The Republican National Committee recently conducted an?online straw poll?identifying 32 candidates who could get its nomination in the 2016 presidential race. Each of the 32 has quite a questionable history, though, that contrasts with the GOP’s consistent claim of it being the ?moral? option for voters.
Philander, racism, thievery, bribery, and combinations of these and other?sins?are?found across the slate, in fact.?In this series on the 32 potential candidates (updated every other day), Liberal America will offer a quick rundown on the hypocrisy clouding each one’s ?holier than thou? claims.
Chris Christie
Governor of New Jersey
Chris Christie is still in recent news for vile political tricks and arm-twistings with another ?Bridgegate? scandal. In the first incident, he ordered shutdown of traffic lanes on the George Washington Bridge, which leads to the town of a mayor who didn’t endorse his last gubernatorial campaign. The shutdown led to traffic congestion so dense that it’s credited with causing the death of an elderly woman being transported by ambulance.
For Bridgegate #2, he took money declared for use to repair the Lincoln Tunnel it shares with New York State, spent it on the Pulaski Bridge that’s in New Jersey exclusively, and continually lied about it, many say. Prosecutors are currently looking into this violation of federal law in the second incident.
It’s no big deal to Christie, though, who recently told attendees at a GOP donor function ?you’ll get over it.? The Bridgegates are his Standard Operating Procedure, it seems. The federal funds New Jersey received to repair Hurricane Sandy damage were issued as political favors, such as the $6 million to an undamaged senior center in the town of a mayor who had just previously endorsed Christie, along with other slush-fund uses.
As governor, Christie has continued the same anti-labor, anti-public education, and anti-environment tenets that many Republicans promote today. He slashed benefits for police and firefighters, for example, denied state employees any insight or influence on their health benefits, and then blocked funding owed to the state employees? pension fund. He consistently promotes tax credits to families sending their children to private schools, and continues development of charter schools. Christie also vetoed a bill that restricted hydraulic fracturing (?fracking?) in New Jersey, claiming it was unconstitutional.
The public might know him best for his brash, arrogant and insulting behavior in public forums. He called a former Navy SEAL ?idiot? at a town hall meeting, gave a sarcastic ?I hear ya, boy!? to an African-American questioning school funding, and at more than one press conference has singled out different reporters with terms like ?idiot? and ?stupid.? Not only is Christie unapologetic for this regular pattern of public insults, but he’s proud of those incidents, too. (A YouTube account in his name that positively promotes Christie includes videos of his hecklings.)?
In the swell of these on-going Bridgegate scandals, though, lately Christie seems to be trying to change his arrogant image, operating in what MSNBC’s Chris Matthews calls ?survival mode?:
Visit Liberal America for future updates on?the other?GOP 2016 hopefuls.
What’s your take on these?hypocritical Republicans? State your case on?Liberal America’s Facebook?page.
See previous posts on GOP 2016 hopefuls:
Kelly Ayotte???Haley Barbour?? ?John Bolton?? ?Jeb Bush? ?Herman Cain ? Ben Carson
