Chris Matthews must be seriously scared of Chris Christie. Otherwise, why would the fuddy-duddy liberal bother to make this decidedly un-PC statement, slamming the NJ governor as too fat to be president?
“Chris Christie is moon over New Jersey, he should not wear white shirts, I tell you that….I saw him the other day and I was amazed by it, he must be 300 plus, and that’s something he’s just gotta deal with because you’re not going to say, ‘I’m going to cut the budget,’ well, how about starting with supper?”
Har-dee-har-har…. Actually, it’s quite the reverse. Part of Christie’s appeal is his weight. In this phony age when Michelle Obama warns that child obesity is a “national security” problem, a man of the governor’s girth is a relief. He seems like a real person, not some politically coiffed individual from the good liberal world of, say, John Edwards. And I write this as something of a fitness fanatic who uses the ellipse machine, does his push-ups and sit-ups and plays tennis four times a week. (Want to try some singles, Matthews? We could put a few grand in escrow for the winner, if you want.)
The truth is the MSNBC host made himself into a ludicrously dismissible blowhard ages ago and perhaps he was using Christie to generate a little publicity. But what’s really interesting is the New Jersey governor himself, for me the most magnetic political figure on the horizon in some time. Whatever his avoirdupois, he’s fast on his feet with ripostes for the press and his adversaries. He also comes off as remarkably honest for a politician, just the sort of person who might stand up to various interests (public unions, etc.) and make the mammoth budget cuts necessary to save our country.
If this is true, my only question about Christie is…. Has he peaked too soon?
“He has so much backbone it sticks out in front.”
Governor Christie has nowhere near peaked. Out here in Seattle, where the State has faced a $1.1 billion deficit for 2011 for several months, the Seattle Times has yet to record any notice of Christie’s feat of balancing a NJ deficit of ten times that amount soon after taking office in 2010.
We may conclude that the MSM has its head firmly buried in the sand, and feels that the public won’t wake up to Christie’s leadership capabilities if only they can snuff any mention of them in the pages of the sycophantic-to-Gov.-Gregoire Times.
Bad guess, MSM. The rising YouTube view-count of Christie’s public argument exploits show that the peak is still in future.
“We may conclude that the MSM has its head firmly buried in the sand”
If only this were true! Unfortunately their heads are buried somewhere between their sigmoid colon and appendix. There scary part is that is where they choose to remain with little interest in either fresh air or a world view.
I agree. The only way Christie could have “peaked” is if his appeal were nothing but some show biz popularity fad and people just got tired of his schtick. But Christie’s appeal is precisely because that is not who he is. He is honest, he speaks to voters like adults, and he is relentless in his intention to bring things in New Jersey back to sanity. Will HE tire of doing that? It appears highly unlikely he will any time soon. As various state governments and the federal government sink themselves further into unsustainable financial oblivion, and as politicians continue to collude with public employees’ unions to suck the life out of every sphere of American life, the voter outrage will grow. In fact, that voter outrage is only beginning. That is why Christie’s appeal is only beginning.
Chris Christie is an anomaly in this age: most politicians’ fat is between their ears. Personally, I’ll take the former if Tingly Legs (who went ga-ga over the fattest head ever to disgrace the Oval Office) doesn’t mind. And even if he does.
Christie can lose weight if he had to, However!!! with Matthews, .stupid is forever and more than skin deep..
To say such a crude thing is indicative of the left.
A couple of months ago on the O’Reilly program, made a comment that Christie couldn’t be taken seriously..
because Christie “smelled like bacon”.. I was amazed O’ Reilly did shut the guy down.
Your comment reminded me of a Winston Churchill anecdote, possibly apocryphal:
WC to Lady Astor: Madam you’re ugly.
LA to WC: Sir, you’re drunk!
WC to LA: Ah, but in the morning, I’ll be sober.
