Almost As Bad A Joke As The Union Itself

I've got a new personal measure to help judge if a politician is doing well -- the quality of the job performance directly correlates to how much public employee unions dislike a said politician.  By my new metric, Chris Christie must be doing a great job in New Jersey if he's got people in the state teacher's union hoping that he dies...

Bergen County representatives of the state teachers union have ratcheted up the campaign against Governor Christie's agenda in a fiery memo that encourages members to "get some dirt" and "go public," and adds the education commissioner to the "attack list."


But it's the memo's closing "prayer" that is sure to ignite controversy:


"Dear Lord … this year you have taken away my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcett, my favorite singer, Michael Jackson, and my favorite salesman, Billy Mays. … I just wanted to let you know that Chris Christie is my favorite governor."


The memo, sent to locals in the county earlier this week and obtained by The Record on Thursday, is signed by New Jersey Education Association field representatives, including Joe Coppola, president of the Bergen County Education Association.


Coppola said the "prayer" was a joke and was never meant to be made public.


"Obviously, it's inappropriate," he said. "I would never wish anybody dead."

I would dispute that last comment -- plenty of people wish death upon others in a moment of anger, and some continue to do even after the moment passes.  Immediately after 9/11, I wished for death upon Osama bin Laden, and I'm not sure I feel differently today.

Of course, Coppola is speaking about this issue in the general sense -- rational people rarely if ever wish death upon other human beings.  I think he's telling the truth here, but the lack of judgment in including this joke in a written communication is awful.  Jim Geraghty rightly notes that liberals might have a tough time screeching about Tea Party rhetoric against Obama when a key bastion of Democratic Party support is busy praying for the death of a sitting Governor.

In the end, I'm guessing this has to be a joke -- I don't know of anyone who would claim Patrick Swayze or Farrah Fawcett to be their favorite actor. Even liberals aren't that sappy.