Of Turkeys And Such

(Editorial cartoon by Mike Luckovich and published 11/21/12 by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  Click on image to enlarge and then return.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

May your plate be filled with turkey, dressing, whipped potatoes, and whatever vegetables you wish, and may your table-mates be cordial and well-behaved.

Speaking of turkeys, Republicans are still being stupid and whiny.  Their latest target is N.J. Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, who committed a sin by saying nice things about President Obama for his handling of Hurricane Sandy.  James Rainey had some well-chosen comments about the GOP reaction in his political column for the Los Angeles Times.

Republicans seem to have no lack of understanding about how badly their presidential nominee, Mitt Romney,  damaged the party brand by demonizing a good chunk of the electorate as “victims” and “gift” grabbers — the slothful masses who just can’t wait to take a government handout.

The party faithful might also want to reconsider their recent demonization of one of their previous favorites, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, if they hope to recapture the heart of America. And have a better shot in the next presidential election. ...

...this is one of those moments when tried-and-true partisan hackery and the thoughts of average Americans diverge in a big way. The rapprochement between Obama and Christie  — who praised the president’s Sandy response as  “outstanding,” “incredibly supportive” and a “great credit” to leadership — pleased a lot of ordinary people. Exit polls found  that roughly 1 in 4 voters called Obama’s response to the giant storm an “important factor” in their vote. Christie’s warm embrace of the president presumably went a long way toward affirming that Obama acted presidential, not political, during the crisis.

And that outraged Republicans.  One of their own praised the president before the election for doing his job.  It apparently didn't matter that Gov. Christie was engaged in doing his job as governor at a particularly rough time for his state.  Nope, Christie committed a major sin for which he must pay.

As John Cole put it at Balloon Juice, "A real Republican would have let his state drown while berating Obama."

Does this mean that Christie hasn't a chance at the 2016 presidential race?  I doubt it.  If the GOP gets clobbered again in 2014, they might finally wake up to the fact that even right of center Americans are fed up with the party that seems only interested in winning, not in governing.  At that point, the boisterous and flamboyant Christie just might be a welcome and refreshing candidate.

But who knows?  Those yahoos are still shooting themselves in the feet at every opportunity.