A boy makes anti-Semitic remark at Christie town hall
After a town hall meeting earlier this month, in which a man accused the Christie camp of planting favorable questions, Wednesday's 24th town hall of the year at a rundown Knights of Columbus headquarters in a sleepy borough in Middlesex County seemed to indicate otherwise.
A boy makes anti-Semitic remark at Christie town hall
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
Click here the full story in Thursday's paper about the strangest town hall of the year.
SPOTSWOOD — A 12-year-old tells Gov. Christie he was unfairly busted at school for bullying because the “Jewish community” “controls” the school board. A woman who says she’s a victim of a conspiracy asks the governor for a job.
And a retired teacher, who says she was a former teacher-of-the-year, advises the governor not to change the tenure system because otherwise teachers will have to have sex with their bosses to keep their jobs.
To which Christie responded, straight-faced: “I don’t want teachers to have to sleep with the principal.”
After a town hall meeting earlier this month, in which a man accused the Christie camp of planting favorable questions, Wednesday’s 24th town hall of the year at a rundown Knights of Columbus headquarters in a sleepy borough in Middlesex County seemed to indicate otherwise.
Questions at Christie's town halls are generally more obsequious than bizarre - and the governor himself acknowledged as much at the end of the appearance.
“This was one of the most unusual town hall meetings I’ve ever had,” Christie said. “The press who comes to all these things, they start to get bored because I often get a lot of the same questions. I do not want to hear from you [reporters] standing in the back that you were bored today.”
Christie picked a 12-year-old boy from Springfield, Union County, who read a long prepared statement relating how he got in trouble for bullying at school when, in fact, two boys named Mike and Joshua were involved.
The boy then told Christie that he was punished because he’s Hindu and Joshua is “from the Jewish community that controls the township of Springfield and its school board.”
Christie didn’t address the Jewish remark — and considering the length and confusing nature of the boy’s speech, it is possible he didn’t hear it.
I verified the remark because the boy’s father — who videotaped the gubernatorial encounter — provided copies of the speech to the audience before being escorted outside by Christie’s staff.
But the governor did offer a lesson in diversity: “We’ve always been a place that’s prided ourselves on the fact that everyone can come to this state and succeed and practice their faith in any way they see fit.”
Or, for that matter, say anything they see fit.
Once again, philly.com uses poor judgment in deciding which articles to allow commenting - this one was guaranteed to bring out the antisemitic commenters. Nice going, philly.com!— CrotchetyOldMan- Yo Crash.. RELAX Chieftain.. ANYONE with the most modest English reading skills can ascertain what you said is not the case!!! Are you with the T-Party, may I ask?— chris-odessa
So what did we learn from this? I just think this was a meaningless article.— wokmaster
Lucky kid didnt complaint to Christie he got in trouble for bullying a fat kid!
Comment removed.- Sir, may I point out that there are at least 2 different types of information published in print and - in this case - online.
One falls under the heading of "news" - it's supposed to be objective - just the facts - and not include a bias or opinion.
The Columnists publish from a distinct point of view often evident from their own expressions of opinion.
So far the Conlin coverage has been reported only as "news" and not under the heading of a Column. More often than not these Columnists offer space for your/our opinions as well as their own. - You can't teach these morons anything. They can't differentiate between a column and a news story. They're idiots. They think that anything posted on Philly.com is "news." And it's no coincidence that most of them are also conservatives. No brains, no ballz. — bushmciworlcomenron
- You can't teach these morons anything. They can't differentiate between a column and a news story. They're idiots. They think that anything posted on Philly.com is "news." And it's no coincidence that most of them are also conservatives. No brains, no ballz. — bushmciworlcomenron
- There are always private schools if you feel that you're not being treated fairly-----many of the kids in Philly have no other chaice if they want to come home alive. Philly schools talk diversity , but have no room, not programs for kids from Anglo-European backgrounds— crystalrainbowspirit1
- Christie replied that it is the Obama administration's fault the kid was suspended and that if he had a voucher to attend a religious school of his choice he would be able to say antisemitic things with the encouragement of the teachers and administration.— mick-of-the-moment
- Meaningless only begins to describe this article .....— RufusG
- Maybe the kid was right, he probably gets picked on all the time since he's a minority in that area. Now open up the comment sections for ALL the Conlin stories just like you did for the Sandusky stories, hypocrites.— TomM
- Hey Katz, that's kid's remark is not anti-Semitic. You're just overly sensitive. Besides, like TomM says, maybe he's right! If I told you your picture makes you look like a girl, would that be a sexist comment? Maybe I'm just right! :-)— ELM
- Wow...the world has become crazier than ever these last three years...wonder why??? LOL!!!— sarah89
- I like stories that aren't about anything. Reminds me of Sienfeld.— Bobby257
- Someone asked what they learned from the article? That's easy. New Jersey is not place for human habitat. From its broken cities to its endless sprawl, its moronic roads systems and its polluted beaches. It is in plain view with every crazy, racist, paranoid post on philly.com. It's a place where pedophiles have free reign. They voted for a fat, big-mouthed blowhard who is loudly trying to make his own constituents poorer while paying off his cronies and big business with taxpayer funds.
