The Trials of Gov. Christie

[don]

Re: The Trials of the Governed

believer chow down in sight . . .

Huge ‘Super PAC’ Is Moving Early to Back Clinton

The Obama political operation that once buried Hillary Rodham Clinton’s White House ambitions is now rapidly converging around her possible 2016 presidential bid, conferring on Mrs. Clinton enormous early advantages in money, expertise and voter targeting techniques.

On Thursday, Priorities USA Action, a “super PAC” that played an important role in helping re-elect President Obama, announced that it was formally aligning itself with Mrs. Clinton and would begin raising money to fend off potential opponents for 2016.

The group — the largest Democratic super PAC in the country — also named new directors, appointments that will cement the group’s pro-Clinton tilt and thrust veterans of Mr. Obama’s political and fund-raising operation into the center of the post-Obama Democratic Party.

Costa Rica never looked so good to so many . . . .

[Woodsman]

Re: The Trials of the Governed

Are you asking if I believe that Obama and Holder have a systematic plan to silence their critics? Do I believe that Obama and Holder have a political enemies list and that they're working through it? Do you?

It's happened before and it certainly seems lots of people want us to think that about Obama and Holder. Only thing is no one has shown us any convincing proof that it does and so all we're left with is the belief thing again.

And talk about the power of belief, Dinesh D'souza became the right's favorite biographer and a millionaire political entrepreneur by convincing countless credulous conservatives (hey, I can alliterate like Spiro/Safire!) that what drives Obama is a heady mixture of "anti-colonialism" and daddy issues. Before this, he was the right's point man in the God wars, only he's lost some credibility as a spokesman for Christian ethics and morality after he was outed by a Christian magazine for cheating on his wife. And while attending a values summit sponsored by a Baptist mega church, no less. God will not be mocked but likely has a heck of a sense of humor.

[Woodsman]

Re: The Trials of the Governed

Spiro was a two bit crooked politician (they all are)...

Do you believe that they all are, vt, ever and always? I don't think so. Certainly this current crop is hopeless, Democrats and GOP alike. But surely there was a time when there was at least one politician who was not two bit or crooked at all. I mean, law of averages, it's gotta be, no?

It's reaching waay back in the politics dork archives but there's Jerry Voorhis and Robert Taft. The two couldn't be more polar opposites in terms of influence and ideology, but each as honest and disinterested as a politician gets. Sad that it's nearly 70 year gap between then and now.

[santafe2]

Re: The Trials of the Governed

"Nattering nabobs of negativism"

I hadn't thought about Agnew in a long time. His sad tale is a reminder of what happens to not-so-bright politicians when they try to run with a big mean pack of dogs. It was when Nixon was going down in the Watergate scandal that he threw Agnew under the bus for tax evasion and a little public distraction. No one can prove it of course but the timing was so convenient and there was no way Nixon was going to let Agnew become President. When Ehrlichman asked Nixon why he kept Agnew on the '72 ticket he famously said, "No assassin in his right mind would kill me because they would get Agnew.". That was one cold hearted politician.

[vt]

Re: The Trials of the Governed

There used to be character on both sides of the aisle, definitely in the pre FIRE days. it's gotten far worse in the last 10years.

[vt]

Re: The Trials of the Governed

The scary thing is if Obama thinks of Biden the same way

[shiny!]

Re: The Trials of the Governed

The scary thing is if Obama thinks of Biden the same way

You beat me to it. Biden is the best longevity insurance Obama could have bought.

[Slimprofits]

Re: The Trials of Gov. Christie - Not what he appears

It's interesting that the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of Louisiana misused funds to build up the levees in the city by diverting them to tourism and other uses. Of course you never heard of this in the press. And some don't believe there is a double standard?

http://www.seekfind.net/HurricaneKatrina.html

The website that you linked to as proof of a double standard, which by the way also includes complaints about the "liberal media", openly used as sources articles from the Washington Post and the St. Petersburg Times.

So yes, we did hear about the misused and diverted Katrina funds in the press.

[don]

Re: The Trials of Gov. Christie - Not what he appears

the coverup is invariably more damaging than the crime . . .

New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s political problems surrounding the closure of traffic lanes over the George Washington bridge may have taken a dramatic turn for the worse after one of the key figures of the scandal accused him of knowing of the closures as they happened.

David Wildstein, the former Port Authority official who ordered the closures, has released through his lawyer a statement in which he pulls the governor more closely to the heart of the scandal. Christie has consistently and repeatedly denied any prior knowledge of the politically vindictive lane closures that inflicted four days of traffic hell on the town of Fort Lee, whose Democratic mayor had declined to endorse Christie for re-election as governor of New Jersey.

In the letter, Wildstein is reported to allege that the lane closures were the “Christie administration’s order”. Wildstein says “evidence exists as well tying Mr Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly.” Three weeks ago, in a now-famous two-hour press conference, the governor insisted he only knew about the closures after they had happened.

Wildstein, who resigned in December from the Port Authority, which controls the bridge, has long been seen as a central element of the billowing investigation into the bridge affair. A Christie appointee, Wildstein actually instigated the lane closures and given his role it has long been assumed that if anyone knows the full truth behind the scandal, it would be him.

[Woodsman]

Re: The Trials of Gov. Christie - Not what he appears

In the letter, Wildstein is reported to allege that the lane closures were the “Christie administration’s order”. Wildstein says “evidence exists as well tying Mr Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly.” Three weeks ago, in a now-famous two-hour press conference, the governor insisted he only knew about the closures after they had happened.

