So much of what politicians do, both legislators and executives, is spinning BS. Laws and policies can take years to implement and most of the day to day activities are framing and spinning what they accomplish or want to accomplish. Rejecting transportation money? It will take several years to fully digest the costs and benefits of doing so.

The great thing about a storm like this is that politicians can't BS. They either have to respond effectively or not. Christie didn't. This story won't go away because, unlike with so many other things, there is no way to BS it and the images won't disappear for the 2013 election.

His response is so funny because all he had to do was say "I'm sorry. I screwed up. I badly needed to spend time with my family, and I apologize for not doing everything I could have and it will not happen again. It was my responsibility as leader of this state."

He pathologically can not do that and is why his career will end in 2013 no matter how loud the cheers and CPAC and Jennifer Rubin and Andrew Breitbart's gushing over him as a rock star.

Aye Aye Cap't. Katrina exposed Bush..... but by then it was too late.

I think it's long been clear that if somebody runs for an executive position that they will have to compromise some family obligations at some point, and probably many times. If Christie isn't willing to do that then he should resign and go back to being a lobbyist.

And regarding his comments about how the Governor doesn't need to pick up a shovel...

Remember when Ed Rendell became Mayor of Philly the first time? First week on the job he got down on his hands and knees and scrubbed bathrooms in City Hall. Made a huge impact, seeing the Mayor pitch in. Christie should have taken notes.

What this incident plays up is that 1) Christie doesn't really care about the little guy, and 2) the folk whose pensions that Christie is trying to reduce are the ones who got out on the plows and did the hard work....

What this incident plays up is that 1) Christie doesn't really care about the little guy, and 2) the folk whose pensions that Christie is trying to reduce are the ones who got out on the plows and did the hard work....

Sounds like the guy in the WH. Oddly, Wall Street "pensions" were increased...

Yeah, I'm one who thought the original story was overblown, but the governor's talk since he got back is pretty bizarre. He seems to bave fallen into the trap of believing his own PR. He's reminding me of another politician once loved by the press who seems flumoxed and personally insulted by zny criticism. (Oh vanity, thy name is McCa...uh Christie).

Does Chris Christie feel that time off for other public-sector employees qualifies as sacrosanct on the same basis of husband/father responsibility? If not, why not?

Christie needs to realize that there are some battles you just can't win. Suck it up, admit you made a mistake and move on.

The difference with the blizzard mistake appears to be political: this one's sticking and Christie knows it.

Notice the differences between this one and the previous Christie "mistakes". With education funding there's a broad constituency of people who have no idea how much Christie's little fit really costs the state - they see the dollar amounts and their eyes kind of glaze over. They know it's probably a big deal but they have no way to really see the impact of it.

With the snow, these folks were blocked into their homes while the governor was at Disney World with his family. They were personally and obviously affected by government misfeasance while the governor was off enjoying himself in sunny Florida. At their expense (not that he put it on the public dime, but when people are angry at government officials they assume that everything they do is at public expense).

Christie stumbled across the basic Republican Politics of Resentment here and he apparently doesn't even realize it. People are mad that they had their lives turned upside down while the governor was having fun with his kids. The more he talks about it and tries to defend it, the angrier people will get because THEY weren't able to fly off to Florida during the blizzard and enjoy Disney World. THEY were trying to dig themselves out of a blizzard that this asshole wasn't around to help take care of.

This is reptile brain stuff that the GOP is usually quite good at manipulating. It's always fun when it comes around and bites them in the ass.

"This is reptile brain stuff that the Democratic Partyis usually quite good at manipulating."

There you go. Reminds me why Obama was elected. Thanks guys.

For at least the last ten years, it has been GOP orthodoxy that no matter what happens, you NEVER admit fault and you NEVER apologize. What you do is attack. Attack, attack, and attack. And then attack some more.

Christie has proven to be a master practioner of this, what with distributing his YouTube primed video clips and all.

And the sad thing is that this approach has generally worked for the GOP - Christie included - because what the public sees on TV and the news are images of aggrieved conservative politicians expressing outrage over the failures of the government, and pointing fingers, and demanding change, and demanding accountability. Those sound bites and images and impressions of leadership are what stick, even when they are total BS, and even when the GOP's actions and policies were the ones that actually caused the problem.

Christie's attempt to go on the attack about the snowstorm response (while pulling and pull a sentimental family-first victim act to cover himself) is classic example of this type. Hey ... you can't criticize Christie without being anti-family! Why do you hate kids so much, moonbat liberal?? Hey, look over there ... a unionized public worker stealing your tax dollars by working overtime! Blame your mayor!

But ... maybe this shows that there are finally limits to this BS. Just maybe?

"My first responsibility in life is as a husband and father."

I read that and heard the Full Metal Jacket drill sargeant scream "Holy Jesus! What the hell is that!"

