How the media created Chris Christie

[DonViejo]

He never was a scandal-free moderate, but mainstream pundits had to invent one to ignore unrelenting GOP extremism

JOAN WALSH

Poor Chris Christie: It gets worse. If you don’t pay close attention to politics, it’s got to be stunning how quickly he’s gone from the great “moderate” presidential hope of the mainstream media and Republican establishment to embarrassingly sloppy, power-mad and quite possibly corrupt governor. Let me explain.

But first, let me recap the latest in Christie scandal news. In the last day alone: CNN reported a federal probe into why Christie spent $4.5 million of Hurricane Sandy aid on what was essentially a political ad for himself (instead of just over $2 million on a New Jersey tourism ad that didn’t feature Christie and his family). MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki identified what looks like the real impetus for the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal: a huge real estate development. That was almost inevitable: All politics is about real estate.

New email and text message evidence emerged that Christie lied last Thursday when he said bridge official David Samson had nothing to do with the lane closures. Oh, and I love this one, from Friday: Christie’s old baseball coach seemed to refute his pettiest and most predictably refuted Thursday lie, that he wasn’t friends, wasn’t even acquaintances, with key bridge scandal player David Wildstein: He and Wildstein were both on Livingston High’s baseball team, according to their old coach.

Now, Wildstein was the team’s nerdy stat guy while Christie was a player, but given other evidence that links them, the coach’s story makes Christie’s Thursday claim that he wasn’t even acquaintances with Wildstein in high school look extra petty and vindictive and, well, just plain mean.

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/01/13/how_the_media_created_chris_christie/

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

1. What scares the hell of out me is that the Corporate Media has traditional Democrats buying into

the Chris Christie fallacy...even to the extent that they would go out of their way to back him rather than a good Democrat and public servant like Barbara Buono. (I predicted that we wouldn't hear the last from Buono and we haven't!)

Most Americans are being duped by this guy. I remember having arguments with my own family who so easily believe what they see, hear and read in this corporate-owned and operated media.

It scares me shitless because I think the M$M is so hard-on for a Christie-Hillary fight (in which of course they support Christie) that they'll do anything to get it, including creating this false narrative about who Christie really is.

Most terrifying is that we are witnessing another George "W" Bush creation, another John McCain media personality that everybody loves and are terrified to question or take to task.

Christie also represents something that I have nightmares over: He's the quinessential narcissist! An egotistical maniac! And most of all, the AUTHORITARIAN-patriarch that Americans seem to love. "Daddy" figure, Reaganesque. I thought we moved away from that as a society, but people still like and want that, it seems. That's why even Democrats in the media, like Chris Matthews, are attempting to ram "Chris Christie for President" down our collective throats.

I am truly afraid for what a Christie presidency would look like.

[question everything]

2. In the book "Double Down" - about Pufferfish

In an excerpt from their new book Double Down: Game Change 2012, TIME’s Mark Halperin and New York’s John Heilemann look at Mitt Romney’s on-again, off-again flirtation with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to be his running-mate. Codenamed “Pufferfish,” in the aquatic-themed parlance of the campaign’s vetting team, Christie was a constant thorn in the side of the Romney campaign, going back to a 2011 demand that the eventual Republican nominee refrain from fundraising in the Garden State until Christie bestowed his endorsement. The New Jersey Governor’s tardiness to joint fundraising events peeved the punctual candidate, and Christie’s demand for lavish travel arrangements upset Romney’s staff. But Christie’s ability to passionately explain the candidate’s message to donors and voters made him a favorite for the spot, especially with Romney’s chief strategist Stuart Stevens.

The campaign passed over the potential 2016 candidate amid concerns about his ability to stand up to public scrutiny. The authors quote from the campaign’s secret vetting report on Christie, listing the red flags that kept him off the ticket and could keep him out of the White House, should he choose to run in 2016. The report noted that Christie had failed to fully explain a number of issues. These included information on an SEC settlement by the New Jersey governor’s brother, Todd, the terms of a defamation lawsuit settlement signed by Christie, information on Christie’s previous lobbying clients, medical records on his personal health and the citizenship status of Christie’s domestic employees. “If Christie’s possible selection is to move forward, these items should be obtained,” the document read.

http://swampland.time.com/2013/11/01/double-down-book-excerpt-to-detail-romney-campaign-concerns-about-chris-christie/