Am I the only one who is shocked by Chris Cristies' public appearances?

[cthulu2016]

Let's keep this thread civil. I am not critiquing Chris Christies' life-style or broad-brushing anyone.

But that last time I saw Chris Christie I was surprised he wasn't in a hospital. When he was first famous he was a guy who could stand to lose 100 pounds, but solid enough and not apparently disabled.

The last times I've seen him (at the Romney event where he yelled at people and on TV subsequently) he appeared to have gained a tremendous amount of weight and be gasping for air and sweating and turning red and having to pause in the middle of sentences to breathe.

The import of this being that whatever draft-Christie fantasies or Christie VP fantasies might exist on someone's mind on the right, they are not plausible.

Was that just me?

[cyberswede]

1. We noticed the same thing

He really seemed unhealthy.

[Peregrine Took]

9. No longer "heavy" or "fat" but now mordidly obese.

I'm surprised his family doesn't get after him to do something unless what they want doesn't affect him.

[Yupster]

76. Same here

I exected him to lose weight once he got elected.

He's got to have everyone he knows telling him he needs to and now he access to a cook and the best healthcare.

I expected to see a big change in the other direction.

[HockeyMom]

2. The man has no class

Forget his weight. My Italian Grandma had a word to describe him, and his kind, but I won't repeat it.

[HillWilliam]

67. Oh, I will

"un cazzo", for starters.

[woolldog]

3. Some pics would be useful. nt

[rfranklin]

5. Take a look at this!

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. Mitt Romney's creepy smile from another angle

[Angry Dragon]

19. O.T. ......... do you have a picture posted in your post??

and if so where is it posted from??

I am having some trouble getting some pics to load and see in some posts

[Liberal_in_LA]

50. no pic, I was referring to the pic of Christie. Mitt is in the background.

[woolldog]

7. Wow! nt

[PCIntern]

11. According to Rethug commentators,

he's actually quite thin and runs half-marathons...furthermore, even if he WERE morbidly obese, like Jesus, he'd be dying for YOUR SINS!

[gateley]

58. Haha! Well I'm sure they're correct and this is the result of some LW photoshopper. nt

[WCGreen]

14. Ah, Mitt's a chubby bear chaser....

[trof]

22. Round Man!

[Ellipsis]

79. sure

I'll press your flesh, you dimwitted sumbitch! You don't tell your pappy how to court the electorate. We ain't one-at-a-timin' here. We're MASS communicating!

[uponit7771]

83. lol

[winstars]

95. I love that scene in Brother Where Art Thou!!!!

"maybe we can get our own midget?"

[DCKit]

4. I've wonderd how far he'd roll if tripped.

The man is almost perfectly spherical. I've only ever even seen that a couple of times in my nearly 50 years.

Christie in 2016? I don't think so.

[Initech]

8. He reminds me of the principal from Beavis & Butthead.

Just a walking heart attack waiting to happen.

[gateley]

60. Lou Costello came to my mind, and also Jackie Gleason. Costello died in his 50's, Gleason in his

70's I think. And neither of them had the stress of being POTUS.

[MADem]

72. Gleason was a serial dieter. He'd get fat, get a trainer, slim down, and then repeat. NT

[Dreamer Tatum]

10. Fat people should stay out of pictures, I agree.

For the sake of all the normal people out there who are traumatized by the sight of them.

[gratuitous]

30. I don't think that was the point of the post

And any number of folks have weighed in on this thread expressing what I read as legitimate concern. Looking at recent photos of the governor, and keeping in mind that I am not a medical doctor, I agree that he is looking and sounding quite unhealthy.

[Dreamer Tatum]

38. Legitimate concern? What, that he might not die soon enough?

I don't care for his politics, but let's be crystal clear that people use his politics
as interference for their true agenda: FAT HATRED.

Period.

[gratuitous]

42. Some people undoubtedly do

But there are, as I mentioned, quite a number of what appear to me to be legitimate expressions of concern by any number of folks here about the governor's apparent health. He doesn't look too good to my eye, either. Does that equate to FAT HATRED? Is there an acceptable way to say that someone's weight is having an adverse impact on his or her health that doesn't make it FAT HATRED? Or is it simply out of bounds no matter what?

