Christie's bullying shows American mindset

Why the Infatuation with Bullies Like Chris Christie?

Christie reveals a dark side of our society--a public enchanted by his tough guy antics and the press who encourages his sadism.

By Arun GuptaThe harsh reality of Christie is not his vile political persona, but the public enchanted by his bullying and the press who encourages his sadism by casting him as “a tough-talking, problem-solving pragmatist.” Christie may have muscled Democratic politicians into supporting his re-election bid last fall, but he won strong backing from Democratic voters, allowing him to pursue policies attacking the poor and public education, and coddling the wealthy and corporations.

Christie taps into something dark in the American political soul–a desire not just for order or efficiency, but pleasure in humiliating the weak. Is it surprising women are a frequent target of his abuse, who are pathologized in our society as weak?

Finally, a cowboy conservative! After the spectacular failures of George W. Bush, John McCain, Rick Perry, et al., we thought we'd never find another one!

Conservatives agree that Christie is a real American--like John Wayne and Ronald Reagan:

Karl Rove: Bridge scandal proves Christie is ‘what we want’ in a president

"We want a macho man who will stick it to women, minorities, the poor, and everyone else who hates America!"

Fox’s Brit Hume shocks female panelist: ‘Feminized atmosphere’ made Christie a ‘bully’

By David EdwardsFox News analyst Brit Hume on Sunday said that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) had only gotten a reputation for being a bully because men could not be “masculine and muscular” in the “feminized atmosphere” created by the media.

During a panel discussion on the Fox News show Media Buzz, host Howard Kurtz asked if Christie’s “bully image” was hurting him after his administration was accused for closing part of the busiest bridge in the world to hurt his political opponents.

“I have to say that in this sort of feminized atmosphere in which we exist today, guys who are masculine and muscular like that in their private conduct and are kind of old-fashioned tough guys run some risks,” Hume opined.

“Feminized!” Fox News contributor Lauren Ashburn gasped.

“Atmosphere,” Hume nodded. “By which I mean that men today have learned the lesson the hard way that if you act like kind of an old-fashioned guy’s guy, you’re in constant danger of slipping out and saying something that’s going to get you in trouble and make you look like a sexist or make you look like you seem thuggish or whatever. That’s the atmosphere in which we operate.”

“This guy is very much an old-fashioned masculine, muscular guy,” he added. “And there are political risks associated with that. Maybe it shouldn’t be, but that’s how it is.”

A brief discussion of this on Facebook:"Feminized atmosphere?" Is that supposed to be a bad thing?Yes! It's not manly enough for real Americans, who are men! A "guy's guy" is not, and never WAS, a bully.I've talked before about our macho culture of rugged individualism and self-reliance. Also known as the unfettered urge to subjugate women, blacks, and Indians, among others. Using repressive laws, bullying, or guns as necessary.

For instance:

The rage of angry white men
Patriarchal culture encourages violence
America's culture based on violence
Women and Indians as peacemakers
How America became cowboy country

I could find hundreds of articles to illustrate this point. Here's a typical one:

Death threats for researcher who demonstrated college athletes read below a third-grade level

A woman researcher dares to challenge our "might makes right" warrior culture with facts? Kill her! Thus proving the point.

Let's see...this incident includes hate against women, love of machismo, and hate against intellectualism. See also the related debates on Internet harassment, Sandra Fluke, Steubenville, military rapes, the Republican war on women, etc. Women make men weak, this "thinking" goes, so we must find ways to control them.

In short, all these things are related. Christie's bullying = rape culture = shooting sprees = genocide against Indians. They all stem from the white male Christian need to dominate and control others.