrontational style needs more limits:
And an incident like this, as minor as it is, should matter to New Jerseyans, because it suggests that Christie may be losing perspective on how to properly apply his power as governor. And that's dangerous.
This seems to be the week that Chris Christie jumped the shark. We're thankful it isn't just us calling him out for this crap. For a while there, it was awfully lonely trying to keep a jaundiced eye on this guy while the GOP faithful outside New Jersey hoisted him up as King, and the GOP inside New Jersey were giddy with the power he's throwing around.
The tipping point was the latest "Town Hall" in his home county of Morris, where he had his security bring a teacher half his size, who says he's a registered Republican, up to the stage where Christie waved his finger in the guy's face and gave him what for until he was done, then had security escort him off the stage and away before the guy could respond. Quite a show. Star Ledger wrote Christie's bully act getting old. Salon wrote Is New Jersey growing bored with shouty Chris Christie? (they'd already written Chris Christie loves yelling at people and called him "New Jersey cartoon"). Fred Snowflack, who covers Morris politics more than any other reporter, wrote Christie may need a boxing ring next time. And there's more. And there's going to be more.
Look, I was tired of Chris Christie before he was inaugurated. We've spent quite a lot of time here watching him carefully, so none of this is a surprise to us - or to you. But partisan politics aside, this behavior has got to stop. Time for the bad boy to grow up.
Quote of the Weekend is from NJ's senior senator, and the US Senate's eldest. He is also one of the Senate's wealthiest, fro a payroll services company that is now an industry leader. From New York Times coverage of Saturday's US Senate vote on extending the Bush-era tax cuts:
Lautenberg said he would benefit personally from a tax cut on income above $1 million. But -
I had a good business career, and I would be entitled to a tax cut for those over the million-dollar mark. But I don't want it. I don't need it. What I am looking at today, I think, is a great American travesty.
"In an effort to overturn one of the biggest environmental accomplishments in New Jersey in the last decade, Governor Christie has stepped outside the bounds of statute and ignored residency rules and political party requirements which were intended to give balanced representation to the entire Highlands region. If the Governor disagrees with the purpose and intention of the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council, he and his allies in the Legislature can follow the appropriate steps to abolish it through the legislative process. But he's outside of his rights to stack the council with Morris County cronies who will do his bidding and dismantle the council from the inside-out."
Today's Quote of the Day comes from Edithe Fulton, a member of the NJ State Board of Education, appointed in 2007 from Ocean County. Her words were captured on video by Star-Ledger's Andrew Mills and featured in an article about the impact of Acting Commissioner Hendricks' absence at the 2010 NJEA convention, which concluded last night. Edithe Fulton:
I just was able to read the email [from Rochelle Hendricks, that she would not attend]. I've known Rochelle for 25 years, and I've always admired her work and her passion for education. And I just don't believe ... I know she signed it ... I question whether she actually wrote it. I think it was dictated or handed to her, and said 'Here's what you're going to do.'
As the teachers were meeting, Gov. Christie gave a talk to the kids in the Boys & Girls Club in Trenton, to inform them that their greedy teachers and union reps are the reason their schools are short on supplies.
What I don't understand is why the adult authorities at any school, Boys & Girls Club, or neighborhood association would allow Gov. Christie to have access to children, particularly when what he intends is to discuss with them his actions and their impact on their schooling and their futures. It's remarkably irresponsible that a governor - highest authority in the state - is talking to children and suggesting their teachers are not to be trusted, don't care about them, and want to take from them. Why any responsible adult would allow Gov. Christie to speak that way to children - without intervening and quietly escorting him from the room - is beyond comprehension.
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