[Dreamer Tatum]

63. Spare me the sanctimony, please.

He's fat, he's Republican, so let the good times roll.

[gratuitous]

89. I thought I had

But apparently there's no legitimate way to your mind of expressing concern over someone's appearance, and any comment about such is nothing else but sanctimonious FAT HATRED. What a sad corner of the universe to inhabit.

I suppose when the stroke or the massive heart attack that appears headed Gov. Christie's way hits, we can look forward to schoolmarm scolding about how nobody cared enough about him to say anything?

[Dreamer Tatum]

90. As a fat man

I know fat hatred when I see it. And I know phony piety when I see it. Great - you're concerned about him: you won't eat asparagus before you piss on his grave.

[LanternWaste]

93. Let's try not to confuse

"And I know phony piety when I see it."

Let's try not to confuse "infer/interpret" and "know"-- two wholly and separate things.

[Dreamer Tatum]

96. Excuse me if I remain skeptical. nt

[LanternWaste]

98. I have few doubts you believe your reasons for skepticism are valid.

I have few doubts you believe your reasons for skepticism are valid, and wish to pass off ungrounded skepticism as knowledge...

[Bake]

56. He at least ought to keep the suit jacket on.

Kinda camouflages the girth ...

Bake

[WI_DEM]

81. I take it you're a 'normal person' who gets traumatized by seeing overweight people?

[Brother Buzz]

12. I was shocked when Chris Cristie stumped for Meg Whitman in California's gubernatorial race

He got right in the face of a man asking a valid, but difficult question directed toward Whitman and tried to intimidate him. It was a very awkward and ugly moment, but the man didn't cave; playground bully tactics don't fly in California. Chris Cristie is an angry man that is going to stroke-out - Bank on it.

[karynnj]

32. He's just as bad in NJ

There was an incident in a very Republican town. At a town hall, a teacher, who described himself as Republican later to reporters, politely asked about a contentious issue where Christie was fighting to lower the salary of a very well regarded superintendent. Before he got far, Christie demanded he come up on the stage. When the man, demurred, Christie ordered the state police to bring him on stage. Christie then lectured him with his finger in his face. Per some reporters, the crowd in the affluent town was completely stunned. This guy is an angry bully.

[JitterbugPerfume]

13. It is not his weight , or anything else about his appearance

that makes him atrocious . IT is his foul loud mouth.

[Nye Bevan]

15. I wonder why he does not get stomach reduction surgery (like a lap band).

This worked wonders for a member of my wife's family who was truly morbidly obese; he went from over 300 lbs to less than 200.

[PassingFair]

16. Stomach reduction surgery can be very dangerous.

I'd rather be fat than DEAD.

[Nye Bevan]

23. He'll be dead anyway if he doesn't lose weight.

How many 80 to 90 year olds do you see who are as fat as that?

[PassingFair]

35. We will all die at some point. I'd rather not die on the table for ELECTIVE SURGERY.

Just so you don't have to be grossed out looking at me.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-42849600/lap-band-deaths-pile-up-as-sales-decline/

[former9thward]

49. A lot is genetics.

Churchill was at least that fat, drank a fifth everyday of his adult life, had extremely stressful jobs for great periods, and was a chain cigar smoker. He died when he was 91.

[Odin2005]

55. Also, not all obese people are the same.

I weigh 300 lbs, but I am otherwise quite healthy, and I work out 4 day a week and have decent energy and stamina. I can run up a flight of stairs almost as well and a thin person can.

But another person who weighs 300 pounds may be able to barely walk.

[laundry_queen]

87. Same here

I'm well over 200lbs and I'm a short woman. My mom is a fitness freak and would prefer power walking with me than the thin girls at her work, because I am better able to keep up with her. I'm not as fast as her, but I'm faster than her thin co-workers, lol.
Stairs are another matter - I have knee problems (since I was a teen and skinny) so I avoid them.
I had an instructor who was about my weight and she was constantly out of breath. I worried about her!
Everyone is different.
I had a friend whose dad was 400 lbs. Everyone talked about he was going to 'drop dead' any minute. That was 20 years ago. He's still alive. A bit thinner, but not by much.
You just never know. Genetics play a HUGE role.