New jersey isn't a place for sane, intelligent people. I swear I can feel my IQ drop whenever I cross the bridge.— John Fante - Please try to convince me that "the boy" didn't hear all of this conversation at home; and drank the Kool Aid.— paulfromtheoblongtable
- And why, exactly, is THAT considered an "anti-Semitic" remark if there's a perception that it's true? A real "anti-Semitic" remark would be a direct insult, not some sort of speculation. We're getting out of control here on what is considered an insult.— ANGRY AL 2
- Comment removed.
- This comment has been deleted.— Fast Eddy
- Comment removed.
- He Visto, the article by the editor who wrote why the story was published was a commentary, not news, and comments should be allowed— Fast Eddy
- The kid obviously has been hearing a lot of ant-Semetic remarks at home or in the community. Sad— cybersport
- The child said he is "a Hindi"? Hindi is a language. Hindu is a religious group. Are there no editors anymore?
— whitecat - Apologies for that typo, whitecat. It's been fixed. Thanks. — mattkatz
- It's no wonder the 12 year old is becoming a bigot with a Father who proudly distributes his son's bigotry. It's a shame that Christie didn't tell the kid thathwas more of a bigot than anyone he was accusing of bigotry. To even think that he didn't hear the remark is just plain stupid and I can't understand why the fat attack dog didn't reply. For the antisemites who commented, crawl back into your hole.— Drumgoole
- Fast Eddy: You can comment on the Conlin story here: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/yophilly/136014933.html— Wendy Warren
- Who cares and what does Christie have to do with the questions he is asked? It is amazing though that not a peep concerning anti-semitic sentiment was heard on the reports about OWS crowd...— Wiseman6
- The Inquirer should deploy more resources to State College, Centre County and the like where many in the 5 county metro area have a lot of interests starting with the suspension of this column which is a waste of money and reporting talent.— Northcountry
- Would this make a front page article if the kid said “from the Christian community that controls the township ... and its school board.”— a4049412
- Still not understanding what is "anti-Semitic" about what the boy said. I'm not saying he was right to assume that he was punished because he was Hindu and he perceived the people in charge as mostly Jewish--this assertion is incorrect on many levels. But there are no insults involved here, and the term "anti-Semitic" is completely unwarranted. It is really important that we be careful when we use such forceful terminology; such terms must be reserved for when they actually apply. What I'm hearing from this boy is not an disparaging remark, but rather incorrect associations and reasons for his punishment. I hear no insults. This article is disgracefully inflammatory.— RhondaBillings
- The kids facts are correct. There is nothing anti-semitic or racist about his comments or questions. It seems others are being too sensitive.— LeavePhillyNow
- Nice headline, especially since this kid said nothing a-s in this article. pni lives! not sure why...— podunko
- OK let's put this into perspective, if there were a majority of muslims on the school, and someone mentioned that, is that a bigoted remark? I don't get it. Playing the victim is endless in today's media.— Tommy33
- Comment removed.
- The boy then told Christie that he was punished because he’s white and Joshua is black. "Blacks control the township of Springfield and its school board.”
If this sounds racist, then you understand why the comment was anti-Semitic. If it doesn't, maybe you don't understand what racism is.— JeffR613 - Television and beer. Makes'em fat, lazy, and accusatory. Bullying is all inclusive. Just look at the morons here.— Yodude2
- LLC, Your ideas are clearly clinically one-sided--no matter what the facts. Another liberal conspiracy fills your need for answers, along with a partisan, bullying, and disingenuous agenda.
One could argue Jesus Christ was a liberal. His accusers? The Romans? Just like you, pal. Have a merry christmas.— Yodude2
Reach him at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @mattkatz00. Reach Matt at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
