The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.

Bottom Stories of the Day

  • “Cuts, Retirements Prompt Normal Staff Changes”–headline, Pantagraph (Bloomington, Ill.), April 21
  • “Backpack Stolen at Mt. Laurel Hotel”–headline, Burlington County (N.J.) Times, April 22
  • “Belgian King Seeks to Prevent Government From Collapsing in Time of Crisis”–headline, Blooomberg, April 22
  • “Sweden Tenth Most Attractive Nation–Again”–headline, Local (Sweden), April 20
  • “Atheist Group Calls on Obama to Endorse ‘National Day of Reason’ Instead of ‘National Day of Prayer’ “–headline, CNSNews.com, April 20
  • “Scozzafava Will Not Seek Re-Election”–headline, Watertown (N.Y.) Daily Times, April 21

They Hate Him Because He’s Stout
Government teachers in New Jersey may teach class, but they don’t have much of it. The Associated Press reports on the latest attacks against Gov. Chris Christie:

In Facebook messages visible to the world – not to mention their students – the teachers have called Christie fat, compared him to a genocidal dictator and wished he were dead.

“Never trust a fat f…,” read one profane post on the Facebook page, “New Jersey Teachers United Against Governor Chris Christie’s Pay Freeze,” which has some 69,000 fans, many of them teachers.

“How do you spell A- – – – – – -? C-H-R-I-S C-H-R-I-S-T-I-E,” read another.

The rhetoric has become ever more heated as residents of most of the state’s school districts vote today on property-tax levies that support district budgets. . . .

One educator, a librarian with a master’s degree, described the cuts as “rediculous.”

Another pointed out that Christie’s late mother was a member of the teachers union: “It’s not right to bite the hand that feeds you. Oh I forgot it’s Chirs Christie, He’s so large I bet he’d bite anything that’s put in front of his face!”

“Remember Pol Pot, dictator of Cambodia?” warned another. “He reigned in terror, his target was teachers and intellectuals. They were either killed or put into forced labor . . . King Kris Kristy is headed in this direction.”

The attacks on Christie for being fat especially caught our attention. We met Christie last week, and it is not inaccurate to describe him as a bulky man. But schoolteachers of all people should know better than to mock somebody for his appearance. …

For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.