I pit NJ Gov Chris Christie for saying an idiotic thing about Civil Rights

[iiandyiiii]

He says (http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/state/christie-says-civil-rights-movement-could-have-been-settled-through-a-ballot-referendum) “People would have been happy to have referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South.”

Are you fucking serious? Do you realize one of the things they were fighting and dying in the streets for was the right to vote? When the majority of white southerners were against civil rights, and most blacks couldn't vote due to Jim Crow laws, how do you think that referendum would have went?

Is he this much of an idiot? Is he ignorant of the Civil Rights movement? Is he just talking out of his ass?

[DianaG]

D. All of the above

[lisacurl]

I think he doesn't know the mathematical definition of "minority."

[silenus]

It's the poor oppressed white folk, right?

[Marley23]

It was fun hearing Cory Booker and a few other black politicians rip Christie a new one over his ignorance and stupidity on this issue. The fact of the matter is that not only Christie wrong about history and wrong in his approach, he's being chickenshit: he's already promised he will veto a same-sex marriage bill (which has enough votes to pass the legislature) and is trying to pass this off as a just-as-good alternative while keeping his hands clean. Remember how we heard that this guy wasn't a bullshitter? This is some hardcore bullshit.

[MsRobyn]

Pitting Chris Christie for being an idiot is like pitting the water for being wet or bears for shitting in the woods. It's just part of the natural order of things, y'know?

[Loach]

He's an idiot. But he's our idiot. Unfortunately we were given the choice between him and Corzine.

[Loach]

At least he didn't do something really dumb like speak in an Indian accent during a speech.

[Hal Briston]

He's an idiot. But he's our idiot. Unfortunately we were given the choice between him and Corzine....and a urinal from a GSP rest stop near exit 98.

We chose wrong.

[Eve]

I heard some idiot woman on the radio this morning lauding Christie for his anti-gay stance: "I don't think God would want gay marriage," she agreed. You know God wouldn't want you showing your hair like a filthy whore in certain countries? Do you really want to live in a theocracy?

Since Christie doesn't want "the definition of marriage changed," perhaps he can put it up to a vote in NJ as to whether to abolish interracial marriage, or legalized divorce?

[Loach]

...and a urinal from a GSP rest stop near exit 98.

We chose wrong.

Since Corzine went from Drumthwacket Straight to misplacing billions at MF Global I call it a push. Urinal 2013.

[Cheesesteak]

I think Gay Marriage opponents lose about 50 IQ points when they try to justify their stance.

I can accept that he will veto the legislation, I'd rather he take the honorable way out and say "I don't approve of it, and won't sign it" rather than suggest it's "better" to do it by referendum. It's a cowardly way to avoid responsibility for his political stance.

[corkboard]

I think Gay Marriage opponents lose about 50 IQ points when they try to justify their stance.

I can accept that he will veto the legislation, I'd rather he take the honorable way out and say "I don't approve of it, and won't sign it" rather than suggest it's "better" to do it by referendum. It's a cowardly way to avoid responsibility for his political stance.

(bolding mine) I'm pretty sure he said exactly that before saying it should be a referendum.

[LavenderBlue]

Pitting Chris Christie for being an idiot is like pitting the water for being wet or bears for shitting in the woods. It's just part of the natural order of things, y'know?

Yeah.

Between attacking teachers, insulting his opponents with crude sexual references, costing us federal transportation and education funds through sheer incompetence and generally being an loudmouth asshole who manages to embody every ill mannered stereotype people have about garden state residents he isn't exactly a credit to this state.

[pseudotriton ruber ruber]

He's a big, blustering tub of guts who inexplicably has gotten a reputation as intelligent and honest, though I have never heard him do much other brag on his own self and try to bully people around. I'd love to stick a pin in him and see him fly to California.

