Atsushi wrote:
Alternate Theory of Bridgegate Scandal:

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-sh ... gate-scandal-111611971764

What makes Mr. Christie?s claim of victimhood hard to accept is his own history of vindictive behavior. For instance, a Rutgers professor lost financing for a project because he voted against the governor on a redistricting commission. A Republican colleague who had a disagreement with Mr. Christie was disinvited to an event in his own district. Mr. Christie has denied that he sent signals to his staff to punish anyone who crossed him. ?I am who I am, but I am not a bully,? he said Thursday. But he has set a tone that makes abusive actions acceptable.

Mr. Christie has promised to cooperate with investigators ? a vow he and his staff must honor. At this point, the governor has zero credibility. His office has abused its power, and only a full and conclusive investigation can restore public trust in his administration.

It?s no longer in dispute that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie?s (R) administration crippled the community of Fort Lee last September on purpose. It?s also no longer in dispute that the governor?s team did so as an act of political retaliation. But what was it, exactly, Christie?s aides were retaliating against?

The working assumption has been that the administration sought to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat who didn?t endorse Christie?s re-election. But the governor?s incredulity over this explanation is not without merit ? it?s unclear if the local mayor?s endorsement was ever even sought. Indeed, the governor?s insistence yesterday that he had no idea who Sokolich was seemed relatively persuasive.

And if Team Christie was in the habit of retaliating against fairly obscure Democratic officials who balked at endorsing the governor, there would be a more expansive record of statewide revenge from last fall.

So perhaps the working assumption is mistaken. Maybe Christie?s aides targeted Fort Lee, but it wasn?t related to a campaign endorsement that wasn?t even solicited. If so, we?ll need a different explanation for one of the key questions at the heart of the scandal: what happened to cause a top Christie aide to say it was ?time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee? on Aug. 13 at 7:34 a.m.? What, specifically, prompted that message on that morning if Sokolich?s preference for governor was irrelevant? What was it, exactly, that Team Christie was retaliating against?

Rachel offered an alternative theory on the show last night and it?s important to consider it in detail.

In New Jersey, state Supreme Court justices serve an initial term of seven years, at which point the sitting governor decides whether or not to reappoint them. Since the New Jersey constitution was revised and adopted in 1947, every governor has reappointed every state Supreme Court justice without exception.

That is, until Christie took office. In 2010, soon after Christie?s inauguration, he did something unprecedented: he declined to reappoint one of the justices: New Jersey Supreme Court Justice John Wallace, the court?s only African-American member. Wallace was not burdened by scandal or allegations of wrongdoing; Christie simply didn?t want him on the high court anymore.

Democrats in the state Senate were livid. Rachel described the political firestorm that soon erupted in Trenton:

Senate Democrats made Chris Christie?s first nominee to replace Justice Wallace, they made her wait until somebody else?s seat came up on the court then they would consider her for that one, but not Justice Wallace?s.

Then, Chris Christie nominated a man named Phil Quan for the state Supreme Court, Senate Democrats said no. Then, Chris Christie nominated a man named Bruce Harris for the court, Senate Democrats said no.

Senate Democrats were so mad about what Christie did to take John Harris off the Supreme Court when he was up for re-nomination that they would not let anyone through. It?s been a big political crisis in New Jersey. Senate Democrats rejected every one of those Christie nominees, one after the other.

And then when another of the justices on the Supreme Court, a Republican, came up for re-nomination just like John Harris had, and the Senate Democrats signaled that they were going to give her a whale of a time at her re-nomination hearing, Chris Christie just flipped out. He had enough. He pulled that justice off the Supreme Court rather than submit her to re-nomination before the Senate Democrats.

No governor had ever failed to reappoint a sitting state Supreme Court justice, but Christie had suddenly done it twice ? once for the court?s only African-American jurist, infuriating Democrats, and then again for a justice he actually liked. The governor, enraged, held a press conference to tell reporters, ?I was not going to let her loose to the animals.?

The ?animals,? in this case, were the Democrats in the state Senate.

Christie said that on the afternoon of Aug. 12, 2013.

On the morning of Aug. 13, 2013, Christie?s deputy chief of staff told the governor?s guy at the Port Authority, ?Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.?

The leader of the Senate Democrats at the time was a senator from ? Fort Lee.

Pebble wrote:
I?ll look into the porn options available?

nyrgravey9 wrote:
Pebble I tend to respect your intellect but on this I gotta say: go F*ck yourself. Please.

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Pebble wrote:
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nyrgravey9 wrote:
Holy sh*t Chester, you truly have lost touch with reality.

This is the very definition of irony.

Monroe wrote:
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Pebble wrote:
...but I thought Christie reaches across the aisle to do what's best! Now you're telling me he is also petty and spiteful if you don't support him and that it's ok because "elections have consequences.

