Gov. Christie Defends 'Disney World' Trip During Blizzard

[demmiblue]

<snip>

Speaking Friday at his first news conference since returning home, Christie said all major decisions on the state's response he made in consultation with state Senate President Stephen Sweeney. Sweeney, a Democrat, had been serving as acting governor after Christie, a Republican, left the state Sunday morning hours before the snow started to fall in earnest.

<snip>

"I would have been doing the same thing here as I would have been there," Christie said. "I would have been in a room someplace. I would not have been out, like, driving a plow."

<snip>

"It was clearly a partisan thing," he said. "I know what my responsibility is. And I know my responsibility as a father. I wanted to be there with my kids... I had a great five days with my children. I promised that."

When it became clear that the storm was getting worse, Christie said his wife warned him to not "even think about" canceling the trip.

<snip>

Christie also said there were no reports of storm-related deaths or of ambulances that couldn't reach homes in time, as there were in New York. That wasn't completely true. At least one woman gave birth in her car, and emergency responders had to use a sled to reach another man who was having a heart attack at his home and later died.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/01/christie-florida-disney-blizzard_n_803170.html?ref=twitter

[hlthe2b]

1. What arrogance...

Will the NJ voters that gave us this asshole, continue to support him?

[qb]

2. I wonder if his "personal responsibility" constituents will give him a pass.

[Pisces]

3. Sounds like he was making a dig at Cory Booker who was out clearing snow for people.

Too bad Christie, you lose this one.

[demmiblue]

5. Wow, I didn't read about Cory Baker (don't know how I missed that!)

He truly acted on behalf of the people of Newark. I am very impressed! :patriot:

[tularetom]

4. He seems to get real defensive real fast

I don't know anything about the state of the Jersey Democratic party but it seems to me that with very little effort they could keep pushing this guy's buttons and maneuver him into a very public very ugly meltdown. He appears to have an extremely thin skin and a short fuse.

It may be fun to watch him self destruct.

[eleny]

10. I saw him speaking on tv yesterday and the edge was off his confidence

He had a bit of a worried look around the eyes as if his arrogance was slightly sanded off. He's been knocked off his pins and will have to regroup. Except there's no erasing what happened.

I expect that the cartoons of him being on vacation were akin to Nero fiddling while Rome got snowed in. Maybe with Booker in the background helping to push someone's car out of a snow bank.

[CarmanK]

6. THE MAN's A FAMILY VALUES GUY!!

The repugs are jumping for joy with his response. He is so arrogant and assured that of course all the people of NJ are wrong and he is right.

[SpiralHawk]

7. "My secret, um, RepubiCon friend, made me do the Disney thing." - Christie (R)

[shraby]

8. His WIFE is running the show now???

[The Backlash Cometh]

9. Republicans don't get it.

Public service comes first. They think their lives should not be disrupted by the job. Not only that, but they think that they should be rewarded just for holding the position, which translates to passing on patronage to their pals to cushion their reintegration into the private sector.

[edhopper]

11. The voters ignored that

Christie was a partisan criminal as U S Attorney;

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/08/did_christie_bring_political_prosecution_us_attorn.php

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/gop_gov_candidate_chris_christ_2.html

[customerserviceguy]

12. While there's plenty to blame Christie for

this is one thing I just don't understand. Would it have not snowed in NJ if he had not left for Disney World? If he had stayed, and the snow came anyway, would his fat ass have been expected to grab a shovel and start moving snow?

Katrina comparisons in this situation just make us look petty in the eyes of the people we're trying to convince to not give him this job back in 2013.

[WolverineDG]

14. I don't get that either

he left before the emergency happened. IIRC, once the storm hit, all air traffic was halted on the eastern seaboard, so even if he wanted to fly back, he couldn't have.

He did, at least, maintain contact with the person left in charge. It's not like he ignored his voice mail & told folks "That's your problem, I'm on vacation."

dg

[customerserviceguy]

16. When it comes down to it

during a disaster, all a boss is, is someone there who impedes recovery. His ass must be kissed, and in doing so, work is improperly prioritized.

I agree, anything Christie was good for during the snowstorm could have been handled over the phone. And workers wouldn't have to have shoveled a path for his fat ass to walk to show "compassion" for those affected by the storm.

[spanone]

13. hey gov, if you're 'splainin' you're already fucked

[kevinbgoode]

15. Maybe the voters in New Jersey need to amend their Constitution

to prohibit married people with families from holding public office, since it is apparent that the governor views family vacations as more important than handling a major state emergency.

Now if Christie was doing the same thing in Florida handling the emergency as he would have been doing if he remained in New Jersey, then how could he have enjoyed his vacation with the children? One would think his hands would have been full handling the phone calls from Trenton.