[Typo Knig]

It was fun hearing Cory Booker and a few other black politicians rip Christie a new one over his ignorance and stupidity on this issue. The fact of the matter is that not only Christie wrong about history and wrong in his approach, he's being chickenshit: he's already promised he will veto a same-sex marriage bill (which has enough votes to pass the legislature) and is trying to pass this off as a just-as-good alternative while keeping his hands clean. Remember how we heard that this guy wasn't a bullshitter? This is some hardcore bullshit.

Your "keeping his hands clean" comment reminded me of an analysis I read online somewhere about the proposed referendum. Votes on gay marriage bring out conservative voters in droves. As Stephen Colbert said "That's why gay marriage is only an issue in even-numbered years." Christie is: 1) setting up an issue he opposes for failure, 2) keeping his fingerprints off the execution so he can try to appeal to the proponets of that issue in future elections, and 3) setting up the next election to help his party and weaken the other party.

He may be full of crap in his public statements, but he's got a clever strategy there. I wouldn't have picked up on the sneakiness of it if some columnist hadn't pointed it out.

[jsgoddess]

Bleh, I can't believe I'm defending him in the slightest way, but I think he was trying to say that the Civil Rights activists would have been glad to have had the tool of a popular referendum available. So he's not trying to speak counterfactually and say that they DID; he's trying to say the Gay Rights activists are ungrateful in that they DO have that option but aren't taking it.

So, he's saying something stupid, but not for the reason that some people are thinking. I think. Of course, if this means I can translate "Idiotic Republican Talking Points" into semi-coherent but still idiotic English, I... well, I feel dirty is all.

[iiandyiiii]

Bleh, I can't believe I'm defending him in the slightest way, but I think he was trying to say that the Civil Rights activists would have been glad to have had the tool of a popular referendum available. So he's not trying to speak counterfactually and say that they DID; he's trying to say the Gay Rights activists are ungrateful in that they DO have that option but aren't taking it.

So, he's saying something stupid, but not for the reason that some people are thinking. I think. Of course, if this means I can translate "Idiotic Republican Talking Points" into semi-coherent but still idiotic English, I... well, I feel dirty is all.

Why would Civil Rights activists have wanted to use a referendum? How could they possibly have won? In any state that they might have won, systemic discrimination was not nearly as great.

[jsgoddess]

Why would Civil Rights activists have wanted to use a referendum? How could they possibly have won? In any state that they might have won, systemic discrimination was not nearly as great.

He's saying that they would have wanted to have been able to win that way without having to get beaten up and arrested and the like. He's not saying they could have won that way. He's saying that they would have been glad to win that way if it had been possible.

[TriPolar]

He's saying that they would have wanted to have been able to win that way without having to get beaten up and arrested and the like. He's not saying they could have won that way. He's saying that they would have been glad to win that way if it had been possible.

But it wasn't possible, and he's just setting up his veto of a gay marriage bill. He's scum. About 300 pounds of scum in a 200 pound bag.

[jsgoddess]

But it wasn't possible, and he's just setting up his veto of a gay marriage bill. He's scum. About 300 pounds of scum in a 200 pound bag.

Yes, I know it wasn't possible. Again, he's saying "Those people didn't have the same tools you do."

This OP said he said something about civil rights that he doesn't appear to have said. That's the extent of my defending Christie. My defense does not extend to his bigotry and cowardice. I am only saying his mentioning of the civil rights activists isn't the insult the OP took it as.

Arguing with me about Christie's stance on gay rights will not actually get you anywhere since I don't agree with Christie (and probably do agree with you).

[TriPolar]

Arguing with me about Christie's stance on gay rights will not actually get you anywhere since I don't agree with Christie (and probably do agree with you).

Way to wreck a good argument.

[jsgoddess]

Way to wreck a good argument.

We can fight about something else if you want. How do you feel about the designated hitter?

[TriPolar]

We can fight about something else if you want. How do you feel about the designated hitter?

The greatest atrocity in the history of mankind! What is the point of having a manager in this mode? The lineup cycles through without change, and pitchers never risk getting the ball thrown at their head! Nothing has been worse for the game since the Blacksox scandal.

