How Far We Come

Man, how I miss Chris Whitley. He knew that all which ain't all good is yet all God.



She goes, make my presence felt by
By all the innocence you destroy
She know, angels even devils too
Await to show how far we come to joy
How far we come

Loose Lips & Peer Pressure

[UPDATE] 2:

This is a nice start but what about the rest of us? What about all of the folks who are targeted by other kinds of hate speech -- the Muslims, the gays, the Hispanics, the African Americans, etc. etc. etc.? Still, I'm encouraged that a Republican is at least thinking along these lines.

Adding .... The more I think about this idea, the more pissed off I get. It's like how in Tennessee you can take a gun anywhere except the state house. If legislators and "government officials" don't want guns near them, why are they so quick to make sure the rest of us have to come in constant contact with them. What makes you guys so special?

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[UPDATE]:

What the hell were you thinking, local edition.

Go read it ... excellent reminder that "passion" on local issues can easily be turned into intimidation, too.

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The Tucson shootings have prompted me to revisit this column by Rick Perlstein, which I linked to back in September.

Perlstein was responding to the Koran-burnings a couple of right-wing pastors were planning. He observed:

The problem is that elite media gatekeepers have abandoned their moral mandate to stigmatize uncivil discourse. Instead, too many outlets reward it. In fact, it is an ironic token of the ideological confusions of our age that they do so in the service of upholding what they understand to be a cornerstone of civility: the notion that every public question must be framed in terms of two equal and opposite positions, the "liberal" one and the "conservative" one, each to be afforded equal dignity, respect — and (the more crucial currency) equal space. This has made the most mainstream of media outlets comically easy marks for those actively working to push public discourse to extremes.

At the time I agreed with Perlstein, and noted just because people are going on about FEMA camps and Koran-burning pastors, that doesn’t mean the media has to cover it ad nauseum. But now I’m not so sure.

Perlstein, a historian, revealed that back in the early ‘60s there were anti-JFK rallies promoting fear and lies about Communist infiltration of America; some of these rivaled today’s Tea Party rallies in numbers. As Perlstein pointed out, the national media thought better of reporting on this “fringe” in the interest of "civil discourse." But let’s remember what happened to JFK, shall we? It’s not as though not covering the anti-JFK fringe kept a lid on violent acts and prevented tragedy.

Conversely, today we have “pastor” Fred Phelps presiding over a group of about 90 people who are primarily members of his own extended family, spreading their hate all across the national news media. But Phelps is universally reviled. Both right and left find his protests of funerals repulsive and the Southern Baptist Convention has condemned Phelps and his “church.” Sunlight is the best disinfectant, or so the saying goes, and perhaps making the nation aware of the fringe factor is actually the first step to confronting it.

The second step, of course, is what Perlstein called "stigmatizing uncivil discourse." Ed at Gin And Tacos wrote this morning:

[...] We need people in general, and Republicans in particular, to take a more active role in condemning this kind of rhetoric – before something terrible happens, not when the body count starts rising.

There is a very simple, useful question that we do not often enough ask in the United States, especially where politics are concerned. The GOP, in the last several years, has avoided it altogether. We need to make a concerted effort to stop excusing or encouraging insane behavior and ideas with one question: "What in the hell is wrong with you?"

No one asks that anymore, which is odd given how often the need to do so arises.

That's precisely the type of question which has shoved Fred Phelps and his cult of merry hatemongers off to the fringe and completely deflated his anti-gay message. You're going to protest a soldier's funeral? What the hell is wrong with you! You're going to protest Elizabeth Edwards' funeral? What the hell is wrong with you!

As I stated yesterday, our problem is not violent rhetoric, it is our violent culture from which this rhetoric springs. But when violent rhetoric does enter the discourse, why does the Right always go on the defensive? The Left, after all, is the group that held a Rally To Restore Sanity two and a half months ago -- which was derisively mocked (and misrepresented) by Righties like the folks at Fox & Friends. Ironically the mere concept of a "Million Moderate March" completely confused the mainstream media. So, you know, it's not like anyone is listening to us on the Left. The Right needs to quit its reflexive wagon-circling and call out its own when they do things like bring an assault rifle to a presidential event.