[MADem]

73. Winston Churchill was no where near as massive as Christie. Not even close.

He could walk and keep up a brisk pace, not melt after half a block. He was simply "jowly." He did enjoy his booze and cigars.

Christie would be lining up for a Dancing With The Stars gig if he had Winston's (relatively) svelte physique:




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill

[former9thward]

80. You may be right, I don't know.

I don't know when that picture was taken but I have seen pictures where he seems to weigh a lot more than this picture.

[MADem]

91. That photo was during the war, while he was PM.

The "V for Victory"gesture (which, with the hand held the other way round, could also be interpreted as "F you&quot was his schtick to inspire the population against the Nazis.

He certainly was larger than life, in terms of his leadership, but he wasn't all that big a guy, standing at about five foot six (maybe an inch or so taller in his youth). As I said, he was "jowly" but not fat at all. Sometimes a big head can make people think that a person is larger and taller than they really are. He had a bit of a gent's belly in his later years, but he wasn't obese. That's him, smack dab in the middle, between Silvio and Vladimir:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/oct/18/world-leader-heights-tall

[laundry_queen]

86. That's like my grandfather. Lived to 97

Smoked since he was 11 years old, was an alcoholic for much of his adult life, was obese until his 90's. When he developed COPD (in his late 80's, not from smoking but from damage to his lungs from a blood clot that he survived...) he lost a lot of weight. He was on oxygen for the last few years of his life but was was still active enough to garden until he was 95. I think the reason you don't see many fat 90 year olds is that they lose the weight before then - usually as you get elderly, you start to thin out either due to illness or just medication making food taste terrible...etc. My grandmother (other side) was hefty most of the time but in the last couple of years she became skeletal.

My other grandfather was thinner, but also smoked (a pipe) most of his life, and was somewhat active. He lived to be 102.

Since I"m obese, I sure hope I have my grandfathers' longevity genes!

[kestrel91316]

24. I wonder why he doesn't simply eat less.

[Logical]

25. Typical uninformed rude comment.

[Wait Wut]

29. He has plenty of options.

He has to make the choice to choose one, first.

[badgerpup]

84. It ain't magic or easy...

...one needs discpline, determination and a solid social/emotional backup...not to mention a damn good medical person on your side.

Just remaining hydrated and keeping your electrolytes in balance is a 24/7 concern because of drastically reduced gastric space...and this is BEFORE getting any kind of solid calories down.

But if someone can do this, my hat is off to them and I congratulate them.
"Surgery" and "success" are not always the same thing here.

[MADem]

17. He should talk to Mike Huckabee and find out how he did it.

Huckabee was pretty doggone massive before he decided to go on a diet. He's put some of it back on since his brief period of looking almost too hungry, but he still looks way better than he did at his worst.



This pic accompanies this (ancient, not really salient to this discussion) article: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0607/4668.html

Christie is too obese to be able to maintain the pace of a busy campaign. John McCain is an old guy who has survived torture and cancer, but he is, was, and always has been an AVID walker. He can run up the Capitol steps on his crippled legs faster than some people half his age. He had the aerobic ability to keep pace with a tough schedule, whereas Christie can't even get through a speech without wheezing.

That said, his prison of pounds is probably just as well. He's got that Cheney-esque "attack dog" mentality, and there are some people who are motivated by that kind of meanness. They may drag him out on occasion, but, forgive the pun, it's unlikely we'll get a steady diet of the governor owing to the fact that he has a state to run and he would likely have trouble with the pace owing to his morbid obesity.

[ecstatic]

31. Isn't Huckabee gaining a lot of weight as well?

Anyhow, it's easy for men to lose weight. All they have to do is put in a little effort and it falls right off.

[MADem]

33. I don't know--I haven't really seen the guy since the last go-round. I know he has a tv show but

I don't even glance at that network.

