“It will be a tough November for this little Serbian”

[RandySF]

[A]s it became clearer that the lane closures were a surprise to local officials and police, the media began asking more questions. Wildstein sent a message to Former Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni on the afternoon of Sept. 17 telling him a Wall Street Journal reporter had called him on his cell phone.

“Jesus,” Baroni responded, before advising Wildstein to call Drewniak, Christie’s spokesman.

Christie’s campaign manager exchanged messages with Wildstein the next day, and he blamed the Fort Lee mayor.

“The mayor is an idiot,” Bill Stepien, Christie’s campaign manager, wrote to Wildstein on Sept. 18, in reaction to the Wall Street Journal story about local officials’ complaints.

“When (sic) some, lose some,” Stepien wrote.

Wildstein responded to Stepien: “It will be a tough November for this little Serbian,” an apparent reference to the Fort Lee mayor, who Baroni also referred to as “Serbia” in text messages.


http://www.salon.com/2014/01/08/emails_show_christie_aides_planning_gwb_gridlock/

[Tx4obama]

1. On Maddow's show I think she said he is actually 'Croatian'. n/t

[Cleita]

2. And that is serious. It either shows Christie's utter ignorance or maybe real contempt.

I went to Catholic school with a variety of children of what was then called Yugoslavian immigrants. This was in the late 1940s and early 1950s. They were among a bunch of eastern Europeans displaced after WWII. One thing I learned is that they all hated each other. To me it was weird to see white people hating each other as much as the white people in my town hating Blacks and Mexicans. A friend of mine, a child of Slovenian immigrants, explained the whole thing to me. Those people are as tribal as they are in the Middle East. You never call Serbian a Croatian, or a Slovenian a Slovakian or anyone a Dalmation and so on. Of course, they all united in hating the Polish and Czechs.

Anyway, I can imagine in New Jersey the ethnic divides aren't any different, and the people know about them, so I think Christie deliberately wanted to insult the guy and knew what he was doing.

[Tx4obama]

3. The OP up above says 'Wildstein' and 'Baroni' said it, not Christie

[Cleita]

6. Whoever said it was ignorant and as part of Christie's inner circle

pretty much speaks for the governor.

[WillyT]

4. He Said Serbian... Rachel Corrected... And Said He's Croation...

I... think...

[Tx4obama]

5. Yeah, same thing I just said :)