Althouse: When Joy Behar says to Chris Christie: "Let me put it to you this way, in a way that you’d appreciate: You’re toast."

April 11, 2014

When Joy Behar says to Chris Christie: "Let me put it to you this way, in a way that you’d appreciate: You’re toast."

In video and as quoted in Ryan Lizza's New Yorker article about Christie. The article doesn't have the continuation of the quote: "Not that I care. I don't give a shit. I mean, I don't care how pissed off you are with these jokes, Governor, because, first of all, you can do the worst you want on me. I'm taking mass transit home."

Whatever you think of Behar — who cares? she's not running for President — watch Christie, who can't sit through some dumb jokes but gets up and gets in her space.

30 comments:

wendybar said...: Joy's name should be changed to Miserable.; 4/11/14, 6:15 AM
Greek Donkey said...: I was expecting the "getting into her space" to occur after the "you're toast" line. But it seems that he was getting up to mock the fact that she was doing fat jokes and he wanted to see if see had any more or something more original in her cards. at one point, she wants him to speak into the microphone so everyone can her what he's saying to her. I couldn't make it out - I assume it was equally insulting. All in all, his reaction doesn't play well - he should just continued to sit and laugh or roll his eyes, but i don't think he was being as "in your face" as has been porttrayed.

P.S. in this regard, his size again works against him. Any "platfulness" in his interaction is diminished by his size and he comes off as if he's trying to physically intimidate.; 4/11/14, 6:21 AM
George M. Spencer said...: You make it sound worse than it was. He got up and became part of her inane schtick.

Interesting how coarsened our culture has become that she she says "I don't give a sh*t" and "I don't care how p*issed you are," and it it's not worthy of mention by you or probably the rest of the press. It's what passes for oh so witty banter.

I took two children to see "Captain America" last week. The previews included the following: A lingering shot of a corpse on a morgue table, a butcher knife jutting out of the back of its neck (no, this was not the lifeless performance by Robert Redford in the movie itself); a lingering shot of a man urinating into a car's gas receptacle, humping it; a shot of a body bag being forced under an icy lake; an ad for al-Jazeera News showing dozens of body bags in a morgue and weeping relatives; and, of course, a music video of two men caressing each other. All this is before a movie that you'd think you could let your children see without your supervision.; 4/11/14, 6:28 AM
Mattman26 said...: Little hard to tell on the lo-fi video, but I sort of got the sense he was acting in the spirit of the thing, being playful, and not "losing it" at all. (Though I still don't plan to vote for the guy.); 4/11/14, 6:37 AM
Bob Ellison said...: This MSNBC version of the video is much better and goes right to the incident.

Christie was smiling throughout, and Behar doesn't really look rattled. He had fun with the exchange, and so did she.

Of course, the usual "roast" format is that everyone gets insulted and sits there and takes it with a smile. I don't mind Christie, who was sitting right next to the podium, mixing it up a little. It's nice to see a rightie push back.; 4/11/14, 6:43 AM
Jaq said...: Hard to believe that MSNBC carried a story that featured Christie.; 4/11/14, 6:56 AM
William said...: Isn't the one who relentlessly makes fun of the fat kid, the bully?; 4/11/14, 7:00 AM
Wilbur said...: The fact that he would consent to appear on her "show" should disqualify him for the Presidency.; 4/11/14, 7:18 AM
Illuninati said...: A roast is supposed to be fun, where people who like each other say hurtful things about each other knowing they don't mean it. Behar obviously doesn't like Christie, so this quickly deteriorated into a personal attack. Christie didn't understand the dynamics and his attempts at humor only made things much worse.

I agree with her statement that Christie's run for president is toast. He is a good governor but isn't ready for the broader stage.; 4/11/14, 7:48 AM
Uncle Frank said...: I read the article and watched the video. The article is awful reporting, because it creates a sense of tension that doesn't appear in the video.; 4/11/14, 7:49 AM
paminwi said...: Joy Behar lost me years ago when Barbara Bush (wife of Pres. Bush) was on the View and she hit Mrs. Bush quite hard on the arm after something Mrs. Bush said that Joy didn't like. I was so ticked off I sent an email to ABC. Well there must have been enough folks who complained or maybe Mrs. Bush complained because the next day Barbra Walters had to apologize and so did Joy.; 4/11/14, 7:59 AM
Clyde said...: For someone named Joy, she's peculiarly joyless.; 4/11/14, 7:59 AM
Wince said...: Good thing the video was there.

As other said, Christie got up to play the part.

Side issue: could he ever make fun of her fat ass?; 4/11/14, 8:01 AM
Tank said...: I watched this twice, and don't accept your or Lizza's characterization or what happened. She invited him into her space, and he surprised her by taking the invitation.; 4/11/14, 8:06 AM
Limited Blogger said...: Thanks @BobEllison for the much better link.; 4/11/14, 8:09 AM
damikesc said...: I see no point for somebody to sit there and just be a punching bag. He was trying to play along and this what he gets.