[rocktivity]

68. Jerrold Nadler was another one

rocktivity

[MADem]

70. He pulled an Al Roker, and got "the surgery."

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/16/nyregion/nadler-as-a-last-resort-sheds-weight-by-surgery.html?pagewanted=all

He was surely "in extremis"--as Christie is, in actual fact.

[malaise]

18. I saw him on the set next to Mica

My hubby could not believe his size - he has serious breathing problems.
He is the poster child for fat cats.

[gateley]

61. I seem to recall I heard he was asthmatic? In relation to him taking the helicopter to his

son's baseball game, but I'm fuzzy on the facts.

If he is asthmatic, I would assume that extra weight might be a danger.

And the stress of being POTUS -- yikes!

[malaise]

78. He will never be POTUS

ever

[gateley]

85. I don't know -- if people like someone, they're willing to turn a blind eye to

all sorts of negatives, don't you think?

A family member mentioned a Romney/Christie ticket because "Christie is so popular right now". There's something about his approach that appeals to a lot of people tired of Political Speak, my family member being one of them (much to my sorrow).

Or are you saying he probably wouldn't make it, health-wise?

[Angry Dragon]

20. He could end up like that state legislator

that died in the water closet

[MADem]

34. That guy was a bit older, in his seventies--don't think he was all that huge, either.

Certainly not Christie-esque.

[Angry Dragon]

36. that much extra weight is very hard on the heart

it will kill you faster than old age

[CTyankee]

45. my husband is in rehab recovery from ruptured disc surgery. I see no one in his rehab

facility that overweight. I wonder where they are. Surely, some of them must have ruptured discs, don't they? why aren't they in rehab too? What's going on?

[elehhhhna]

46. the m. o generally get a wheelchair or scooter rather than

rehab and phys. therapy.


and once you get the wheelchair, you stay in it.

It's sad.

Huckabee had surgery: rapidweight loss, too-thinness, piled back on starting about 24 months post-surgery.

[gateley]

62. I heard a commercial promoting healthy weight that stated for each 5 lbs lost, 50 lbs of pressure

was taken off of each knee!

I know when I lose just a few pounds my knees can tell the difference walking up and down the steps. I would imagine pressure on the spine from carrying extra weight would be a factor, too -- as you indicate.

[Beacool]

69. His name was Alex DeCroce.

He was not heavy like Christie.

[FarLeftFist]

21. Imagine for a moment it was Obama who condescendingly called someone 'Sweetheart'

[Raine]

26. He looks like he's put on more weight but the ugliest

thing about him is that nasty bullying mouth of his.

[Wait Wut]

27. Yeah, I noticed.

And, there were teapers that wanted him to run for President. The tremendous amount of stress the Presidency would cause would kill him.

[Permanut]

28. He could be the biggest loser n/t

[Brother Buzz]

37. Before or after he does Dancing with the Stars?

[PATRICK]

39. Taft and Christie

Taft peaked in federal office with one diet stint in order to come to the presidential table where he ballooned to 335 pounds. That suggests success might make Christie something approaching that Monty Python movie explosion.

I often suggested that Dems should send our local tubby Rep. Tom Reed NY-29, who has been hospitalized since election, cheese cakes, etc.

[JBoy]

40. Screw you guys, I'm going home

[tledford]

41. lol eom

[applegrove]

43. I was shocked by his weight gain too.

[Cleita]

44. His blood pressure is probably through the roof

with the obesity and stress. He's a heart attack in the making.

[malaise]

53. His breathing is already in trouble

Listen to him

[FarCenter]

47. Maybe Oprah can get Christie to loose some weight?

Christie Tells Oprah He Feels Guilty About Being Unable to Control Weight

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie told Oprah Winfrey he feels guilty about being overweight and wishes for his family’s sake he could get his size under control.

Christie, 49, a first-term Republican, said the weight issue hurt him more when he was younger and that he has “developed a bit of a shell” about it in public life because it’s talked about more.

