Sure, Chris Christie is now dumping on Trump. That’s good, I guess, if he can make a dent in Trump’s Borg-like control of the MAGA zombies.
I don’t forget, though, that Christie is responsible for the Trump nightmare.
He didn’t take on Trump forcefully in the lead-up to the 2016 elections.
He got on the Trump train hoping for a high post in Trump’s “administration” only to have Trump tap his own children instead.
He kept supporting Trump in various ways right up until Trump refused to concede the 2020 election.
Now if it wasn’t clear to Christie before the 2016 election that Trump was a narcissistic, buffoonish blowhard that never should wield real power, it should have been clear to him immediately upon hearing Trump’s scatological “American Carnage” inaugural speech.
Yet Christie stuck with Trump, never criticizing him seriously and repeatedly trying ways to wheedle his way into the administration.
Of course, you can’t expect much in the way of ethics from Republicans. And Christie is nothing if not a Republican.
Christie first endeared himself to Republicans by being a loudmouth a-hole, insulting everyone he contended with, mouthing off non-stop in the media, acting like the braying bull in the china shop that Republicans imagine is a “strong leader.”
Christie was a horrible governor, spending much of his time out of state campaigning for president.
He cut hundreds of state programs—the typical Republican trick of grabbing money from the poorest to claim “fiscal responsibility.”
He used his office to aggrandize himself politically if not financially, and he showed deep disdain for the public, which finally got fed up when he was photographed on vacation at the beach with his family—during a state shutdown which he caused over nothing—on a beach was closed to everyone else because of the shutdown!
And don’t forget “Bridgegate”—his shutting down of lanes on the George Washington Bridge, causing four days of hellish traffic, just to punish a political rival.
This is typical Republican, let-them-eat cake behavior. But that’s not surprising. It’s just Republican.
So last night on CNN, Christie comes out all up-in-Trump’s-face. Fine. Better late than never. Maybe he can derail the Trump train or at least shunt it off the main track for a while.
But the other stuff he said is boiler-plate Republican bad government. When Anderson Cooper asked him what his Republican “principles” are, he coughed up three.
No unnecessary spending
Strong military
Robust safety net
Blah, blah, blah. Same stuff Nixon was shoveling, and Reagan, and both Bushes.
No. 1 is the simpleminded notion that cheap government is good government—as long as it’s the poor and middle class who get the cheap end of the stick. For the “job creators,” though, nothing is stinted. This is just standard Republican selfishness and self-flattery. They never get what Lincoln explained in 1861 when he saw capitalistic Northern economic slavery beginning to take hold: “Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” Nah. They prefer to pat themselves on the back for being great “job creators.”
No. 2 is standard Republican glorification of militarism. A decent person recognizes the necessity for strong defense and a decent American knows that the world is far better off having the United States protecting it than any country that despises democracy. But the Republican touts the military out of pathological fear, which makes them worship power, which makes them aggressive, which makes them bullies, which makes them dangerous people to put in control. Oh, and of course, no stinting on the military budget. Take it from aid to the homeless or labor or public schools—you know, the people Republicans don’t care about.
No. 3 is Republican CYA. Everybody knows that the public won’t put up with cuts to Social Security or Medicare if you tell them that’s what you’re going to do. George W. Bush tried that and got smashed for it. So Republicans who are smart enough to know they can’t get elected proposing those things (and there seem to be fewer and fewer of them now that MAGA is all the rage) don’t propose those things. They pretend to support the safety net and hope to rip it shreds after they get power.
So don’t imagine, despite Christie’s willingness to dump on Trump, that he would be anything but a different kind of Republican thug if he were to become president.
Come to think of it, so would any other Republican. Because even the most “normal” Republican is an abnormal, anti-social, fear-filled, angry, and twisted human being.
It’s not just Trump. To fix the fix we’re in, we have to sideline the whole party for a generation or more.
Even better, if we can manage it, would be to destroy the party and forever separate these severely damaged people from the power they so desperately crave.
Trump is a conman, he is running for president to stop going to jail. A lot of people don't see that. It is good that Chris is turning against Trump but we don't forget what he stands for.
Absolutely!