There are some topics around here at Mediaite, like Kim Kardashian and Snooki, that only end up here tangentially, much to the chagrin of those of us that would rather talk about more dignified things like Mitt Romney doing laundry and Sarah Palin‘s Facebook doodles. But outside of his feuds with the diminutive Jersey Shore star, Gov. Chris Christie is a beloved and respected political entity who may be our next-next president. If we report it every time Christie entertainingly yells insults at random people, surely a scrape with Snooki merits attention.

Will there ever be a news cycle without a “Gov. Chris Christie yelling at people” story ever again? Not anytime in the near future, apparently. The Governor, who is currently pushing a ballot referendum on same-sex marriage in the state, took a moment today to discuss allegations that his comparison of the issue to those of race in the middle of the past century, which he found extremely offensive. Explaining that, unlike the LGBT community, a ballot referendum on civil rights “wasn’t an option,” Christie berated one state legislator who compared his stance to that of George Wallace as “numb nuts.”

A few months ago, Saturday Night Live envisioned an aggressive NJ Gov. Chris Christie putting on his biggest show to get America to like Mitt Romney. With the Iowa caucuses less than a week away, life is now imitating art, as Christie yelled at an Iowa crowd today that if they dared not “do what you’re supposed to do on Tuesday,” he would be back. Presumably with some sort of vengeance.

New Jersey man Isaac Mendez sued sports and entertainment site Barstoolsports.com after it published his name and picture (which appears at left) under the headline “Jersey City Pedophile Loses His $4 Million Lotto Ticket, Sues the Whole World.” After the lawsuit, Barstool Sports — which has stories ranging from “Owl Petting Dog” to “Toddlers Banned From Making Twinkle Twinkle Hand Gestures Because The Sign For Diamond Means Pussy In Sign Language” — issued a retraction for their original story and its accompanying headline, explaining that these had been meant as satire.

Someone attempted to grill New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at a town hall again, and thanks to that brave (or some would say, attention-seeking) soul, the media has a new viral video of the Governor getting sassy with a constituent. This time, the town hall attendant asked whether the governor planted questions at town hall meetings, citing a situation where he saw someone ask a question at another event who claimed to be a friend of Christie’s. After scolding him for “wasting time,” Christie asked, “if I plant questions, why the hell did I call on you?”

Jon Stewart provided a breather today from a day full of Herman Cain sex scandal developments with a long roast of former New Jersey Senator and Governor and Goldman Sachs CEO Jon Corzine– or, in his words, the one man who “could embody the corporate/industrial/government complex in all its clusterf*ckitude.” Corzine, who is now nursing the injury of the collapse of his investment firm MF Global, put most of the money on European debt, which Stewart found, at best, hilarious.

This is the second week in a row I have watched the Sunday talk shows and been bombarded by more Chris Christie coverage than I was expecting. The prospect of Christie running for president is certainly an interesting one, but I can’t think of any candidate (not counting ex-governors of Alaska) who has garnered the kind of speculative media coverage that the New Jersey governor has received over the past several months.

New Jersey governor Chris Christie finally broke his silence since rumors of a presidential run returned out of nowhere this weekend, speaking at the Reagan Library in California. Making the core of his speech the virtues of “leadership and compromise,” Christie delivered a speech demanding President Obama accomplish more, because “his failure is our failure, too.” It is not a garden variety gubernatorial speech, but it’s not exactly a campaign speech– striking square in Sarah Palin Iowa territory. His answer to the question? Christie directed everyone to a Politico compilation of him saying “no” repeatedly.

A decade after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the state of New Jersey has erected a monument to its victims that day– the Empty Sky Memorial, which features the names of the 746 New Jersey victims of 9/11 and is designed to supplant the void in the New York skyline where the Twin Towers were, from the perspective of one standing before it. Today, Governor Chris Christie spoke at its dedication, reminding the audience that it is the loss of those whose loved ones died that remains paramount from that morning.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is having a bit of a rough time lately, though, unlike most politicians, through no fault of his own: Hurricane Irene hit parts of his state incredibly hard, and the President will be visiting the troubled areas tomorrow. Yesterday, however, the Governor managed to take a breather down the Jersey Shore, where he encouraged residents to support beach businesses and have a good time. To prove he wasn’t joking, he reminded the crowd of why he has repeatedly refused a run for the presidency himself: “why the hell would I ever want to leave Jersey?”

Recently, there’s been a lot of debate over House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s assertion that any relief efforts for those affected by Hurricane Irene need to be offset by set spending cuts due to FEMA’s lack of money. Unsurprisingly, many weren’t thrilled with the idea of having to go through bookkeeping before trying to help Americans. Gov. Christie requested that Congress waited to discuss budget cuts until after large portions of his state are completely flooded.