-But ... maybe this shows that there are finally limits to this BS. Just maybe?-

Not a chance. After saying that handing cash to the financial industry would keep unemployment below 8%, anything goes. It did work for me though.

When I worked for a city public works department in Florida , I remember having to explain to my very incredulous wife that I had to stay at work and would not be home when the hurricane hit. I explained to her the first responsibility was to the people of the city.

Many Americans put "country first" as a result of the nature of their chosen professions - for example, police, fire fighters, and of course members of the Military.

Outside of public service, the learned professions practice with a dedication that sometimes puts family second: doctors, lawyers...

I never liked being called back from vacation either when a crisis arose at work. But I went back.

The legend of Chris Christie, Superstar is over.

"The legend of Chris Christie, Superstar, Most High OverLard of Joisy, is over"

One can just hope, before he tries to impose his ShoutyGov style on the rest of the US.

I hope that at the next election the good people of New Jersey take their opportunity to let Christie spend more time with his family.

Folks beleive me, even this slip up aint gonna stop the "Christie is just the hard nosed Republican 'moderate' that could win in 2012" media narrative that people like George Will and Peggy Noonan spew on the Sunday talk shows.
IOKIYAR

I posted this earlier - but to repeat. When the little county we grew up in had to develop a real ambulance service in the 60's, my dad, a [republican] county commission, burned most of his measly vacation to make sure tha wehn July 1 came, there was an ambulance, that was equipped, and had trained crews, including himself.

He never whined about losing his vacation; and it was made pretty clear to us that sometimes you have to do something for the greater good.

I can't be the only person whose job has on occasion made it inconvenient if not impossible to take a family holiday. In most cases, it went on without me, and I came late if I could. Needless to say, my job is not nearly as important as Christie's, but what seems most tone deaf to me about the harping on family obligations is how many of us do sacrifice our families for work, and just how unforgiving many private employers in particular are if you plead any excuse at all related to family responsibilities. Here's a guy who gets to decide all by himself without any accountability to the people who elected him when it's okay to take off work for his family, even if it comes at the worst possible time. He seems to actually believe that he is somehow being held to a higher standard than anyone else when it's actually quite the opposite. It shows how clueless he is as to how the rest of us live.

"He never whined about losing his vacation; and it was made pretty clear to us that sometimes you have to do something for the greater good"

I'd tell John Kerry about this new idea.

Christie is a jerk. He reminds me of a fat Guliani. Anyhow. As this debacle has unfolded I am reminded of Jane Byrne Mayor of Chicago who couldn't get the snow off the streets and lost her bid fro re-election. Perhaps Christie will suffer the same fate. Then he can retire to a warm snow free state.

On the other hand, if he was at Epcot Center, then, well that is a burden worse than a blizzard.

"but what seems most tone deaf to me about the harping on family obligations is how many of us do sacrifice our families for work, and just how unforgiving many private employers in particular are if you plead any excuse at all related to family responsibilities."

Well said, Barbara. Under Christie's logic, I guess this would apply to all "essential services" during Christmas week.

He doesn't want to apologize, and he can't find someone to shout at to make the problem go away.

How about Olympia Snowe?

This whole is issue is bogus. Christie and his next in line were both on vacation when the storm hit. The DEMOCRAT handled it. YES people were impacted by the snow, EVERYONE was impacted by the snow. When Christie returned he should have just said 'THANK YOU' and moved on. Being a blowhard is what will do him in.

Don't they teach this in politician school POL 101? In case of an emergency (hurricane, blizzard, earthquake), be there and look busy. Certainly do no go off on a vacation. Amazing.

common guys, it's f'n snow for god's sake, give me a break.

Bob O'Reilly: "As this debacle has unfolded I am reminded of Jane Byrne Mayor of Chicago who couldn't get the snow off the streets and lost her bid fro re-election."

Actually, to refresh your memory, it was Jane Byrne who capitalized on Mayor Michael Bilandic's hapless performance as the Chicago's chief executive performance during the Blizzard of 1979, ousting the incumbent in that year's Democratic primary, which took place only a few weeks after the storm.

Mayor Byrne lost her own bid for re-election four years later when she and Richard M. Daley (who later became mayor himself) split the white vote, allowing South Side Congressman Harold Washington to take the Democratic mayoral primary with a plurality of votes, which was underscored by a heavy African-American turnout.

Aloha.

@Rick

common guys, it's f'n snow for god's sake, give me a break.

Yeah, and Katrina was just wind and rain. What's your point?

And I don't know about the others posting here, but I don't appreciate being called common.

Ten bucks says Senate President Steve Sweeney ends up teaching Christie's kids to ride bikes and going to their parent-teacher conferences, too.

: "Christie and his next in line were both on vacation when the storm hit."