Anyway, that's the best I can muster on the subject. It doesn't bother me that much, and actually the only way I could have been a professional ball player was as a designated hitter. But still, based on principle, it's a bad thing.

[jsgoddess]

The greatest atrocity in the history of mankind! What is the point of having a manager in this mode? The lineup cycles through without change, and pitchers never risk getting the ball thrown at their head! Nothing has been worse for the game since the Blacksox scandal.

Anyway, that's the best I can muster on the subject. It doesn't bother me that much, and actually the only way I could have been a professional ball player was as a designated hitter. But still, based on principle, it's a bad thing.

And this shows, perfectly, why people like you should be shot then deported, or the other way around!

[Cheesesteak]

Bleh, I can't believe I'm defending him in the slightest way, but I think he was trying to say that the Civil Rights activists would have been glad to have had the tool of a popular referendum available. So he's not trying to speak counterfactually and say that they DID; he's trying to say the Gay Rights activists are ungrateful in that they DO have that option but aren't taking it.

Yes, I know it wasn't possible. Again, he's saying "Those people didn't have the same tools you do."The point is, if they had the same tools, and put it to a referendum, the Civil Rights Movement would have gotten nowhere, because all of the needed changes would have been voted down handily by the bigoted populace of the time. While I'm sure they would have been happy to get their rights without unrest, the reality is that they wouldn't have gotten them at all if they had put their rights up for public vote, I don't believe for a second that folks would have accepted THAT particular tradeoff.

[TriPolar]

And this shows, perfectly, why people like you should be shot then deported, or the other way around!

Yeah right! Just like you and the fat governor you have a crush on. What are you? Some kind of Yankees fan I'll bet.

[jsgoddess]

What are you? Some kind of Yankees fan I'll bet.

That was mean.

[elucidator]

Reported.

[kaylasdad99]

The greatest atrocity in the history of mankind!
Not saying that it's not an atrocity. But there's an argument to be made that letting Rupert Murdoch buy the Dodgers was worse...

[DianaG]

Yes, I know it wasn't possible. Again, he's saying "Those people didn't have the same tools you do."
The people building the pyramids didn't have pipe wrenches, but it's not like they'd have been of any use to them if they did.

[Sampiro]

I heard some idiot woman on the radio this morning lauding Christie for his anti-gay stance: "I don't think God would want gay marriage," she agreed. You know God wouldn't want you showing your hair like a filthy whore in certain countries? Do you really want to live in a theocracy?

Since Christie doesn't want "the definition of marriage changed," perhaps he can put it up to a vote in NJ as to whether to abolish interracial marriage, or legalized divorce?

God I love the cognitive dissonance of election years. One of the news channels was just showing a woman talking about how she's voting for Newt Gingrich because of his Christian values. By Christian values Newt's wife (the Third Lady of Newt, currently seeking to be the nation's First Aging-Cum-Guzzling-Gutter-Whore*) his current wife would be taken out and stoned to death, and while I admit that in her particular case I wouldn't shed a tear, OT Law is still not a door that I want to legally open.

You start to wonder, are people like this woman and other vocal Newt=Bible-values people really that fucking retarded or do they think the people listening to them are? At least with Santorum you know that however hypocritical he may or may not be he makes up for by being fucking nuts, but not all Christian conservatives can be, can they?

*Sorry, that's unfair- she can't help the Aging part so you can take that one off

[jsgoddess]

The people building the pyramids didn't have pipe wrenches, but it's not like they'd have been of any use to them if they did.

Look, I'm not saying Christie isn't an idiot! :D

[TriPolar]

Reported.

Yeah I know you're not allowed to call someone a Yankees fan even in the Pit, but I'll take the warning! Ban me if you want.

Ogdamned designated pitcher fans!

[miss elizabeth]

God I love the cognitive dissonance of election years. One of the news channels was just showing a woman talking about how she's voting for Newt Gingrich because of his Christian values. By Christian values Newt's wife (the Third Lady of Newt, currently seeking to be the nation's First Aging-Cum-Guzzling-Gutter-Whore*) his current wife would be taken out and stoned to death, and while I admit that in her particular case I wouldn't shed a tear, OT Law is still not a door that I want to legally open.

