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BY MICHAEL HAYNE
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
COMMENTARY
After a seemingly short-lived image makeover, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie appears to have reclaimed his undisputed title of professional YouTube screamer.
Over the course of his blustery governorship, Christie has used town halls as nothing more than a would-be presidential stump speeches before crowds of fawning partisans. Any brave citizen who remotely challenges the gargantuan governor on comments he made or certain hypocrisies regarding “where his kids go to school” will risk getting their head bitten off by a very angry (and red) Christie.
Appearing at a town hall in West New York, N.J., Christie soon morphed into the Tony Soprano when some poor attendee threw caution to the wind and asked whether the governor planted questions at town hall meetings, citing a situation where he saw someone ask a question at another event who claimed to be a friend of Christie’s. The questioner will be dearly missed.
The video clip can be seen on the Huffington Post website.
“Do you or your staff ever plant questions at a town hall meeting?” asked the questioner. “I was sitting next to a woman who said she was a friend of yours,” the man explained. He said he was sitting next to a woman named Candy who claimed to be a friend of the governor’s.
After upbraiding the guy “wasting time,” the ever-so diplomatic Christie continued to hit back.
“If I plant questions, why the hell did I call on you?” shot back Christie. “I don’t know who Candy is– I may have a friend named Candy– I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Christie replied, assuring the man that planting questions “doesn’t happen” and asking indignantly, “you really, in front of this group, with all the problems we have in this state– you’re wasting these people times with a question on whether we plan questions in the audience?”
Well, it looks like a certain Tri-state area governor is looking for YouTube hits.
Considering Christie’s proclivity for holding town halls in Republican strongholds, the questioner wasn’t exactly an unruly anarchist for questioning the veracity of town hall modus operandi. But being beholden to an entire state of people of varying political leanings is just such a ‘waste of time’ and Governor Soprano won’t stand by it.
Michael is a comedian/VO artist/Columnist extraordinaire, who co-wrote an award-nominated comedy, wrote for NY Times Laugh Lines, guest-blogged for Joe Biden, and writes a column for MSNBC.com affiliated Cagle. Follow (or yell) him on Twitter and Facebook.