At one time I had hoped my own Senator Lamar Alexander would be that person. He's an elder statesmen of the Republican Party, a man who has served his country in a variety of capacities and has a long, distinguished career in public service. I begged him during the whole "death panels" brouhaha to come forward and tell everyone to calm down and quit the lies and misrepresentation so we could have a real conversation about healthcare. Sadly, I got crickets.

So yesterday Sen. Alexander told CNN's Candy Crowley that we need to stop talking about Sarah Palin’s “cross-hairs” ad and remember that, unlike the Tea Party, Jared Loughner had “The Communist Manifesto” and “Mein Kampf” on his reading list. The implication being, of course, that such books are on liberals’ reading lists (and he ignored more benign books on Loughner’s reading list like “Aesop’s Fables” and “Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland.”).

So I’m calling out Sen. Lamar Alexander: what the hell is wrong with you? If you won’t step up and condemn this stuff, who will?

How Are Those 2nd Amendment Remedies Workin’ For Ya?

Another mentally unbalanced nutter with a criminal record legally gets his hands on a gun and goes on a rampage. Just another day in the Wild West.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said it all:

"When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous," the sheriff said. "And unfortunately, Arizona I think has become the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry."

Four days ago an armed man barricaded himself in an Arizona mall with hostages. And back in April Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into a law a bill allowing people to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. Oops.

But let’s look at the big picture. Southern Arizona’s largest employer is Raytheon Missile Systems, Arizona’s largest defense contractor.

Live by the gun, die by the gun. As without, so within. As in the macrocosm, so in the microcosm.

We spread violence around the world with our wars for oil, we spread violent rhetoric around the country on talk radio, we have leaders putting political rivals in crosshairs and candidates calling for “Second Amendment remedies.” Our children play violent video games and we watch acts of violence as entertaintment. We are a culture ruled by violence.

So don’t act so fucking surprised, America. This was entirely predictable.

More ...

Something To Ponder

There’s something surreal about watching Ted Williams, the “golden-voiced homeless man,” recite corporate slogans on the morning news. It’s the perfect rags-to-riches story for the Wall Street age: you, too, can find redemption hawking Kraft mac’n’cheese, Hershey’s Kisses, and AT&T cell plans! Yes, even the chronically homeless have a valuable role to play in modern capitalism. Huzzah.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled Williams’ life has taken a 180; it’s hard not to shed a tear watching him reunite with his mother. But while we break our arms patting ourselves on the back for bringing in one homeless man from the cold, let’s not forget the hundreds of thousands of other people -- including veterans, children, senior citizens, and the disabled -- who remain on the streets at any given time. And by all means, let’s not overlook Williams’ partially-blind ex-wife who raised his five children -- including the son he had with another woman -- while Williams was AWOL. This woman is every bit the hero that Williams is, perhaps more so. It annoys me that she’s getting so little attention.

There’s a “treasure among the trash” quality to the way look at homelessness in this country. Maybe every journalist in America will sit down for a chat with the man or woman holding the “Will Work For Food” sign by the side of the interstate. Ya think? And maybe they’ll find that Juilliard-trained cellist pushing a shopping cart or stock broker in training sleeping in the public restroom.

Then again, they’re just as likely to find the psychotic who can’t or won’t stay on their meds, the person who refuses to go to a shelter for whatever reason, the addict, the Iraq war veteran or the single mother. There are as many ways to be homeless and reasons for being homeless as there are homeless people. Every story is unique. And all I’m saying is, every person deserves to be treated with dignity, whether they have a golden voice or not. I’m glad for Ted Williams but I’m also worried for him, and I’m worried for the thousands of people who weren’t lucky enough to catch the attention of a local news videographer.

So, now that corporate America and the corporate media have stepped in to help this one homeless man, what about the rest? Could Kraft Foods make a nice, long-term commitment to the nation's homeless -- maybe by supporting some homeless advocacy groups?

Could the corporate media maybe stop covering bullshit stories like Sarah Palin’s re-Tweets and maybe devote more than just casual attention to this issue?

Could those of us touched by Ted Williams’ story volunteer at a homeless shelter or, at the very least, pick up a copy of The Contributor?

Hell, I’d be happy of we’d stop setting homeless people on fire. Or how about something a little harsher than a slap on the wrist to those who commit these violent acts?

Just something to ponder.

It Will Be Different This Time, Honest!