You start to wonder, are people like this woman and other vocal Newt=Bible-values people really that fucking retarded or do they think the people listening to them are? At least with Santorum you know that however hypocritical he may or may not be he makes up for by being fucking nuts, but not all Christian conservatives can be, can they?

*Sorry, that's unfair- she can't help the Aging part so you can take that one off
Everyone knows that the only thing Jesus ever talked about was abortion and gay rights. He never mentioned divorce!

Jeez, you libs! Try readin' a Bible sometime, huh?

[Eve]

his current wife would be taken out and stoned to death
You know perfectly well stones would bounce harmlessly off her impressive Ann Miller hair-helmet.

[Really Not All That Bright]

I like to think of Christie as one of the not-retarded Republicans. Don't spoil it for me.

[steronz]

Yes, I know it wasn't possible. Again, he's saying "Those people didn't have the same tools you do."

I see what you're saying, but by making the comparison, isn't he also essentially setting up his side as the equivalent of the anti-civil rights people? Why would anyone in their right mind evoke that imagery? "Yes, I'm oppressing peoples' rights, just like we did pre-1965. If you don't like it, hold a referendum!"

[Loach]

I like to think of Christie as one of the not-retarded Republicans. Don't spoil it for me.

I'm nominally republican and I know he is retarded. The worst governor we have had in my memory. And that's saying a lot. He has a lot of sheep fooled though.

[TriPolar]

I like to think of Christie as one of the not-retarded Republicans. Don't spoil it for me.

I agree he reads above the 3rd grade level. That's not exactly the sense of 'retarded' being use in reference to him.

[jsgoddess]

I see what you're saying, but by making the comparison, isn't he also essentially setting up his side as the equivalent of the anti-civil rights people? Why would anyone in their right mind evoke that imagery? "Yes, I'm oppressing peoples' rights, just like we did pre-1965. If you don't like it, hold a referendum!"

Sadly, I don't think he thinks being that guy would cost him votes.

[Condescending Robot]

I see what you're saying, but by making the comparison, isn't he also essentially setting up his side as the equivalent of the anti-civil rights people? Why would anyone in their right mind evoke that imagery? "Yes, I'm oppressing peoples' rights, just like we did pre-1965. If you don't like it, hold a referendum!"

Because he's running for President in 2016 and making barely coded statements against civil rights for black people is one of the requirements to win votes in the Republican primary?

[LavenderBlue]

I'm nominally republican and I know he is retarded. The worst governor we have had in my memory. And that's saying a lot. He has a lot of sheep fooled though.

So true.

We've had Governor Had to Resign Because he Was Being Blackmailed Because he Didn't Trust Us Enough to Tell Us He Was Gay and Govenor Being Investigated For Massive Financial Fraud. Yet Christie still manages to be even worse. The asshole recently lost us yet more education money:

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/12/nj_loses_out_in_60m_competitio.html

New Jersey has lost another bid for federal education money nearly a year and a half after an application error cost the state $400 million in the first round of competition.

[3:20:59 or bust]

He's a big, blustering tub of guts who inexplicably has gotten a reputation as intelligent and honest, though I have never heard him do much other brag on his own self and try to bully people around. I'd love to stick a pin in him and see him fly to California.

Truly, he's the Rex Ryan of politics.

[Really Not All That Bright]

I'm nominally republican and I know he is retarded. The worst governor we have had in my memory. And that's saying a lot. He has a lot of sheep fooled though.
Damn you!

[E-Sabbath]

He's all right, if you remember where he came from. Federal prosecutor. Means he's always right, and he uses his body language to intimidate the hell out of people.

He goes for maximum confrontation, because it's part of how he works.

[Loach]

So true.