Was Bush helped by sitting there while Colbert mocked him viciously? No. Colbert was helped immensely.

Also, Behar would have to be ABLE to tell jokes and the proof of that is lacking.

Moral: Republicans shouldn't have comedians do anything near them ever.; 4/11/14, 8:24 AM
Bob Ellison said...: Illuninati said "He is a good governor but isn't ready for the broader stage."

Oh, he's ready for the "broader" stage. Bang! Zowee!; 4/11/14, 8:43 AM
Saint Croix said...: Joy's name should be changed to Miserable.

I think her comic routine--her whole life--is a reaction to the manipulation of her name. "I"m not going to be joyful, mama, I'll show you!"

John Wayne was called Marion as a baby, so there you go.; 4/11/14, 8:48 AM
madAsHell said...: Was she reading jokes off of 3x5 cards??; 4/11/14, 8:53 AM
JT said...: Characterizing him as "getting into her space," is making more of it than it was. The New Yorker piece is also overdramatizing what happened to cast Christie in a negative light. This kind of banter between the speaker at the podium and their targets on the dais is part of the event and to be expected. I've never watched a roast where there weren't these kinds of exchanges happening multiple times.

The idea that Christie can't "sit through some dumb jokes" is also silly. You only have to watch his appearance on Letterman last year to realize he can take his share of jokes. He even makes fun of himself by munching a donut mid-interview as well as reciting his favorite jokes Dave has made at his expense.

That clip can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZPwKUYcJ30; 4/11/14, 8:54 AM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: Notice the related articles on the NewYorker web page: Toobin on the female justices heroic stance against Hobby Lobby, some Michelle Obama hagiography, an article that is both a takedown of Rand Paul and a defense of Hillary, and some satire about Republican governors co-ordinating an email conspiracy... The New Yorker, a safe place for Democrat party members and progressives to hide from truth and reality.; 4/11/14, 10:12 AM
Michael K said...: The first two comments on the New Yorker site are interesting as they dispute the article's veracity.; 4/11/14, 10:46 AM
Mattman26 said...: EDH wondered whether Christie could make fun of Behar's fat ass.

Hillary is not exactly slender-bunned. Would it be OK for a comedian to stand next to her on a dais and make fat-ass jokes?; 4/11/14, 10:57 AM
CatherineM said...: Ryan Lizza is out for blood on Christie. Once the Bridge scandal broke that was all he would tweet about.

Joy is a bot. If Christie was a Dem (he is not a conservative) and otherwise the same person, she would not behave so insanely. All you need is a little D.; 4/11/14, 11:12 AM
Chuck said...: So nice that the New Yorker is finally doing useful work in the political sphere. Taking out a RINO like Christie, for the good of the Republican Party in 2016.

Thanks!; 4/11/14, 11:40 AM
CatherineM said...: By the way, she's not funny.

I bet she thought she was bravely, "speaking truth to power."; 4/11/14, 11:40 AM
paul a'barge said...: Whatever you think of Behar — who cares?

You. You care.

You just created an entire blog entry around her.

Who do you think you're kidding here?; 4/11/14, 11:46 AM
Paddy O said...: "Joy is a bot. If Christie was a Dem (he is not a conservative) and otherwise the same person, she would not behave so insanely. All you need is a little D."

I think this needs to start being the stock reply to media and to comedians. Don't response to the issues they raise, dismiss them for being tools. Not in a angry way either.

Just making note each time how they only care about politics not the issues, how they would defend the worst crimes if it were done by Democrats. Put them on the defensive rather than play their game.

As long as people get angry or respond directly they play into the game. Republicans have to change the game. That was Reagan's brilliance.

Expose, don't defend. Dismiss, don't get aggravated. Point out the hypocrisy of them in light of Democrat scandals. Behar thinks Christie is beyond the pale, but what Leland Yee did is objectively absolutely positively worse.

Behar thinks Christie is toast. But politicizing the IRS is fundamentally more dangerous than affecting a commute. Does she have the same words for Obama or Lerner or the rest? Or does she defend evil when the evil is done by the politicians she aligns with? That's the question every comedian needs to be asked. Every media person. Don't answer any more questions until they answer those challenges.; 4/11/14, 11:49 AM
cubanbob said...: Mattman26 said...
EDH wondered whether Christie could make fun of Behar's fat ass.

Hillary is not exactly slender-bunned. Would it be OK for a comedian to stand next to her on a dais and make fat-ass jokes?

4/11/14, 10:57 AM

It would have been really funny if Christie got up and sat on her. Squashing the joy out of her so to speak.; 4/11/14, 12:29 PM
Anonymous said...: He should have slapped her until she wet her pants. Just for fun, though.; 4/11/14, 3:46 PM