I swear, the narrative coming out of Democratic Party circles as Republicans take over the House of Representatives is driving me nuts. The message we’re hearing repeated everywhere is that “now Republicans have to lead,” and “governing is oooh so different from campaigning,” and “put up or shut up”, or as Rep. Anthony Weiner told Face The Nation:

"It's their ship to run now," he said. "That's the responsibility."

No, it’s not! It’s totally not! Because, they’re Republicans, which means they can do whatever the fuck they want and no one ever calls them on it, ever. Like, when Peggy Noonan famously claimed in a 2008 Wall Street Journal op-ed that “At least Bush kept us safe,” which neatly overlooked Nine-Fucking-Eleven, the anthrax attacks, Hurricane Katrina, etcetera, etcetera. Heh heh, we all know that shit was Clinton’s fault!

Or how about the time Karl Rove wrote, also in the Wall Street Journal, that President Obama’s stimulus package is “the biggest peacetime spending increase in American history,” forgetting that it’s not peacetime, asshole, we’re still embroiled in the two wars started under your watch.

In a sane world, someone over at the Wall Street Journal might have pointed these things out before running these pieces to begin with. But this is not a sane world, this is a world where Republicans are allowed to get away with saying and doing whatever they want. Republicans are Teflon, Democrats are glue. When will the Dems figure this out?

You know, you can never, ever say anything about what a budget-buster the Iraq War has been without someone pointing out, “Well, Democrats voted for it toooooo!” Yeah, but they wouldn’t have if a) Republicans weren’t fearmongering 24/7 about smoking guns being mushroom clouds, b) Republicans weren't given free rein to question the patriotism of anyone who had the temerity to doubt the Bush Administration’s war rationale, and c) Bush Administration officials, in collusion with the media, hadn't personally threatened and intimidated war critics like Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson. So get over your damn selves.

Yeah, we all know this routine. As long as there is one liberal within 30 yards of a bad decision, that is the person who is getting the blame. Wake up, Democrats.

Democrats never, ever remember this stuff. They never remember that the media is not liberal, that the networks and cable news bots are infatuated with sniffing Republican shorts and will rarely call Republicans on their lies, spin and revisionist history.

I mean, I don’t recall hearing a lot of media hacks rushing to correct the lies of Rush Limbaugh, who claimed Obama tanked the economy as payback for racism. This only makes sense if you are insane, and also if you forget who was president in fall 2007, when the economy actually crashed. Remember how John McCain was going to suspend his campaign and rush to Washington to fix the economy?

Ah yes, but the Democrats took the Senate in the fall 2006 elections, so everything that happened after that is their fault! Heads we lose, tails they win.

Already today we are seeing Republicans rewrite their brand-new House rules to suit their agenda. You know, like how deficits matter except when they don’t, which would be when pushing for war and tax cuts and pretending that a repeal of healthcare reform won't add $230 billion to the deficit.

Got it, Democrats? It’s always Republican Rules. IOKIYAR is the guiding principle of modern American governance. Republicans can get away with everything and anything, Democrats cannot.

So don’t be pushing this pablum about how “Republicans have to govern now.” No, they don’t! They just have to show up on some Sunday morning bobblehead show and mouth some bumper sticker bromide about Freedom and Real America and What The American People Want and blargheddy blargh. It's not like anyone in the media, save maybe Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, ever holds their feet to the fire.

This will only change if Democrats finally grow a spine and really wise up and make a big stink about this hypocrisy. And that won't happen until they stop caring about what Tweety and David Broder think, and start really pushing back.

But I don't hold out much hope.

Sociopaths

If you have a few minutes today, you absolutely must read Ken Whitehouse’s story on fraudster/Ponzi schemer/aspiring Tennessee Republican politician Jeff Cassman. Cassman's fraud is considered "small potatoes" compared to, say, Bernie Madoff: he defrauded far fewer people and took much less money. But his victims were not nameless, faceless people. They were his friends and family, members of his church congregation and the like. In short: the people who trusted him the most. There surely has to be a special place in hell for people who will abuse someone's trust this way.

The article is called Banana Republican because as the law began closing in on Cassman and his web of lies (including the fib that he holds a Master’s in Theology from a Connecticut seminary), he and his family of 10 children skedaddled to Antigua, Guatemala. There Cassman lived under various assumed names and set up shop seeking out investors for his various schemes.