Your post reminded me of a famous (and perhaps true) story about Winston Churchill. According to the story, Winston Churchill once came out of a pub and ran into a female prohibitionist, who stated, “Sir, you are drunk!” He promptly responded with great dignity, “Yes madam, I am drunk, but you are ugly and in the morning, I’ll be sober.”
Chris Mathews has been, is and always will be stupid.
or, to put in in the vernacular (as Ron White did), “You can’t fix stupid!”
Roger,
As a New Jerseyan who is lucky to have him as my Governor, I can tell you that the “fat” shtick already blew up in the face of his opponent, former Governor Corzine, who used a commercial prominently featuring Christie’s girth, talking about Christie “throwing his weight around”, Corzine admitted that it was a big mistake.
Oh, and Christie has lost 45 lbs since taking office. He needs to lose at least 60-75 more (I think he should do the surgery thing); because his weight would be an issue if he ran for office.
Has he peaked so soon?
Why must every politician be a grasping conniver hoping to climb the greasy pole to grab the gold ring on top? Maybe they could stay in their current position a while, keep their focus on performing exceptionally in their job for the benefit of the citizens they were elected to serve. And we could judge them by their accomplishments, rather than anticipating their next move up the ladder.
One reason I respect Mitch Daniels is that he seems to want to be the best governor possible for Indiana at this time in their history. Such a contrast to Mitt Romney, a talented fellow to be sure, who conducted himself as Massachusetts governor in a way that you just knew this was a brief way station on the way to bigger and better things for Mitt Romney.
Let’s let Chris Christie have a chance to choose which of those two courses he intends to pursue, and we can judge him by his performance a few years down the road.
I think some people are still looking for a Messiah, only one who is on our side of the political divide. If we really believe in smaller government, then we should be happy to see a big pool of sensible people in all sorts of offices. If we focus too much now on the next big winner, we risk labeling a lot of very competent people as losers. Smaller, more competent and localized government will never happen unless we encourage people at all levels, from town council and school board to state legislature to national reps. They all need to be valued, and their accomplishments should be advertised.
Chris Matthews apparently got a directive from the far left show his proper concern with obeisance.
Apparently, he got confused again.
Maybe his leg is tingling again.
Life is not always fair. Chris Christie has little chance of being elected president of the United States. His weight will be an obstacle that cannot be overcome. Voters will cast their ballot on behalf of someone of his size for a position other than the top one. They subconsciously demand someone who is perceived conventionally good looking as their president.
I don’t buy it. If he were a woman, perhaps. But just about every comedy in American television history has the fat guy and his hot wife as the main characters. There’s not as much social stigma against fat guys with personality. And Christie’s got personality in spades.
Funny guys can be fat but Presidents look weak and appear as though they have no self-control if they have food, drug and/or alcohol addictions. Fat might be acceptable for funny men in Hollywood but many of them don’t have hot wives or happy endings (John Candy had an average looking wife and Chris Farley died alone after a hooker left him to die from a drug overdose to name two).
I don’t buy it either. The voters just elected the slickest of images in 2008. They will be looking for substance now. Christie’s unslick appearance should be an advantage.
So, someone who is overweight. that should exclude him from higher office. How about an individual who is underweight as is obambi. What the hell does weight has to do with anything?
ludicrously dismissible blowhard(s)
That ought to be the title of the network – MSLDB
Chris Matthews always reminded me of the guy perpetually hanging too far over his skis, arms flailing.
Since TV entered politics in a big way in 1960, the more conventionally good-looking major party candidate for president has always won. (Nixon vs. Humphrey and Nixon vs. McGovern could be exceptions to theis rule–however, these three were all nearly as unattractive physically and they were politically!) Furthermore, the women’s vote has been much more volatile during that time period than the men’s.
Hence, the real swing vote in American politics turns on the candidates’ attractiveness to women.
If Christie visibly goes on a diet, you’ll know he’s running. I agree that he will probably not run until he has New Jersey fixed. If he did run, I could imagine a Reagan-like comment in a debate.