After a dramatic weekend in which New Jersey Governor Chris Christie took the helm in evacuating his state, the governor praised FEMA employees for their work in helping those who were most affected. The irony of a governor who rose to power attacking federal employees, in his view, wasn’t lost on Ed Schultz, who thanks the governor for putting partisan politics aside, but implored him to lay down his arms against government worker benefits and spending.

During a press conference this afternoon, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie warned any lingering beach bunnies that their time is running out. “Get the hell off the beach in Asbury Park and get out,” he said. “Get the hell off the Beach in Asbury Park and get out. You’re done. It’s 4:30 PM. You’ve maximized your tan. Get off the beach. Get in you cars and get out of those areas.” The man is serious.

Lawrence O’Donnell has never been much of a fan of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for myriad political reasons, but today he had to put that all aside. Noting that “Ann Coulter‘s favorite presidential candidate who isn’t running for president” could never get elected because he’s “a little too New Jersey” for Republican voters, he found a new reason why he’d never win a primary– one that won him the program’s first full staff standing ovation.

At this juncture, it may be more efficient to highlight which interactions between New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and the media are not newsworthy. The Republican’s appointment of Muslim-American Sohail Mohammed to a state bench this week ruffled some feathers among some who fear the threat of Sharia Law, but when asked about those concerns, Gov. Christie made clear he had no patience for such “ignorance,” calling the complaints “crap.”

In a curiously presidential sounding address, New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie provided advice to Republicans and Democrats in Congress who refuse to compromise and to President Obama who has yet to put a plan in writing. Citing his own bi-partisan legislative success in New Jersey, Christie warned everyone “you can’t lead from behind” and that now was the time to get this debt negotiation complete.

Undercover filmmaking personality James O’Keefe is perhaps defined by his aversion to the mainstream media, that bastion of liberal thought that shields the corruption his life’s work is dedicated to expose. So the New York Times isn’t the first place one would expect to find a glowing five-page look behind the scenes of his latest stunt, a Medicare hoax starring fake IRA and Russian mafia members. And yet here it is– O’Keefe, glorified in the pages he reviles as he takes a Times contributor along for the ride as he scuttles across New Jersey in search of wasted taxpayers’ dollars.

Will this mean an end to any Late Show visits for New Jersey governor Chris Christie–or a lively and entertaining back-and-forth battle? In David Letterman‘s monologue Wednesday, the comic suggested the pie attack on Rupert Murdoch has public figures “tightening their security” so they don’t become the next victim–all but one, that is. Yep. You see, Christie loves pie attacks! Or baked alaska attacks, or ice cream sundae attacks–you name it, just throw food at him!

For those of us who will forever remember the day Al Qaeda fatally attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, it is difficult to keep in mind that September 11, 2001 was nearly a decade ago– which puts a child born on that day in fourth grade. This has presented a challenge to many teachers who realize their students are not old enough to remember the attacks but don’t quite know what to say about it. To solve the problem, New Jersey is set to adopt a curriculum that will teach September 11 and terrorism to K-12 students.

Chris Christie may be a darling to many in the Republican Party and beyond, but back home in Jersey, well, the fight over the governor’s budget has caused some hurt feelings. “This is all about him being a bully and a punk,” New Jersey State Senate President Stephen Sweeney told the Star-Ledger. “I wanted to punch him in his head.” Oh, and it gets worse.

After last Friday’s historic gay marriage vote, one of the most forceful media narratives was the contrast between the leadership styles of Andrew Cuomo and Barack Obama. So it was only a matter of time before people started speculating on Cuomo’s national aspirations.

Former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey says the passage of New York’s gay marriage bill Friday indicates politicians are lagging behind voters on the issue, in many cases as Americans accept and support members of their own family who’ve come out of the closet. You understand a nephew, a son, a father is gay, a mother. And that begins to make it very personal,” McGreevey told CNN’s Eliot Spitzer on In the Arena. “People understand — people have a personal connection with someone who is a member of the LGBT community and it profoundly changes the dynamic.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie appeared on Meet the Press to speak about his success on budgetary issues in New Jersey, to admit he’s not loved by all, and to not back down from his recent declaration to a constituent that some issues are “none of your business.”

Chris Matthews analyzed new poll numbers that suggested the thrill with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie may be disappearing. First Glenn Beck lashed out at Christie, and now Matthews piles on too. Yet Josh Marshall suggested there isn’t quite “buyer’s remorse” yet with Christie, since compared with Republican governors elsewhere, Christie is still doing pretty well.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has been repeatedly touted as one of the strongest potential 2012 candidates, and just as often shot down that notion through increasingly humorous– and increasingly frustrated– refusals to run. Christie spent the hour with Piers Morgan tonight, who may have gotten further than anyone had in wheedling presidential ambitions out of the governor: he “100%” won’t run in 2012, but refused to answer the same about 2016.