In another intriguing column, Ken Braun, a libertarian-leaning Republican who formerly worked at the Mackinac Center, dares to compare Chris Christie with Ronald Reagan. Predictably, the tea party folks have cried foul.
On Facebook, the infamous “Trucker Randy” Bishop, an intellectually challenged wannabe tea party leader from northwest Michigan, responded this way: “Really Ken Braun
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| Trucker Randy |
Braun responded by quickly and effortlessly dismantling Trucker Randy’s argument, and he didn’t even rely upon a barrage of capital letters and exclamation points:
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| Braun |
“Unlike Christie, who is pro-Life, Reagan wasn't early in his career. He signed a bill to legalize abortion in CA in 1967.
“Christie fought the law banning gay marriage in NJ, and only relented when the courts ruled against it. Reagan fought against and succeeded in defeating a referendum that would have banned gay teachers in CA schools.
“Reagan was divorced. Christie has had only one wife.
“Reagan even raised taxes during his first term as governor (and numerous times as president, I might add).
“You would have hated him, Trucker Randy, and never wanted him as your president.”
“Christie fought the law banning gay marriage in NJ, and only relented when the courts ruled against it. Reagan fought against and succeeded in defeating a referendum that would have banned gay teachers in CA schools.
“Reagan was divorced. Christie has had only one wife.
“Reagan even raised taxes during his first term as governor (and numerous times as president, I might add).
“You would have hated him, Trucker Randy, and never wanted him as your president.”
Braun’s column, published online by MLive, points out that the hug Christy gave to President Obama just prior to the 2012 election, a show of gratitude for the federal aid provided to Superstorm Sandy victims, is the genesis for all the tea party hate directed at the New Jersey governor. Braun, who now runs the website InformationStation.org, also skillfully compares Christie’s situation to the difficulties faced within the Democratic Party by former senator Joe Liberman.
Here’s a bit of Braun’s piece:
“… Since ‘The Hug,’ social issues such as his opposition (yet insufficient hostility) to gay marriage and willingness to support gun control have taken center stage in the list of tea party indictments against him. Once cheered as the man who could both implement and sell fiscal conservative values to Democrats, he’s now called a RINO (Republican in Name Only) … and yet hasn’t changed a bit.
“Those who can’t get beyond ‘The Hug’ should remember former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn. The Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000, liberals became so temporarily obsessed with anti-Bush hysteria Lieberman’s willingness to support Bush on some security issues made him an outcast in his own party when he chased the 2004 presidential nomination. Not coincidentally, Bush won more decisively in 2004 than in 2000.
“…Many tea party favorites for president in 2016 are 100 percent pure ideologically, yet have never turned principles into policy. A highly electable New Jersey governor who is even just 50 percent on their side, yet with a track record of winning those common fights, deserves consideration, not scorn.”
Well said, Mr. Braun.
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