Teacher’s Union prays for Governor’s Death
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s take-no-prisoners demand for education cuts got him a whole lot more than he bargained for — a death wish.
It was in a controversial e-mail sent by the Bergen County Teachers Union to its members asking that Christie be “taken” by the Lord.
In seven years as the Garden State’s pugnacious U.S. Attorney, Christie got only two death threats — from the bloods and the crips.
It took only three months as governor for an adversary to wish him six feet under.
This makes the NZEI look moderate by comparison!
Now to be fair to the Bergen Union, the reference they made was in the form of a joke, rather than a serious death wish:
The e-mail in question was sent by Bergen County Education Association president Joseph Coppola in the form of a prayer, which said:
“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.”
Now I actually think it is a pretty funny joke, and can relate to it. But I almost never get offended by humour.
However humour is about audience. A joke like that is fine told verbally between mates, or even on a jokes website or a blog.
Deciding to put it in a union newsletter, when you are involved in a bitter dispute with the butt of the joke, is stupid. It turns the humour into perceived malice.