"Ohio Governor Defies G.O.P. With Defense of Social Safety Net"Â New York Times, 10/28/13 (emphasis mine)
COLUMBUS, Ohio â In his grand Statehouse office beneath a bust of Lincoln, Gov. John R. Kasich let loose on fellow Republicans in Washington.
âIâm concerned about the fact there seems to be a war on the poor,â he said, sitting at the head of a burnished table as members of his cabinet lingered after a meeting. âThat if youâre poor, somehow youâre shiftless and lazy.â
âYou know what?â he said. âThe very people who complain ought to ask their grandparents if they worked at the W.P.A.â
Ever since Republicans in Congress shut down the federal government in an attempt to remove funding for President Obamaâs health care law, Republican governors have been trying to distance themselves from Washington.
Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin schooled lawmakers in a Washington Post opinion column midway through the 16-day shutdown on âWhat Wisconsin Can Teach Washington.â Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, with a record of bipartisan support at home, remarked after a visit to the nationâs capital, âIf I was in the Senate right now, Iâd kill myself.â
I laughed out loud, loudly, at this. I think it's the overall dryness of  NYT reporting that makes these very intentional editorial choices so much funnier.
~chimes ring, cut to The Times' newsroom, national news desk~
"Ok, we're doing a piece about Republican governors distancing themselves from the party machine in D.C. to show how out of control and, well, out of touch the GOP has become. So let's use Kasich as the lead because he's the most outspoken AND he's also a moderate by standards these days. Oh, and here we go, Walker came out and said something similar. God knows he's a wacko -- look what he put his state through in the last few years -- so we'll definitely pull his quote to illustrate the fact that the Gov's are jumping ship. Can we get another quote? From another high profile Republican governor? Preferably a rising star in the party? Christie, yes, perfect... Yup, I know, it's extremely insensitive. Well, for a number of reasons, but particularly in the light of the high suicide rate in returning service men and women. Yeah, use it. it's perfect."
Christie's quote stands alone because it bluntly sums up the extreme disillusion that most people are experiencing. I laughed because that is sad. But also because The Times is a Manhattan-elite-centric paper and makes Christie sound so crass and Jersey. Which he is. But.
