The great government shutdown of 2017 now has a photo attached, one that will live in infamy.

There he is, Gov. Chris Christie, chilling with his family on a beautiful stretch of deserted beach on a holiday weekend, something that no living mortal has ever seen in New Jersey, a treasure that for the common man and woman is the stuff of dreams.

"Run for governor, and you can have a residence there," Christie said when he was asked if it's fair.

The huddled masses were crammed together at local beaches nearby, held back by the governor's patrols. Little people. Let them eat cake.

At a press conference a few hours later, Christie was asked if he got any sun earlier in the day. He didn't know NJ Advance Media had sent up a plane, with photographer Andy Mills hanging out a window to snap these shots.

So the snake lied, flat out. It was vintage Christie.

"I didn't," he said. "I didn't get any sun today."

There is a small corner of my heart that is going to miss this guy, just for his audacity.

I've seen a lot of politicians lie, but they are chumps compared to Christie. They leave tells. You can spot it.

Not Christie. When he lies, he looks you in the eye, straight up. His hands don't shake. He leaves no escape hatch.

He is the Babe Ruth of lying politicians, unrestrained by the pangs of guilt that burden smaller men.

I asked him on Saturday, after a vintage press conference, how he is going to live without this job. He loves to be the man, after all.

"It's a five-letter word, Tom," he said. "M-O-N-E-Y."

That answer, at least, was probably true. But I also asked him this: If Donald Trump offers you a job as attorney general, or chief of staff, will you take it?

Probably not, he said. And he looked me straight in the eye when he said it.

Christie is already the most reviled governor in state history, with an approval rating of 15 percent. Pollsters say it can't get much lower, but this shutdown, now with photo attached, might bring him to the single digits.

This isn't just about beaches, after all. As this crisis moves past a holiday weekend, it will start to pinch much harder. About 35,000 families are losing their paychecks. Courts are closed, except for emergencies. If you need to renew your license, tough luck. If you hurt your back and need disability benefits, go borrow money from a friend instead.

And yes, the governor's beach is still off limits.

Christie is trying to blame this on Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson), and you can make a case for that. After exhaustive analysis, my conclusion is that Prieto and Christie should both burn for this.

But no one knows who Prieto is. And he wasn't photographed on a beach, enjoying the special privileges that come with this standoff.

Keep in mind, the governor's leverage in this fight is his threat to cut $350 million from the Democratic budget. That money would fund a long list of Democratic priorities, like expanding prekindergarten programs, helping victims of rape and domestic violence, and funding college scholarships. You know, all that sappy Democratic stuff, for little people.

Christie vows to kill it all, using his line-item veto, unless Democrats give him a structural reform of Horizon, the state's largest health insurer. Democrats are split: The Senate is ready to give Christie what he wants to protect that $350 million. Prieto, so far, is refusing to do so.

Will this change the dynamic? Will Christie soften up now? Maybe.

But I see a much darker possibility. Democrats could harden their opposition, assuming that Christie will be weakened by this photo, and the attached lies.

I would not bet on that. At this stage, at 15 percent, I don't think the governor gives a damn what we think of him anymore. He has his Constitutional powers, no matter what we think, and he knows how to bargain with the boys. He still could win this thing.

But so what? Christie doesn't really care much about Horizon; he just wants to show the world that he has a few good punches left. He's told Democrats that he'll drop his campaign against Horizon if they will give himself something else he wants. Make me an offer, he says.

I can't predict how this shutdown will end, or when.

But I think we all know how it will be remembered -- with the imperial governor, with his clan, enjoying that deserted beach. And then lying about it.

More: Tom Moran columns

Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or call (973) 836-4909. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.