I agree- he’s no fatter than Huckabee was a decade ago. Yeah, he’ll have to drop at least 50 lbs before running for President, but he has plenty of time to do that.
Christie is a political “One Trick Pony” whose sole act consists of browbeating and berating teachers and public servants for you-tube viewers.
It plays to the dreams of right wingers who want to out public servants as pariahs, but gets old after a while. After all, isn’t Christie a public servant?
And a well paid one at that. What’s he cutting off his salary and budget to cut corners?
Another math-challenged Lefty troll.
Here’s some facts, with links to back them up.
New Jersey’s budget deficit is $10.5 billion. Just for comparison, we’ll show the zeros. It’s $10,500,000,000.
The salary of the Governor of New Jersey is $157,000.
Now, just to make it easier to compare those two numbers, I’ll post them one above the other. I’d line them up at the decimal point, but this format doesn’t seem to allow that.
$10,500,000,000 budget deficit
$157,000 governor’s salary
I’m sure you can see that even cutting his salary to $0 isn’t going to make much of a dent in the state’s budget deficit. So why not let the man take home the pay for doing a very difficult job, hmmm?
Lefties do sound bites so good, critical thinking and decimal
points. …not so much. your response was however gracious and civil and informative,a good job all around.Thanks for trying to help.
My pleasure, John.
Of course, I would be surprised if Lefty bothered to look up the salary of the Governor of New Jersey before spouting off… which is why I was able to burst his bubble so easily. Some trolls do offer more of a challenge, tho.
You rock-ologists on the left have been concern trolling Christie for some time now…..
Scared?
You are,….. aren’tcha?
‘One-trick pony’, hey?
Maybe, if the trick is to enter any debate in full command of all the facts and figures that support the decisions he has taken – and with no need of a teleprompter to communicate his reasonings clearly and forcefully. That’s what makes his opponents such losers as they deploy their trick questions and talking points and snivels.
You might notice that the ‘trick’ also has kept his approval ratings looking pretty good, compared with Mr. T. Prompter Obama.
Right on! I can appreciate anyone who can tell it like it is WITHOUT the use of props like a teleprompter. That tells me Christie is in control and fully cognizant of the facts. The facts are always in the forefront of his mind, he appreciates the impact those numbers have on NJ and is looking for ways to reduce them. God bless that Gov!
I am a big fan of CC, but so far, the observation that he is a one-trick pony is accurate and not a cause for taking offense. The earlier comment about letting a politician actually serve in a position for awhile to see how he does and to let him perfect his skills is right on target. CC ran a terrible political campaign for governor – people don’t remember how much he was trashed by his own supporters for not making the case. He was given a second chance when Corzine made the weight remarks, and he took advantage of the opportunity and won – a great thing for his state and the nation. He then proved to have what seems to be a guileless genius in recognizing and speaking forcefully about the impossibility of continuing union deals of yesterday. But that is only one skill of hundreds that are needed by a president. He is not sufficiently experienced or skilled to become president, and wishing he was does not make it so. But he has a lot of political and governance instincts to sharpen. Witness the premature push to market of Obama and Palin, two individuals fabulously underqualified for governance. Let’s see if CC can grow into a man who can speak and act with force, inspiration and effectiveness to the nation and rally it from the truly existential crisis that it faces right now. Early indicators are positive, but let’s grow this man, not physically but politically and as an executive worthy of the nation. 2012 is way too soon.
The new New Jersey Governor Christie might not be the most svelte Governor but is fast on his feet as far as debating facts and figures and is willing to take on any challenge and win the argument!
Like was stated earlier while Christie might be rotund be can always go on a diet and exercise more and lose girth, but mister Matthews is stupid and tomorrow he will remain at least as stupid as he is now if not more, no matter what he does. You simply can not fix a stupid person!
“The salary of the Governor of New Jersey is $157,000.” That’s a rather modest salary for a chief executive of a major state. Heck, I made almost as much as a Federal GS-14 – and I freely admit that I and many of my colleagues were overpaid compared to similar jobs in the private sector. And inasmuch as my sister recently retired as a teacher, I know something about how much they are paid as well.
