I will protect your pensions. Nothing about your pension is going to change when I am governor. - Chris Christie, "An Open Letter to the Teachers of NJ" October, 2009

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Join The Club

Is there anyone left that Christie has yet to alienate?
During arguments before the high court several weeks ago the lawyer representing the state, former Justice Peter Verniero, contended that the state was in dire financial circumstances and could not afford to provide the aid. Albin then asked about Christie's decision to not renew a millionaires tax to raise revenue. At a subsequent town hall meeting and on a conservative radio talk show, Christie accused Albin of dictating from the bench and complained about how "judges have lost their sense of place in our democracy."
Albin has not commented on the attacks, and neither has Rabner.
The newly installed bar association president, Susan Feeney, briefly took up the topic Friday, and while she didn't name any culprits or delve into the details, her comments were pointed.
"The New Jersey State Bar Association will always stand for and speak out about the integrity and independence of our judiciary," Feeney said before introducing Rabner. "The kind of attacks on the court and the individual justices and the independence of the judiciary has been audacious and offensive. The criticism is unfair and unwarranted. It threatens the judiciary and it is the public who will suffer most if it continues. The State Bar Association will stand by the judiciary on this essential need for judicial independence."
Christie's office declined to comment. [emphasis mine]
You can't govern this way - you just can't. You can maybe build a political base, but there's just no way to bring stakeholders together and craft real solutions to real problems when your first impulse is to demonize everyone who disagrees with you.

He's demonized teachers across the state - while cowardly claiming he's really only going after the NJEA. Ask any teacher, and they will tell you this has had real consequences in the classroom and in their daily lives. He has belittled public education - a bedrock of our democracy - to score a few political points.

Now he's going after the judiciary. Does he think he can spray this invective all over the media and there won't be consequences there?

Chris Christie assumes bad faith on the part of everyone who doesn't see things his way. He is willing to use his pulpit to denigrate the very institutions our society is founded on, without any regard for the repercussions of his words and actions.

It's very disturbing that a man likes this holds high office.

1 comment:

czarejs said...

You left out the working poor making $103 dollars a week.