"I've worked for the last 12 years in public life developing a reputation for honesty and directness and blunt talk, one that I think is well-deserved."
- Chris Christie

Now that we know what we know, reading the transcript of the January 9th presser is positively creepy. Christie and Pelosi ought to run away with each other. They're a match made in Hell.

[jk]

Re: The Trials of Gov. Christie - Not what he appears

you don't know what wildstein has, if anything. he's angling to get immunity from the feds, which they have to give him to be able to force him to testify. otherwise he takes the 5th. so he's got an interest in hinting that he's got explosive information. maybe, maybe not.

[vt]

Re: The Trials of Gov. Christie - Not what he appears

Christie should resign if all this is true. He may be finished for 2016 regardless.

Now when is the MSM going to nail Obama and Hillary for Benghazi? How about Obama for the IRS scandal?

Oh, there is no justice at Justice? Holder on!

[don]

Re: The Trials of Gov. Christie - Not what he appears

slip slidin' away . . . .

Speaking in a regular monthly appearance on a local radio show, Christie made a subtle shift in his position on the George Washington bridge scandal.

After a weekend in which his aides attempted to discredit a New York Times article that questioned the timeline of what he knew, Christie admitted on Monday that he “may have” been aware about the lane closures while they were in place in September last year but said that he did not appreciate their significance.

At the time it was claimed that reassignment of access lanes – which favoured through traffic and reduced the number of tollbooths available to vehicles emerging from the nearby town of Fort Lee – was part of a traffic study. It was later alleged that this explanation was a cover for a plot devised by Christie aides to punish the mayor of Fort Lee, a Democrat, for failing to endorse the governor in his bid for re-election.

In an attempt to draw a line under the scandal Christie held a marathon press conference last month at which he announced the firing of a senior aide, Bridget Kelly, and declared that he had no knowledge about the lane closures until they were over. “I had no knowledge of this – of the planning, the execution or anything about it – and I first found out about it after it was over”.

Christie fired Kelly, a deputy chief of staff, when it emerged that she had written an email to David Wildstein, an appointee of the governor on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the agency that operates the bridge, saying: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” Wildstein later resigned from the agency and on Friday it was reported Wildstein’s lawyer as saying “evidence exists” that Christie knew of the lane closures as they took place.

In the radio show on Monday Christie said he "unequivocally" had no prior knowledge of the plan to snarl traffic on the bridge. "I had nothing to do with this and I am so disappointed that this has happened," Christie said. "I'll be damned if I let anything get in the way of me doing my job."

He also confirmed that his office had been subpoenaed by the US attorney for New Jersey, which is investigating whether any federal crimes were committed. "We are complying with that," he said.



Gov. Chris Christie’s administration struck back hard and personally on Saturday against a former ally who accused the governor of lying about how much he knew about the lane closings at the George Washington Bridge, a scandal that has become the biggest crisis in Mr. Christie’s political career.

In a two-page memo obtained by Politico, which it said was sent “from the governor’s office,” David Wildstein, a former high-ranking official at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was portrayed as a loose cannon who was attacking Mr. Christie only in an effort to save himself and noted that he had been described in newspaper accounts in the past as “tumultuous” and someone “who made moves that were not productive.”

The memo listed five incidents as evidence, saying that “as a 16-year-old kid,” Mr. Wildstein had sued over a school board election; that he had been “publicly accused by his high school social studies teacher of deceptive behavior”; that he had a controversial tenure as mayor of Livingston, N.J.; that he had been an anonymous blogger; and that he “had a strange habit of registering web addresses for other people’s names without telling them.”




A former top aide to Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey revealed Monday that she would not hand over documents in response to a subpoena from a legislative panel investigating the controversial closing of lanes at the George Washington Bridge last fall, citing her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

The former aide, Bridget Anne Kelly, informed the panel, through a letter from her lawyer, Michael Critchley, that in addition to the Fifth, she was also invoking the Fourth Amendment in defense of her privacy. The letter said that the panel’s request “directly overlaps with a parallel federal grand jury investigation.” It also contended that giving the committee “unfettered access” to her diaries, calendars and electronic devices could “potentially reveal highly personal confidential communications” unrelated to the bridge scandal.

Asked about Ms. Kelly’s decision on the air, Mr. Christie said that “it doesn’t tell me anything” and that he respected her constitutional rights.

[lektrode]

Re: The Trials of Gov. Christie - Not what he appears

slip slidin' away . . . ....
..........
...
Asked about Ms. Kelly’s decision on the air, Mr. Christie said that “it doesn’t tell me anything” and that he respected her constitutional rights.

well.. the ones we USED-to have - but in the court of lamestream media opinion, one is immed guilty and then huge quantities of 'ink' (never mind bandwidth) need to be expended to arrive at some sort of conclusion - not always to the liking of the so 'featured' - never mind The Rest of US - but christie is - or has become - the latest and best distraction - for/to whats NOT going on over at 'justice' - but the most critical aspect of this?

is they get to bang the gong on the eyeball$ making the repubs look bad = The Money Shot

profits to the media-industrial complex to then apply to the next charade... uhhh... i mean 'election cycle' (with 2016 well underway...)

and i still say that the first thing that has to be done to get the money OUT OF THE ELECTIONS - is to LIMIT the campaign 'season' to some number of MONTHS before the election.

and BRING BACK THE EQUAL TIME REGULATIONS

[jk]

Re: The Trials of Gov. Christie - Not what he appears

very amusing column about christie from maureen dowd. high school never ends.