The truth is that public employees at the federal, state and municipal level are among the privileged in the US workforce. Once they were satisfied with job security as compensation for their modest salaries. Now they’ve got salaries and benefits that frequently exceed those of their private sector counterparts, plus that job security. And governments across the country are going broke paying the pensions and medical benefits of their retirees.
Well said.
That’s right, Lefty. Keep whistling past the graveyard of leftist oblivion. The solidly “blue” voters of New Jersey have belatedly awakened to what their “progressive” politicians and their public employee union masters have done to them: buried them in unsustainable government costs and government dysfunction and corruption. It is the public unions that have bullied and browbeat anyone who dared question their power-hungry assault on the public treasuries. Someone is finally standing up to them and shining the light of day on their now-obsolete posturing. The day of the primacy of the public employees’ union is over. The jig is up. You have seen the high water mark of the endlessly greedy money grabs by government. For the simple reason that, as Christie clearly states over and over, the money is gone. That;s it. Game over. As Thatcher predicted, we have run out of other peoples’ money There are more Christies coming.
The private sector has been facing the music for going on three years now, while public employees have remained insulated, by the “stimulus” and otherwise. They will shout and bang their spoons on their high chairs and shriek about how it’s all for the children. To no avail. We have lost our nest eggs, our retirements, our insurance, and millions of us have lost our jobs or much of the income we got from them. If you think people experiencing the worst economic downturn since the Depression are going to listen to the lies of the public employees’ unions any longer, you are dreaming. The great rollback is just starting.
National security threat…?
Yeah, if you drop them out of airplanes onto population centers and/or infrastructure, I guess lol
Someone needs to tell this shameless hypocrite to shut her pie-hole
Her own rear end resembles the back of a bus
If he doesn’t fix the Brian Aitken thing, he won’t get elected dogcatcher. And won’t deserve to.
If Matthews was just a little more ignorant, he’d be Ed Shultz.
The difference is mox nix.
Thats funny but you hit that nail right on the head
Why does anyone pay any attention to what Mathews says? How seriously can you take someone who gets an erection when he hears Obama read a telepromter? I’m not a big Huckabee fan but his stock skyrocketed when he was being interviewed by the NYT Magazine. The reporter asked him his reaction to Matthews who said he was toast for commuting the sentence of a convict who went on to kill four police officers after he was released. Huckabee said “Who cares what Chris Matthews says.” That’s my kind of guy. By the way, President Taft weighed 300 plus pounds and did OK.
Taft ran and served generations before television.
Teh time for “shock value” has past. Governor Christie’s style and experience scare the hell out of shills like Matthew’s. I am going to look forward to hearing the governor’s reply.
Christians and fat people – about the only 2 groups that it’s OK for libs to make fun of. I would love for Christie to continue what he’s doing in NJ, turn the state finances around, then slim down and run for pres while telling Matthews to stick it where the sun don’t shine.
Matthews is a slob who has sold his soul to the progressives for the promises of the empty suit that Barry has shown himself to be. Now he has no where to turn to so he resorts to be vile and hurtful. Too bad for Matthews that his hero turned out to be nothing more then smoke and mirrors. Matthews will be consigned to the pages of history where he might rate a line or two, mostly over his failure to properly vet the empty suit.
“the New Jersey governor himself, for me the most magnetic political figure on the horizon in some time”
AGREED.
Christie has The Right Stuff.
He may not even have gotten started if his character and virtue is any indication.
God Bless him!
I think whenever you overplay your hand and over-politicize an issue it tends to get kind of funny and sometimes downright silly; which is the inspiration for this video “Michelle Obama warns: Beware of Weapons of Mass Consumption!”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlpbsbLAn28
This is simply move evidence that the formerly hyperventilating Dems are panicking. On the View, Whoopie, Joyless, and Baba Wawa are laughing hysterically at John Boehner’s tears, as if they are in the Middle School cafeteria. They are ready to violate every tenet they claim to hold dear, validate every prejudice they claim to abhor, trample upon every sensitivity upon which they have made a killing.