Guatemalan authorities arrested Cassman in October and he was brought home to face the music. He's since pled guilty and now awaits sentencing. It’s an absolutely unbelievable story, in part because I don’t remember a ton of coverage in the local media about the case and also because it's an absolute freaking miracle the guy was apprehended to begin with.

Writes Whitehouse:

How could a family that large disappear? The answer is simple: It’s easy to hide when no one is looking for you.

In 2008, when the Cassman family went missing, there was only one federal agent on the case. It wasn’t an agent from the FBI, SEC or treasury department. It was a member of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and he was about to be transferred out of the region. Over the past few years, postal agents have been integral parts of the teams that apprehended Ponzi schemers like Park, Grigg and Stokes, to name a few.

Well, good on the U.S. Postal Service! I can't believe this snake almost slithered away.

The guy is obviously a sociopath. And while he ran for Tennessee’s State House, twice, as a “family values” conservative, his actions show him to be anything but. Above and beyond the illegal activity, look how he treated his family while they were in Guatemala:

While Cassman was cataloguing his adventures online, his wife and kids were living in a squalid home where the children slept on tile floors. In 2009, his wife gave birth to their 10th child (she is currently expecting their 11th). In a letter to his in-laws, which they shared with The City Paper, Cassman’s children wrote that his then-14-year-old son delivered the baby and that Cassman couldn’t be reached because he was in church.

Cassman was actually at a bar smoking cigars, drinking and playing chess, his main activities most days. Writing about his children on GUateliving.com: “Our kids go outside only under our supervision, during the morning hours when local kids are most likely to be in school, with a guard dog we don’t feed until after play time, and we always have one person scanning the surrounding area for threats.”


While Cassman tried to put on the front that he was a devoted father, others have a different opinion. NashvillePost.com first reported in February 2010 that a friend of the family had witnessed Cassman punishing his son by pouring hot sauce down his throat after a disagreement. The person who saw that incident confirmed it to The City Paper, calling Cassman a “psychopath.”

This is a story that deserves to get some attention on 60 Minutes or Dateline NBC. Aboslutely amazing.

In Training

I don’t know how I let my sister-in-law talk me into training for a half marathon this spring; I’m quite sure alcohol must have been involved. Anyway, if you want to find me I’m probably one of the two or three gazillion people hoofing it down Belmont Boulevard in the morning or afternoon. Yeah, I’ll be the lardass doubled over, clutching her side and gasping for air.

It’s been, oh, around 10 years since I last ran a marathon. And I just have to say: this shit just gets harder as you get older.

You know, it’s that time of year when we’re inundated with diet ads on TV and news stories about fitness. That’s all very well and good but I just have a few questions.

Like:

• How come whenever I go to the grocery store, giant bags of Lay’s potato chips are always on sale, buy-one, get-one free? How come I can never get that deal on broccoli? Or a bag of apples? Just wondering.

• How does KFC manage to sell its 20-piece Family Meal, including four sides plus biscuits, for under $30? While half a free range chicken (roasted with lemon, Provencal herbs, and vegetables in a demi-glace), costs the same amount at Miel, a rather pricey eatery in West Nashville?

The KFC meal is enough food to feed two adults and three kids and still have plenty left for everyone to have lunch the next day. It’s also enough sugar, starch, sodium and fat to fast track your entire family to diabetes and heart disease -- and don’t even get me started on the hormones and toxic crap in their chicken. The Miel dinner, while healthier, will feed just one for dinner -- maybe with enough left for a snack the next day.

So, why is this? Why is crap cheap and plentiful, while wholesome food is not?

• Why are there hormone-disrupting toxins in our drinking water? Why did a ban Bisphenol A (BPA) not make it into the food safety bill, even though it’s banned in Canada for causing impotence and various other endocrine-disruption sins? (And by the way, if you haven’t voluntarily removed all the plastic from your kitchen, well, now might be a good time to start).

• Why (thank you, Anne Laurie at Balloon Juice) have scientists found that it’s not just people getting fatter, but our pets and the animals who live with us like mice and rats? Could it be that we’re all eating and drinking from the same hormone-laden, chemically-engineered banquet table?