“The guilt that I feel is in regard to my children, like, that I wish that I could get better control of it, just for my own health, and my own future, with them,” Christie, a married father of four, said in an excerpt from an interview set to air Jan. 15 on Winfrey’s OWN cable network.

Winfrey, 57, left broadcast television to focus on OWN, which started in January 2011. She traveled to New Jersey for the interview with Christie, which will appear on her show “Oprah’s Next Chapter.” Winfrey has acknowledged her own struggles with weight.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-11/christie-tells-oprah-he-feels-guilty-about-being-unable-to-control-weight.html

It's hard to say whether he is at his peak weight now. He fluctuates from extremely obese to morbidly obese.

[notadmblnd]

48. I think he is a man who is very unhappy with himself and he is mean to people before they are mean

to him.

[GoCubsGo]

51. This is not was I was expecting when I saw this thread.

I was expecting a thread about the shit he spews at his public appearances, like this one, where he responded to hecklers with an oral sex joke: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/chris-christie-heckled-with-oral-sex-joke-responds-in-kind/

Not very fitting behavior from a governor. That's what shocks me about this asshole, not his weight an physical appearance.

[Odin2005]

52. This fat guy thinks Christie looks about to keel over and die.

[yardwork]

54. He takes helicopters to his kids' ballgames. He gets zero exercise.

[MissB]

57. It was helo + limo

Because he couldn't walk from helo to field.

[yardwork]

59. Zero. Exercise.

[Beacool]

64. That's my governor!!!

He ain't fat, he's just fluffy............

Actually, he has gotten so large that he is a heart attack waiting to happen. I don't care for his politics, but I don't wish him to keel over either. He should see a doctor and a nutritionist and try to lose some of the weight. If not for himself, then at least for his wife and children. He has crossed the line from overweight to morbidly obese.

[bluestateguy]

65. He sets a terrible example for our children

nt

[one_voice]

66. I'm not shocked by his weight...

it's the shit that comes out of his mouth that shocks me. AND that he seems to "get away" with saying shit that would hurt any other politician.

[rocktivity]

71. If Christie is your governor

This is your New Jersey Group thread!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10663


rocktivity

[Marie Marie]

74. Just a Fat Cat getting Fatter

It is only the poor and the middle class who should "tighten their belts" and make sacrifices. This man wouldn't know sacrifice or moderation if he rolled over them. And belt tightening.. well that could get real uncomfortable for this wooly mammoth.

[DesertRat]

75. He's married with kids

If he were my husband, I'd be quite concerned about his health. A neighbor of ours was about Christie's size and died suddenly of a heart attack last January at the age of 51. Without warning, he just dropped to the ground and died. He left a wife and 2 children.

That degree of obesity is very dangerous. I hope that Christie can do something about it, for the sake of his family, before it's too late.

[dmallind]

82. So did Jim Fixx.

[smirkymonkey]

100. Maybe his family really doesn't like him either.

[Monk06]

77. Christie is the new Pappy O Daniel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Lee_O%27Daniel

[DefenseLawyer]

88. Well, ain't you gonna press the flesh, Pappy?

Do some politickin'?

[LanternWaste]

92. His build is a little slimmer than that of my father who lived to be 68.

His build is a little slimmer than that of my father who lived to be 68.

[JustAnotherGen]

94. Not really

I'm far more shocked by how his agenda is decimating this state.

His weight, appearance aside - he's just WORTHLESS as a governor - and mean bully to boot.

But we could also use Christie as an example of the worst of the worst on the right . . . think about all of those people who love his vicious words, finger pointing, and bullying behavior.

[CTyankee]

97. I keep hearing that he has strong support in polls in New Jersey. Is this true?

If so, I can hardly believe it.

What do people LIKE about him? Or are they just vile, like he is?

[JustAnotherGen]

99. Depends on who they poll

I only have cell service - so they aren't polling me. They aren't polling my friends or colleauges either. And there's another element here - everyone thinks only N.H. is a 'don't tread on me' kind of place.

Having lived here 6 years - rest assured - these New Jerseyans are the same way. Every time the press or someone picks on the Good Guv'nah two eejits support him just to be all 'awesome and don't tread on me'.