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gordonv t1_je0bthf wrote

Reply to comment by 7in7turtles in Chris Christie in the beach chair will never get old… by carlosdangertaint

It doesn't undermine the criticisms. It runs along side it.

Christie was being fickle. He closed beaches for everyone except for himself. A photographer took a gamble and it paid off big.

We remember this by making it a joke. Or a song. Or a meme. This is now synonymous with the legacy of Chris Christie.

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7in7turtles t1_je2dhs1 wrote

Nah, it makers his critics look like assholes. It really does. If you don’t see it, you’re in a serious bubble. Christy’s hypocrisy is well on display, but the fat jokes are lazy, not particularly funny and say more about his critics than it does about him.

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gordonv t1_je2f93r wrote

You're not wrong. The critics are assholes sticking it to an asshole.

It would be naïve to believe that this would not happen.

Fat people that receive the public's love escape this treatment. It's not his fatness that's being jeered at. It's the closing of beaches and being caught at a closed beach. The epitomized precipice of greed and corruption. Rules for thee, but not for me.

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7in7turtles t1_je2joe7 wrote

Yeah well that’s around about way of saying “it’s ok to make personal attacks on the man because he did a bad thing.” You do you man, but when I talk to people and the only thing they can think to say about him is call him “fat boy.” I tend to think it’s extremely lazy and reflects on those people poorly.

Again, there are plenty of things you could say about him, and everyone has the god given right to be an asshole, especially in New Jersey, but don’t pretend it’s some high brow endeavor.

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gordonv t1_je2l6tm wrote

Totally understand what you're saying.

That's not how it works. A person's reputation will be damaged when he himself bites the hand that feeds him.

Christie is a reminder that if you act like an idiot, you will be treated like an idiot.

So, I notice you specifically have issue with fat jokes. Full disclosure, I'm overweight myself. People are not going after Christie because he's fat. Yes, people have made jokes about his weight. This in particular is a photo of the moment Christie was on the beach when he banned everyone else in NJ off the beach.

I think this is the 3rd time I'm saying this very specific thing. This is more about the beach incident than his weight, his political affiliation, Bridgegate, the baseball thing, or whatever else.

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7in7turtles t1_je2r5cq wrote

Soo here's the thing. I do appreciate your care for the fat joke thing, but I don't care about the fact that it's a fat joke.

I care about the fact that it is a completely personal attack on him that has nothing to do with what he did. I remember the beach incident, I remember bridgegate, but I also remember seeing people role their eyes at the endless string of fat jokes that had absolutely nothing to do with either of them.

The joke here is clear: "David is sporting a chub"

That joke is not an indictment of Christie on the beach, it's not a ridicule of his policy. It's just a fat joke.

My point is when you make jokes like this, you turn people against what might be legitimate criticism. In 2004 relentless jokes about Bush's accent and way of speaking produced a lot of sympathy for him, because people in the south talked that way. The coastal "comedians" who were going after this low hanging fruit for jokes about a guy who clearly deserved ridicule, ended up creating creating a bunch of new Republicans because they weren't in the bubble.

I'm saying that to some extent we're doing the same thing by taking these cheap shots at Christie.

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gordonv t1_je2tqse wrote

Respectfully, I feel we see this in 2 different ways.

Christie did some bad things. And to ridicule him, the public will go after the "low hanging fruit" of jokes. Listing his bad deeds as a diatribe of listed shame just doesn't work for crude comedy. It's boring.

With jokes and memes like this, we get a quick and light reminder and smile without the preachy historical rereading.

In the end, this is how people remember. Aside from academic style records, of course.

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7in7turtles t1_je2w2ck wrote

I respect your right to retain this opinion. As someone who is essentially describing my own reaction to the behavior of those making these jokes, I can only hope to explain to you how some may react. You are absolutely free to proceed how you wish, and it is not my wish to make you feel otherwise.

My point is best summarized like this. Calling Christie a fat fuck, is a cathartic release for many people. However, cathartic release is like masturbation; it is an important, addictive and extraordinarily unproductive habit and doing it in public may feel good but it's pretty disgusting to those around you.

But you do you. Cathartic release is better done on reddit than out in the world. If this makes you feel better, by all means, I'd never deprive you of the right.

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