Conservatives Like Chris Christie More When the Media Likes Him Less

[DonViejo]

ELSPETH REEVE

What do conservatives hate more: moderate, Obama-hugging Chris Christie, or the mainstream media? In the wake of Christie's Fort Lee bridge scandal, the answer is definitely the media.

Rush Limbaugh, a frequent critic of Christie, said Thursday that Republicans aren't defending the New Jersey governor, but instead fleeing "like a bunch of wildebeests." He only needed to wait a day. A Republican fundraiser complains to Politico Friday that the media was hounding Christie on Bridgeghazi despite giving President Obama a pass on the IRS scandal. Other Republicans told The Washington Post that at least Christie fired people, unlike Obama. "Republicans operate under a double media standard that holds them to a much lower scandal threshold," The Wall Street Journal editorial board writes on Friday. "In that sense the pathetic New Jersey traffic-lane scandal may be, as Mr. Obama likes to say, a teachable moment." There's nothing like a scandal to clarify your priorities.

Sure, the New Jersey governor has gotten some criticism from those Republicans he's personally pissed off, and from some conservatives who think the bridge incident is an example of the inherent thuggishness of big government. But Christie's two-hour press conference on Thursday created a conflict for conservatives. On one side there's Christie, the RINO media darling. On the other side is the liberal media, which is always wrong. So what does it mean that the media is attacking Chris Christie? Naturally, it means Christie isn't so bad after all. Even though he hugged Obama, Christie is not actually Obama.

RedState editor Erick Erickson essentially predicted this reaction on Wednesday, writing that the scandal "is such an easy fix." Erickson recommended a couple simple steps for the governor: "He needs to follow through and see that heads roll. Then he can point out that he has actually fired people, unlike President Obama." Sure enough, on Thursday night, former John McCain aide Steve Schmidt told The Washington Post that Christie's firing "sends a very clear signal: If you screw up, you violate the public trust, there’s not going to be an exercise in wagon-circling — there’s going to be an exercise in accountability."

more
http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/01/conservatives-chris-christie-more-when-media-likes-him-less/356879/

[gordianot]

1. Conservatives really must be frustrated by this mess.

The closure of the bridge just does not make sense everyone hates traffic jams and if caused on purpose the root cause will come out. Acts of terrorism do not endear the terrorist to anyone.