• Why do we wonder why the nation is getting fatter and unhealthier when the very reasons are staring us in the face? Why, whenever the media discusses America’s “obesity epidemic,” do we never discuss any of these other issues? Why don’t we talk about the farm policy that favors overproduction of corn, or the toxins and endocrine disruptors in our food and water supply, or the factory farms and agribusiness and genetically modified frankenfoods which the people hawking at us claim to be safe?

Just wondering.

I love to cook, it’s one of my great joys in life. I’d no sooner eat at a fast food restaurant as I’d pluck out my own eyeballs and fry them up for dinner. Packaged and processed food just doesn’t taste good to me -- I need food to stimulate something other than the salty and sweet tastebuds in my mouth. I cannot imagine coming home from work and popping something frozen in the microwave for dinner. The idea that this is how so many Americans live just makes me sad. And I can’t imagine that this food is good for you.

I hope Americans will get a clue and just say no to the crap we’re being sold by the food industry. It’s not food, it’s a manufactured food-like substitute. Try making just one thing from scratch this week (or one new thing) and see if it’s really as hard and inconvenient and awful as you think.

You can start with salad dressing: it’s the simplest thing in the world, and it can be used as a marinade, dip, drizzled over steamed veggies, over cold pasta, or on your salad. Here's one of my favorites:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar: the basic formula is 3 parts olive oil to two parts vinegar. Play with it and adjust to your own taste.

1 shallot, chopped fine
About a teaspoon of honey
About a teaspoon of oregano
Salt & Pepper to taste

Put all of this in a blender or small food processor (or whisk it up in a bowl). Voila, you now have a basic vinaigrette. Now comes the fun part. Use it as is, or play with it a bit. Make it creamy by adding some Greek yogurt, or add some gorgonzola cheese, or half an avocado. Or substitute red wine vinegar for the balsamic. Or add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. It’s easy-peasy and way better for you than that Wish-Bone crap that contains “xanthan gum” and “maltodextrin” and something scary called “calcium disodium EDTA.”

Take care of yourself, America. You're worth it.

Get Happy

[UPDATE]:

It's so much funnier with the death-metal soundtrack.

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I'm sorry, two posts in one day from me ... but I just had to share this video of a young penguin at the South Pole literally dancing for joy in the snow. What a wonderful way to start the New Year! Maybe the little guy was worried about global warming:



(Via Daily Mail.)

Don’t Know Nothing ‘bout History

Here in Nashville we’re in the middle of a messy battle over the future of our state fairgrounds and Nashville Speedway, which is located just south of downtown. One faction, which includes our mayor, wants to redevelop the 117-acre site. It’s crumbling and is barely used save for monthly flea markets and a few special events; the state fair, never a showpiece event, has already been shuttered.

Another faction wants to save the site and in particular, the Nashville Speedway located there. This group, which seems to be primarily racing fans, claims it’s the “finest short track in the world.” Despite the fact that speedway events have been losing money for years, this group has been making a lot of noise and brought in racing celebrities like Sterling Marlin and Darrell Waltrip to plead their case.

I really don’t care one way or the other. I do think the property could be put to better use, and it's exciting to think about what might be done with a chunk of land that size. Mr. Beale and I attend a handful events at the fairgrounds every year, but those could easily be located elsewhere. I'll say right now: We aren’t racing fans, and I do think the roar of the motor speedway (which we can hear all the way out at our house, though we live several miles away) is obnoxious. But, I figure that’s what comes with living in a city, and it’s only a few nights out of the year. So if some people are really fired up about saving it, knock yourselves out.

But here’s the thing. Nashville is not a preservationist town. Never has been, never will be. So it really annoys me that our local fishwrap has taken a side on the issue and is now referring to the speedway as “historic.” Give me a break! The racetrack was built in 1958! We’ve been tearing down buildings two, three, even four times older in the name of progress; I don't ever remember The Tennessean taking a side before. None of these folks making such a fuss about the speedway seemed to mind the loss of Nashville's history before, either. So calling what is basically a slab of concrete built in 1958 “historic” is just lame.

The site of the speedway has had races for over a hundred years. Well, fine then: slap a historic marker by the side of the road like we’ve done with every other significant piece of Nashville architecture that stood in the way of a fast food restaurant or Walgreen’s. I mean really: where were you people when they tore down Evergreen Place, built in 1785, and replaced it with a Home Depot? What about the Jacksonian, built in 1917, now a Walgreen’s? What about when developers demolished the historic church on South Douglas to make way for condos? Everyone was all like, “oh it’s the free hand of the market and all in the name of progress,” and yada yada. So don’t tell me this circle of concrete is hallowed ground when actual buildings are routinely bulldozed to stoke the engine of progress.

