The second anniversary of Superstorm Sandy arrived Wednesday in a region where recovery in New Jersey and New York is happening unevenly, with many houses, boardwalks and businesses rebuilt but many people still unable to return to their homes.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spoke to a crowd in Belmar, N.J., a town damaged by the storm, defending his administration’s handling of the rebuilding. Christie was repeatedly interrupted by a heckler, which prompted him to tell the man “Sit down and shut up.”
The heckler, Jim Keady, harassed Christie about the pace of storm aid. Keady was holding a sign that read, “Finish the Job,” The Star-Ledger reported. He also yelled at the governor, “Do your job!”
Christie continued to challenge Keady.
“I’ll be more than happy to have a debate with you anytime you like, guy, because somebody like you doesn’t know a damn thing about what you’re talking about except to stand up and show off when the cameras are here,” Chrisite said. “I’ve been here when the cameras aren’t here, buddy, and done the work. … Turn around, get your fifteen minutes of fame, and then, maybe, take your jacket off, roll up your sleeves, and do something for the people of this state.”
Keady reportedly runs an advocacy group called Finish the Job, which has been critical of the pace of rebuilding in the area. Once Keady tried to explain how he was here a month after Sandy, the governor interrupted him.
” … and there’s been 23 months since then, when all you’ve been doing is flapping your mouth and not doing anything. So listen, you want to have the conversation later? I’m happy to have it, buddy. But until that time, sit down and shut up.”
Does Chris Christie need an anger management class? He sounds rude and low-class when he goes into his Joisey Boy schtick. Regardless of what the heckler was saying, Chris Christie was about as un-presidential as I have seen. His aides looked like Mafia thugs as they all stood smugly at the podium.
Christie will never go far in national politics as long as he acts like a local hoodlum.
Did the heckler Keady have a point? Yes. Even if his point was baseless and stupid, he had every right to express it. It looked to me like Christie was on public street in New Jersey. Free speech hasn’t been suspended in the Garden State. I would like to see better leadership from someone whose name is being bandied around as presidential material. Acting like a New Jersey stereotype is not my idea of leadership, unless someone is trying for a part in a remake of The Sopranos.
It’s time for Chris Christie to acquire some manners or he can sit down and shut up.
Did he have a right to heckle? Legally…yes.
Was it an effective way to get his message across? I don’t think so.
While I don’t want Christie as President….unless he’s the only choice vs….Hillary or Warren….
I found it refreshing. I’d rather have his bombast than the condescension that is the current idea of political discourse. He may have been rude, but he addressed him directly and took him seriously.
I don’t think he took Keady seriously at all. He was dismissive of him. Funny, we never got to hear Keady’s point of view.
You find rudeness refreshing? Geez.
@Moon-howler
We heard his point of view. It was a heckle. OR we can go to whatever website he has.
Christie is never going to live down the bridge scandal, and he shouldn’t.
What does a Mafia thug look like?
What bridge scandal?
Refreshing, no. But we have started to get used to the likes of Harry Reid and Alan Grayson.
This guy wasn’t a heckler- he was actually much more respectful than Christie was. It appears that he really got Christie’s goat, and it’s apparent why- the “heckler” was right! Christie has only spent about 20% of the federal funds he has received for Sandy, and a lot of the funding has gone to more affluent communities. Christie knows his a– is hanging out in the breeze on this one. Christie has made a big deal about how well his administration has responded to Sandy, and the reality is apparently once again different from the rhetoric.
Christie’s image has gone from a common-sense plain talking guy who gets things done to a bully who strong-arms anyone who doesn’t go along with his plans. It looks like the bridge scandal was the beginning of his decline…
I forgot to add….. I actually agree with the heckler in many ways. Being from the Gulf Coast, I know what hurricane clean up is like….and New York and New Jersey are failing in doing it.
@middleman
Your description matchs SOOOOO many politicians.
“…image has gone from a common-sense plain talking guy who gets things done to a bully who strong-arms anyone who doesn’t go along with his plans.”
Imagine the fun that the press would have with a President Christie.
Supposedly only 20% of the money has gotten to the homeowners. I agree with the “heckler” also, although perhaps not the method.
I believe that the problem in America is people valuidating these two parties, by voting for them.
But anyone who could vote for Christie, knowing that he intentionally causes traffic jams for the people of his own state, is particularly stupid. He might as well have walked up to people in his state and urinated in their eyes. It’s fascinating to me that ANYONE from there could support him.
“Urinated in their eyes?” Now that is a new one.
I really started disliking him after that.
How could anyone not? He’s Vladimir Putin on a smaller scale.
Seriously? You don’t know about the closing of the bridge for only political retaliation payback?
This isn’t silly conspiracy, this is well founded and documented.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/chris-christies-bridge-scandal-a-blessing-in-disguise/