dagblog - Comments for "Chris Christie:"You don't have a noose big enough for my fat neck...""

Actually, I'd argue that the

Verified Atheist — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 16:13:38 +0000

In reply to Historically, as a general

Actually, I'd argue that the variance of corruption (i.e., you have both very corrupt and very honest people) increases as you get more local. I think that the most honest politicians never make it beyond the local level because of their honesty. Similarly, I suppose, that politicians that are exceedingly corrupt get exposed.

Historically, as a general

jollyroger — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 15:54:32 +0000

In reply to Of course, in reading Lizza's

Historically, as a general proposition, corruption increases as you get more local. Which is pretty scary when you consider the amount of corruption at the Federal level.

Well, yes, my point has

Verified Atheist — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 15:19:49 +0000

In reply to Of course, in reading Lizza's

Well, yes, my point has always been that his weight is irrelevant to whether he is corrupt. I am definitely not contending the basic fact that he is corrupt.

Of course, in reading Lizza's

Peter Schwartz — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 15:17:21 +0000

In reply to Not bad. Not bad at all.

Of course, in reading Lizza's profile of Christie in The New Yorker and the article a few months back in TNR, many other disturbing facts weigh more heavily against him than his weight.

They say Chicago is corrupt. I fear the Windy City has NOTHING on New Jersey.

But maybe state politics is just as corrupt everywhere. Makes you wonder about that founding principle that says government is best when it's closest to the people. Not if Jersey has anything to say about it, and it was one of the original 13.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Peter Schwartz — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 15:10:29 +0000

In reply to Here's one before-and-after I

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Here's one before-and-after I

Verified Atheist — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 14:53:41 +0000

In reply to I really like JSS, so will

Here's one before-and-after I found:

And here he is in January of 2014:

I really like JSS, so will

Peter Schwartz — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 13:22:20 +0000

In reply to And the portraitist might

I really like JSS, so will have to check out AZ.

I was admiring his tailoring in this photo when I read your very perceptive note on the shoulders. Yes, indeed. Good eye!

But even without that important detail, he's doing a much better job of looking--how to say it?--well put together than Christie. He looks confidently serene.

Of course, them older guys had the BIG advantage of being pictured only in highly posed situations (for the most part). They didn't have high-tech cameras poking their nose into every nano-second of their lives capturing their every posture.

Still...

Christie would do well to study President Taft. That horizontal line where shirt meets pants, dividing upper from lower, is a killer on Christie. Taft's sheet of unbroken gray (I assume) smoothes and slims him while not hiding his considerable poundage.

Better still...

Would be for Christie to lose weight, as VA says he's doing. From his earlier pictures, he was always a "beefy" guy, but he has the potential to get back down, if not to his younger self then to a reasonable older version of his younger self.

And the portraitist might

artappraiser — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 04:43:04 +0000

In reply to Christie needs to not show up

And the portraitist might have slimmed him down a bit.

Indeedy do; being seated hid his pear-shaped evidence of enjoyment of some of the finer things in the life of a gentleman of means of the time:

The painted portrait, BTW, was by Anders Zorn, the Swedish version of John Singer Sargent, who many think a more masterful talent than the latter, working in a very similar style.

Edit to add: some mighty fine tailoring noted in the above photo, where the shoulder pads are extended way beyond the actual shoulder line in order to balance out the girth at the hips.

She should've added...shrimp

Peter Schwartz — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 17:22:37 +0000

In reply to I am attempting to work with

She should've added...shrimp toast.

Christie's big mistake with

Peter Schwartz — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 17:20:25 +0000

In reply to Here is the ticket to

Christie's big mistake with Wildenstein was that he brought up high school.

He said that Wildenstein was a nothing in high school, so much so that Christie couldn't even remember what he did.

Whereas Christie was a BMOC. An athlete. A young man going places.

High school memories can tap into a deep, primal part of our brains. High school is such an emotionally fraught time, it leaves scars even when they're good scars.

Christie could have said almost anything else about Wildenstein, and it wouldn't have been as bad as saying he wasn't a friend and was basically a nobody in high school, back when being a nobody was really, really painful.