Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Gov'nah

It's too bad there can't be a rule that former governors can't run for president.  One thing I've noticed recently is the trend for governors to throw their own state under the bus in the name of "fiscal responsibility", a la Walker/Christie/Perry et al.  It seems incredibly obvious to me that they're hoping to use their "tough love!" as a way to impress the rest of the country for their eventual presidential run.  Otherwise, if there's so much work to be done in New Jersey, why is Rex Ryan  Chris Christie on Morning Joe every ten minutes screaming about how "tough and serious!" he is?  Why would the rest of the country give a shit?  Why is he making his "case" on national tv?

Of course, these governors are hoping to cash out their own states' electoral votes for many more across the country.  They know that come campaign season, most voters will hear how "kick ass!" these governors were, and will be greatly impressed with their bluster in front of the cameras, and won't really bother to look any further and see the things they brag about were in fact crushing their own state's economy and people.  With about 10 seconds of homework, someone could see that Walker's little aria could be avoided by incredibly slight changes that make things better for everybody, but he's chosen to do the OPPOSITE, with Koch-fueled tax cuts for the wealthy etc.  He's actually making things worse, but is creating a very impressive national narrative by being on the news 24/7, which is more important if one has presidential hopes.  Likewise, people will be impressed with Christie pounding the podium about refusing federal money for infrastructure projects in the name of "fiscal responsibility"; pretty much nobody will notice that doing so loses thousands of potential jobs, crumbles infrastructure even more and sets the state back another decade or so, all of which will of course end up COSTING New Jersey billions of dollars.  But that doesn't matter, since being a shithead YouTube sensation fuels a hopeful presidential run better than thoughtful, competent governing does.

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