Chris Christie Is So Awesome, He Governs New Jersey From Dreamland

Because he’s Chris Christie, Chris Christie on Tuesday had a snarling news conference in which he more or less refused to say much about his lap band surgery beyond what he’d already told the New York Post. Being Chris Christie, he also asserted startling powers of omnipotence—including the ability to receive information, process that information, and give orders while under surgical sedation:

Although Democrats stayed mum, questions surfaced online about whether Christie appropriately handed over power to Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno while he was under anesthesia.

“I was in surgery for a total of 40 minutes, I was asleep for 40 minutes, and, no, the lieutenant governor was not in charge for those 40 minutes, I was in charge, and it’s a ridiculous question,” Christie said.

Yeah, sure, 40 minutes, whatever. It’s not like he left the state without a governor or lieutenant governor during a major storm or anything. Hey, remember this from 2010?

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and his lieutenant governor were told Sunday about the blizzard barreling down on the Garden State. Soon after, they left town at the same time, with Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno (R) and her family flying to Mexico, and Christie and his family going to Disney World in Florida.

It left state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) in charge as the acting governor, and by all appearances, he’s handling everything fine — he declared a state of emergency, dispatched road crews, coordinated with state agencies, and activated the National Guard. The response seems to have gone fairly well, and Sweeney lifted the state of emergency this morning.

There’s a lot to like about Chris Christie. (Though thanks to the surgery, sniff, so much less of him to like.) But it’s not unreasonable for New Jersey residents to have clear answers about who is in charge, and who holds authority while he is unable to exercise it. Sometimes the governor might think about snarling less, communicating more.