It's ironic that people who are using a historic preservation argument to save their racetrack seem completely unaware of this city's truly atrocious historic preservation record. This is how Nashville rolls, people! We are Nashville and we don't give a crap about our history! We’re a city that tore down our original governor’s mansion back in the ‘70s to make way for a Popeye’s chicken franchise, for crying out loud. When I moved here nearly 30 years ago West End Avenue was lined with graceful mansions. They’re almost all gone now, replaced with strip shopping centers and fast food joints. That’s how Nashville treats its historic structures.

I can appreciate that people want to save something they feel is important but I just have to say: if history is any judge, you’re wasting your time. In fact, you're better off making some kind of economic argument. Come up with a business plan, and ask Sterling Marlin and Darrell Waltrip to donate some money to upgrade the facility. Talk is cheap, fellas. Put some skin in the game! Show that the Nashville Speedway can be profitable (which may be difficult, considering the problems the Nashville Superspeedway faces).

Take it from someone who has seen the wrecking ball demolish a disheartening array of actual historic structures in this city: money talks in this town. Those of us who care about real historic buildings have been told to suck it up time and time again, so you racetrack fans might want to be prepared to kiss your 52-year-old circle of concrete goodbye.

Just a little tip.

Hubris Trips Up Another Rising GOP Star

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is taking plenty of heat for the callous comments he made in a failed attempt to defend his Florida vacation in the middle of a blizzard -- while his Lieutenant Governor was also out of state on a cruise.

One of the worst statements was this one:

"I would have been doing the same thing here as I would have been there," Christie said. "I would have been in a room someplace. I would not have been out, like, driving a plow."

It’s hard to imagine an elected official being more tone-deaf than this. Hell, even President Bush's people reminded him to "roll up the shirt sleeves" for his Hurricane Katrina photo ops. Christie isn't even pretending to try here.

Let me respond, on behalf of the people of New Jersey (a state I lived in for eight years):

No asshole, you would not have been doing the same thing at home that you were doing in Florida. If you were in New Jersey you would have been experiencing the snow, cold, winds, and sucky roads as everyone else. You’d be worrying about your neighbors and family members who had to abandon their cars in the mess. You’d be wondering how you’re going to get to work or to the grocery store or to the hospital to have your baby, what with the closed roads and abandoned vehicles. In short, you would have experienced what the people you are supposed to be serving had experienced.

But you didn’t. Because you were enjoying Florida’s 80 degree sunshine with your wife and kids. So the point is not whether you were reachable by phone; the point is that what the people of your state experienced last week will always be academic to you because you weren’t there. For the rest of your life, whenever people say: "Where were you in the great blizzard of 2010," your answer will always be: I wasn't there. I was in balmy, 80 degree sunshine.

And another Republican rising star goes down in a fiery wreck thanks to his colossal hubris. What the fuck is wrong with you people? I’m not going to say all conservatives lack empathy for their fellow citizens, I’m sure we all know plenty of caring people on the other side of the political aisle. But there’s something about the public statements of the current crop of conservative leaders that leans toward the sociopathic.

I used to think these folks were just reciting tired conservative talking points -- I mean, no one could seriously believe that in the middle of the worst recession in 80 years that the nation's high unemployment rate is due to people not wanting to work, right? Yet time and again we hear GOPers like Rick Scott claim the unemployed are simply “lazy” and don’t want to work. Well excuse me, asshole: we didn’t all get a $10 million golden parachute when forced to resign from our last company.

These are intelligent people, and it’s hard to believe they aren’t just playing political games and repeating conservative fairy tales for their low-information constituency. But then along comes a Chris Christie who goes off and abandons the people of his state in their time of need by saying his kid’s Christmas present was more important. Those actions speak a million times louder than words.

My mother, God rest her soul, always told me to "watch a man's actions, don't listen to his words." She was talking about dating and finding a mate, but it's perfectly good advice when looking for a governor, too. Sadly, New Jersey has a guy who will abandon them for the Florida sunshine in their time of need because he puts himself first. So much for the idea of a public servant.