We've had Governor Had to Resign Because he Was Being Blackmailed Because he Didn't Trust Us Enough to Tell Us He Was Gay and Govenor Being Investigated For Massive Financial Fraud. Yet Christie still manages to be even worse. The asshole recently lost us yet more education money:

That's not the whole story with Mcgreevy. It was a pretty open secret that he was gay. I knew before he was sworn in.

Truly, he's the Rex Ryan of politics.

I'd rather have Ryan.

[Loach]

He is now nominating the the Supreme Court someone who's family just settled civilly with the Feds in a case in which it looked like they were laundering money or at least trying to hide it from the IRS. A business owned by his mother that employs his wife.

[TriPolar]

He is now nominating the the Supreme Court someone who's family just settled civilly with the Feds in a case in which it looked like they were laundering money or at least trying to hide it from the IRS. A business owned by his mother that employs his wife.

This is why he's not running for president, nor will any other NJ governor. You don't get that position without being dirty.

[Damuri Ajashi]

He's saying that they would have wanted to have been able to win that way without having to get beaten up and arrested and the like. He's not saying they could have won that way. He's saying that they would have been glad to win that way if it had been possible.

I don't think so. He is saying he thinks that a referendum would have worked if only those racist legislators would have allowed it. As if civil rights should be left to a vote.

This is a consistent meme in the social conservative movement. If they want it, let them get a legislature to vote it in. This applies to abortion mostly and now that legislatures are actually voting in gay rights they think it should be left to a referendum.

I like to think of Christie as one of the not-retarded Republicans. Don't spoil it for me.

He's not retarded, he just isn't as deep as some people think he is. He is as much New Jersey Republican as any other NJ Republican, he just yells it with more confidence and conviction. Northeast Republicans are generally less retarded than the ones from the South and more honest than the ones from teh Midwest.

[Loach]

This is why he's not running for president, nor will any other NJ governor. You don't get that position without being dirty.

I recommend reading Mysteries of my Father by historian Thomas Fleming. His father was the Sheriff of Hudson County and firmly entrenched in the Frank Hague administration in Jersey City. Paints a very clear picture of how and why Jersey politics evolved into what it is. Also a damn good history of the time. I have personal interest in it because Fleming grew up next door and was the same age as my father. So it's partly a history of my family too. Oh and my aunt was banging his father on the side.

[dropzone]

Charming. ;)

Anyway, I thought this thread was about the abomination that is the Designated Hitter, not politics or whose aunt was banging whom, though that's interesting, too.

[TriPolar]

Charming. ;)

Anyway, I thought this thread was about the abomination that is the Designated Hitter, not politics or whose aunt was banging whom, though that's interesting, too.

Isn't obvious that Christie and all the other NJ govs are DH loving Yankee fans?

[Eve]

Oh and my aunt was banging his father on the side.
Less chance of getting pregnant than banging him on the front, I guess.

[elucidator]

Good Lord, when did they move it?

[dropzone]

Isn't obvious that Christie and all the other NJ govs are DH loving Yankee fans?I'm National League all the way. The Yankees are the Nine Horsemen. Didn't Steinbrenner force the DH on half of the universe to make more money? :mad:

[dropzone]

Here. (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14723018#post14723018)

[Sampiro]

Less chance of getting pregnant than banging him on the front, I guess.

Unless he was secretly a snakes, in which case not only is the penis on the side, but for many species there's one on each side. So be careful when a snake tries to snuggle up against you.

[kaylasdad99]

Here. (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14723018#post14723018)Don't worry about it; I settled that one.

[Jack Batty]

As predicted, Christie vetoed the bill. (http://news.yahoo.com/nj-gov-christie-vetoes-gay-marriage-bill-vowed-221536132.html)

[Enuma Elish]

I heard Christie is having the flags in New Jersey lowered to half mast in honor of Whitney Houston - anyone else see this?

I mean she is a war veteran, of course - - - - if you count the war on drugs......

[Marley23]

I heard Christie is having the flags in New Jersey lowered to half mast in honor of Whitney Houston - anyone else see this?
Yes. I'm glad he can be so decisive on important issues like this while furiously trying to dodge responsibility for the gay marriage thing.