From what I heard, New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno's father is in the final throes of Stage IV cancer. She left the state to be with him. That hardly sounds like a vacation.

Look, right-wing media was roundly criticized across the board - and rightly so - for ridiculing then-presidential candidate Barack Obama's late October 2008 sojourn to Honolulu to visit his dying grandmother, often mischaracterizing his trip as nothing more than a political junket.

(On a personal note, I can assure you that particular bit of GOP-inspired churlishness struck a very sour chord with island voters, who understandably have a lot of aloha for Obama and his family. Yet amazingly, some Republicans out here still wonder aloud why John McCain only got 28% of the Hawaii vote one week later ...)

Speaking for myself only as a fair-minded liberal Democrat, I'm not going to countenance a double standard by my fellow Democrats on this painfully similar issue. Would we have been so quick to pounce on Lt. Gov. Guadagno, had her father lived in Milwaukee rather than Mexico?

As far as legitimate excuses for official absences are concerned, mortal illness in one's immediate family is going to trump previously scheduled visits to Disney World, every time.

That said, the bottom line here is that Chris Christie is the governor of New Jersey, not Ms. Guadagno, and the buck stops with him. Leave her alone. She's apparently got enough on her plate right now.

Aloha.

@ Donald from Hawaii

That said, the bottom line here is that Chris Christie is the governor of New Jersey, not Ms. Guadagno, and the buck stops with him. Leave her alone. She's apparently got enough on her plate right now.

Point taken, but the bottom line is that, as in any organization, management should mitigate to the degree possible concurrent extended absences. This is especially true here in New Jersey, where we only recently created the position of lieutenant governor (Guadagno is the first person to hold it) specifically because as a result of rather bizarre circumstances, the state has had ten or eleven governors or acting governors since 2001. His responsibilities to his constituents trumped Christie's wish to take a vacation, and so did Guadagno's need to deal with a family emergency. When he learned she was leaving the state and when and why, Christie should have canceled his vacation. (Note that I said he should have canceled his vacation. Mrs. Christie and the little Christies could have gone without him.)

I'm waiting for the story to break about his sexual affair with a constituent or staffer or lobbyist. Family Values "always" ends badly.

Secaucus Fats would have left his family behind in the snow if that was necessary to get him out of town. The pusillanimous tub of lard is glad they wanted to go with him.

I can't prove it, but it's possible that Christie's lack of belief in strong public education cost his state 400 million dollars last year (Race to the Top).

He has toned downed his bluster from last week with regards to the blizzard.

But going to Dinsey World was not exactly a respect earning endeavor.

New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the US. It would be ironic if the electorate realize that the governor is also dense when it comes to snow jobs.

I only hope that he stayed at Disneyworld and didn't go to the beach.

Actually, Christie will never go to the beach. One widely disseminated picture of him in his swimming trunks, not a custom tailored to make him look sort of normal $2000 suit, would totally do him in. If snowcalypse, no federal education money, and the non-tunnel aren't enough already.

One wonders what is ahead in Christieland. Hopefully, more shit.

He would make a 'great' president! At least we would know that if another 9/11 happened, he would not continue reading to the children. However, if he was on vacation...

I look forward to the nicknames that Christie's Democratic opponent uses when Christie runs for a second term. What should it be? Some possibilities:

Christie the Snowman
"Snowplow" Christie
Chris "Mr. Plow" Christie
"White Christmas" Christie
The Queen of Narnia [off-beat but obvious]
Chris "The Flake" Christie
"Winter Wonderland" Christie
Chris "Let Sweeney do it" Christie
Chris "It's not my job" Christie
"The Abominable Snow Governor"

There are many others.

...Guadagno's father is in the final throes of Stage IV cancer. She left the state to be with him. That hardly sounds like a vacation.

One more time: Her father had arranged for a two-week family cruise because he doesn't expect to be around for another Christmas. That's poignant, and I don't begrudge her the time with her father, but it isn't as if she was rushing to his deathbed to say goodbye.

When Joe Biden was elected to the senate, his family was in a very serious car accident. He was going to not go to his own swearing-in ceremony (and not take office) to stay at the hospital with his family. He was persuaded that his job working for the people of his state was important and he should serve in the Senate. If Christie's family had been in the hospital it would have been a different situation, but Disneyworld????

Family First.

Republican Family First.

Wealthy Republican Family First.

And the rest of the people in our beloved country, especially those who aren't members of a Wealthy Republican Family First, are dead last, often literally, or financially, dead last.

Perhaps he wins the early 2011 Sarah Palin award for the Governor who has more important things to do than his job.

"My first responsibility in life is as a wife and mother."

Sounds even worse when the shoe is on the other foot, eh?

In unrelated news, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez has fired the two chefs who served Gov. Bill Richardson, saying she'd do all her own cooking.