Silly Chris Christie “criticism” of the month
I tell ya, not a month goes by where there isn’t some self-important Democrat nitwit trying – and failing – to take a successful pot shot at rising GOP star New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. The latest attempt comes from state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D). Check this out (via Memeorandum):
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s office is pushing back against complaints that both he and the lieutenant governor were vacationing during a blizzard that blanketed the state with snow.
The snowstorm paralyzed much of the Northeast on a busy holiday travel weekend but Christie (R), a darling of national Republicans, and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno were traveling in Florida’s Disney World and Mexico, respectively. State Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) has been serving as acting governor in their absence and coordinated response efforts.
But that move earned the scorn of state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D), who on Monday questioned “the purpose of the office” of lieutenant governor, which was created in 2005, saying it amounted to “wasted money” if both officials vacationed at the same time.
In a lengthy response Tuesday, Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said the criticism of the new governor was “overblown.”
“Yes, this was a big snow, but we are a northeastern state, and we get plenty of snow, including heavy hits like this,” he wrote in an e-mail to The Hill. “But the sky really is not falling, and we’ll get through this just as we always have, notwithstanding complaints from opportunistic partisans like Lesniak.”
[…]
Drewniak, who noted that Lesniak is “hurling his criticism from his vacation in Florida,” pushed back against questions about Christie’s management of the state. He stressed that Sweeney has been in close contact with senior administration officials, key agencies and Christie himself since the snow hit.
Hilarious, isn’t it? He’s trying to make it out as if it’s about the Lt. Governor position when really it’s another sideswipe on Christie by an envious Democrat politico. And by the way, why isn’t Lesniak standing out in the snow alongside constituents in his district with snow removal equipment in hand, a “shovel-ready project” if I ever heard of one? Can you say “hypocrite”?
Lefties will hit back by reminding people of all the criticism President Obama received from the right over all of his vacationing and golf outings during the Gulf oil spill, but the issue was the image it presented, especially in light of the fact that the crisis went on for several weeks with no apparent solution nor end in sight at the time. At the same time, the President – when not on the golf course or vacationing while sea life was washing up on shore covered in oil and jobs were being lost by the hundreds – took advantage of photo ops to “reassure” the American people that the situation was under control, and that he was “responsible” even though in the very next breath he blamed BP for failure to come up with solutions.
On the other hand, unlike an oil spill – which doesn’t happen every day or even every year, New Jersey’s winter storm situation is well under control, and that may be because that state has plenty of experience dealing with such things, like it did just last year around this time. And of course, as Christie’s spokesperson noted, Christie is always available as no leader of state is never really “on vacation” – not the President, not the Vice President, not Governors nor Lt. Governors. Fausta’s criticism here is fair; It’s not an ideal situation for both to be out at the same time, but as Daniel Halper noted:
It’s the week between Christmas and New Year’s — it’s vacation time. Just ask Lesniak, who is currently in Florida himself. Or the president, who’s in Hawaii.
Now, if a hurricane – which almost never happens there – was in the forecast for Jersey and they both went on vacation at the same time, I could see the issue. But a snowstorm? In a northeastern state that gets snowstorms like this every year? Give.me.a.break.