I just reviewed tha US Constitution and I can’t see where it says “no fat Presidents”.
I’m curious to know how many previous Presidents have been fat?
In the age of Hollyweird PC, Christie’s size will weigh him down in a Presidential campaign because people will sneer (oh they have already) at a fat Presidential candidate. It’s totally unfair but true.
A person’s volume is related to their girth. What is an acceptable Presidential volume? Is it limited by the size of the Presidential bath tub? See, it’s too easy to make silly remarks that have nothing to do with his qualifications to be President.
Chris Matthews’ remarks show how formidable an opponent lefties think Govenor Christie is. If Christie loses weight then he’s signalling a run at the nomination. A slimmer Chris Christie is a lefty’s nightmare.
If he can balance a budget, keep a promise, provide leadership, restore national pride, stand up to attackers internal and external, and communicate his ideas in a clear, direct way … I don’t bleepin’ care what he weighs. We have Obama (so damn slim, fit and brilliant he’d rather chuck us all under the nearest bus so he can swim-golf-play) and his weight-obsessed wife (you know, no pride until she has every household on a government-controlled program). Give me someone real, weight challenges and all. No contest: I’d rather have portly Churchill than sleak-n-sleazy Chamberlain.
It is not really about him possibly running for President. Do not be deceived. It is about calling him names, the purpose of which is to make people reject him, and thus his fiscally responsible (and effective) policies. They cannot win the argument on merits, so they resort to name calling.
“Oh yeah? Well, well… you’re a big, fat, Fatty!”
They call Palin stupid.
They call O’Donnell a witch.
They call Angle a kook.
They call Whitman a whore.
And it works. Unless we point it out to people who have grown up accepting High School nastiness as the normal rules of social behavior.
Every time we have someone on the Right who is getting the job done, who is absolutely proving our case with results, they will do this. “Look! Shiny!” Don’t look at the facts or the results. He’s a (fill in the blank).
Mr. Malone, Of course you are right about name calling. We all know that. But equating O’Donnell and Angle to Palin, Whitman and Christie is a disservice to the latter three. O’Donnell and ANgle were obviously not witches or kooks, but they were completely unqualified to serve in the US Senate. I live in Nevada and Angle was outright incompetent, an embarrassment. It’s a bloody shame she got nominated because almost anyone could have beaten the horrible Reid this year. The Tea Party movement makes mistakes, just like anybody else, and O’Donnell and Angle were two of them. The point is to learn from your mistakes. Those candidates didn’t need liberals to beat them. They beat themselves.
You’re living in La-La land Nancy. It would be very difficult to have beaten Reid. You Nevadans keep telling lying to yourselves that it was the candidate. Maybe you’d have been happy with a McCain clone just so long as they had an R behind their names, eh? I don’t think Angle was great, but I’m sick to death of this armchair quarterbacking about how Reid was so vulnerable. Nevada doesn’t want a junior Senator when they have someone in power to bring home the cash. Even with a brain hemorrhage, people in Massachusetts were still voting in one of the most despicable politicians ever, Ted Kennedy. So spare us the indignation that he Tea Party ruined your little pipe dreams.
Rik: Sharron Angle >>was<< unqualified. Any competent Republican would likely have beaten Reid. Harry Reid and the nation have Sarah Palin and her endorsement of Sharron Angle to thank for his continued presence in the Senate. Same deal in Connecticut. O'Donnell and Angle may be appealing people, but they are not US Senate material. And of course, Sarah Palin gave us Joe Miller also. She is as much of an underqualified ideologue as Obama.
Heh… Neil Cavuto just smacked “media Chris” several times on several levels.
Go, Neil, Go!
Matthews has seen his best days already. He’s a second tier media leftist with no audience.
