Not content to let enemies of the health care bill corner the market on threatening the death of public officials, teachers in the Bergen County chapter of the New Jersey Education Association sent an e-mail around to members making jokes about the death of state governor Chris Christie. NorthJersey.com is reporting that the letter jokingly asked members to pray that God knows that Christie is the writer’s favorite governor…just like the late Patrick Swayze is their favorite actor. The implication, tongue-in-cheek as it may be, is clearly that the union members would like to see Gov. Christie in the ground.
“Dear Lord … this year you have taken away my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcett, my favorite singer, Michael Jackson, and my favorite salesman, Billy Mays. … I just wanted to let you know that Chris Christie is my favorite governor.”
Gov. Christie’s enormous proposed cuts in education budgets have made him very unpopular everywhere from college campuses to elementary school teacher’s lounges. He’s so unpopular that teachers have turned an anti-Christie Facebook group into the internet equivalent of a high school bathroom wall, ranting about the “lying, fat f–k”. However, Christie clearly sees the latest comments in this e-mail as the perfect way to make someone else the bad guy in this story. The Star-Ledger is reporting that the governor was not shy about mentioning the joke while speaking at a public event in New Brunswick, home of Rutgers University.
“I think the events of the last 24 hours tell you this is not a problem with teachers, but it is exactly as I put it all along: a problem with the teachers union,” Christie said. “When I called them ‘the bullies of State Street,’ I think you see why today.”
Anyone reading the e-mail can tell that it was meant as a joke. However, making jokes about the death of a governor is never funny and is especially appalling coming at a time where bricks are flying through politician’s windows with alarming frequency. A teacher should most certainly know better. The president of the union in the state, Barbara Keshishian, made a formal apology earlier today.
From the Star-Ledger:
“Language such as that has no place in civil discourse,” Keshishian said in a statement. “It was intended as humor, but it is not funny. Our ongoing discussion with Gov. Christie is centered on serious issues of significant importance to the state, and that must be the focus of all our conversation. We deeply regret that the ‘prayer’ reference was included in the letter, and we apologize to Gov. Christie for both the content of the ‘prayer’ and the lack of respect it demonstrated.”
So, anyone who’s been looking for the perfect rebuttal whenever someone claims that only conservatives advocate violence, you may want to bookmark this article.
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