It was reported awhile back that when Tim Russert died suddenly, Matthews got a tingle down his leg that HE might be plucked from his awful cable show and thrust into the big time as new host of Meet The Press….but no such luck. (I’m betting he wasn’t even seriously considered.)
All he has left now is to make inflammatory statements about Republicans like Sarah Palin and Chris Christie….and interrupt every guest 20 times a minute.
I don’t want no stinkin’ Messiahs – religion has slaughtered enough!
Heroes human yes, flesh and blood, doomed to die on the plains like Troy’s in battle with adversaries for our causes the hell with heaven’s.
Christie may be overweight, but at least he doesn’t smoke (as far as I know).
I wonder if Rob Reiner and/or Michael Moore have ever been on Chris’ show. Matthews is a big time Detla Bravo, and a complete shill, leftist, attack dog. I thought we were supposed to be sensative to people’s weight. I thought it was a disease. Attack women or attacking smoking, its only acceptable if the target is a conservative. Otherwise, it’s verboten.
AS a BBW myself I do think big is beautiful. I am very proud of my size. I also have met many plus size friends on a BBW dating club [seekingbbw dot com]. The blog was updated very often. Lots of guys joined my friend circle. We are very popular here because we know size is only a number.
what does this have to do with the governor of New Jersey
Christie is not a conservative, non attractive and he is not running for prez. He slammed Sarah Palin, he is not running. No one who slams Sarah can become the GOP nominee.
So why can’t the media treat Christie as, say, they treated Katherine Harris? He doesn’t wear makeup, so they can’t attack his makeup. The next obvious target is his weight.
“Let me have men about me that are fat;
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o’ nights:
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.”
Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene II, 190-195
Thank you!
Exactly right.
Fortunately that “one trick” is “competent governing”.
If Matthews thinks he’s so funny, he should invite Gov. Christie onto his show and tell him fat jokes to his face. But of course not. Matthews is a coward.
Right. I would love to see that cage match. Christie would nail Matthews’s sorry, tingly butt to the wall. Go ahead, Matthews. Try to pull your talkover routine with Christie. Try your smug little zingers. Make my day.
Christie’s weight won’t get him, but he’s got the same assets and liabilities Rudy Giuliani had 16 years ago — People loved it when a Republican mayor came in and turned around New York, but some of the social positions he had (which he had to have to get elected in the first place in as liberal a place as New York) made him non-viable to many GOP presidential primary voters elsewhere. The governor of New Jersey would run into the same problems on the campaign trail 13 months from now.
If Christie were to get on the ticket in 2012, it would be as the VP choice of some candidate who already has passed muster with the social conservative wing of the Republican Party. Which in turn would make the complaints by Matthews (and others) about his weight even less relevant of an issue.
Gov Christie is portly and Chrissy Matthews is a fool.
Christie can always lose weight, but Matthews is stuck with his stupid.
Chris has the contagious virus going around MSNBC called the “Olbermann Syndrome.” Chris’s commentary never included a smidgeon of intelligence but now it’s even worse, he now sounds like a cross between Mel Gibson and Keith Olbermann. With the syndromes’ progress Chris will still believe that he is his own guest, in other words, he asks and answers every question. He will also continue spitting when he pronounces certain words, it’s similar to Sylvester the Cat’s lisp. Sylvester’s lisp of course was much worse but at least the people he talked to stayed dry. The next phase is the Bill Maher phase and he will find himself starting to spend time in Hugh Hefner’s grotto and believing the women when they tell him “you were great” or he will start believing the info coming out of MSNBC. The last stage of the syndrome is called the Lawrence O’Donnell psycho phase. This phase will start with an eye “tremor” or eye itch, similar to the one that Inspector Dryfus had (Inspector Clouseau’s enemy) in the Pink Panther movies. The angrier you get, the more it twitches. The more it twitches the angrier get. And of course with this last phase, he will start believing the notes the Progressives have him reading.