Got to love those that want it both ways!

No need to try and twist my words. I'm just saying that in the gutter of Hudson County politics (which is more often than not internecine) some postponed meetings are a pothole on the length of the NJ Turnpike. We have the head of the Democratic Party in NJ stalling Fulop, and you're outraged by Christie's staff rescheduling some meetings? What did Fulop do to piss off Sweeney? Is GEDman Sweeney annoyed by the Goldman Sachsman?

Monroe wrote:
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Dolomiti wrote:
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Monroe wrote:
We're talking about an alleged abuse of political power to damage an opponent. Bringing up Obama's IRS targeting conservative groups prior to an election is certainly a much bigger issue...

It also has absolutely nothing to do with this entire incident.

There is no reason to bring it up, except as an attempt to deflect and distract from the glaring misconduct of the Christie administration.

Nonsense, especially that it was TODAY that Obama's Justice Department appointed someone to lead the investigation into political abuse by Obama's IRS in an election year.

Can anyone with a single brain cell argue that cone gate is more important than IRS gate? National election won by a small margin, vs a state level landslide?

So Obama administration misconduct affecting a national race that was close, or Christie administration misconduct affecting a landslide?

nyrgravey9 wrote:
Finally, a common sense article for you knuckleheads. It's not a strawman argument, or whatever the hell is you people come up with to deflect from your paltry positions. It goes to show just how out of whack the media's, and most your, priorities are.

Wall Street journal, suckas

Monroe wrote:
Circle back. The mayor of the affected town believes that Christie had nothing to do with conegate.

Monroe wrote:
The woman whose mom died during the traffic jam (and who may have been dead for some time on her bathroom floor) thinks the traffic had nothing to do with conegate.

Monroe wrote:
Christie holds an almost two hour press conference, taking every question thrown at him, explaining what happened. He takes accountability, and fires everyone who acted wrongly under his purview. Which is what leaders do.

Monroe wrote:
Note to the looney left; learn from this. Can anyone name a staffer of Obama or Mrs. Clinton who has been fired for Obamacare, IRS Gate, or Benghazi?

I eagerly await any response. 600 million dollars of taxpayer money wasted on Obamacare.com. 4 dead in Benghazi. The IRS selectively going after groups in a dirty tricks manner. Who's been fired? Anyone?

nyrgravey9 wrote:
Ok, I'll play the other side here. Something did bother me about the press conference. Towards the end Christie said (paraphrasing - so Pebble don't knock the accuracy) - "I haven't slept in two nights over this." Yet, this was after he just claimed to only know since the day before.

A slip?

Br6dR wrote:
This has turned into the defacto kitchen sink/Monrore silliness thread.

:-0

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Pebble wrote:
I'm still confused... What the frack does Obama have to do with whether or not the governor of NJ is petty enough to shut down roads in a city because a mayor wouldn't support him?

If Christie is behind it, how can any reasonable person support him?

borisp wrote:
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Vigilante wrote:

That would simply be a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's been obvious from the start how Republicans, especially the extremists, were going to react to anything Obama did as President. First of all, there is NO DOUBT that many people were completely freaked out that a black man had been elected President.

Yeah, keep telling yourself that. This is quite phenomenal, - even after the obamacare rollout and millions of people losing insurance, you keep talking about how it is all about race.

You emperor has no clothes!!!

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Vigilante wrote:
They poo-pooped every attempt he made at bipartisanship and pretended he wasn't compromising when, in fact, they just wanted everything their way.

Surely, you jest. Name one case where Obama agreed... neigh, proposed to back off his position?

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Vigilante wrote:
They have treated his poorly executed attempt at health-care reform as if it were another 9-11. .

Well, we see it differently. Like, I do care about people losing medical insurances by the million.

And to you the most important thing is to defend your ideology, no matter what.

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Vigilante wrote:
Dozens of Embassy attacks happened under Bush but Benghazi is the worst event in history and Obama and Clinton should have known it was happening.

Well, duh! They were informed beforehand.

And, you forgot to mention, they lied to us about what has happened. They wanted us to think it is not a terrorist act, - because they were selling the "Al Qaeda is on the run" lie for the elections.

By the way

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Vigilante wrote:
Obama has continued the NSA and Fast&Furious, which were both started looong before he was elected.

Well, it NSA program was nowhere near that expansive as it is today.

And, as it comes to the Fast& Furious, it is a straight lie. During the Bush administration there was an operation "Wide Receiver" that didn't include "gun walking". That was Fast & Furious that started in 2009.

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Vigilante wrote:
The NSA program has always been monitored by congress and the courts but under this black Prez suddenly it's the second worst thing ever.

Yeah, and it was monitored by the press, and it was always "BUSH HITLER HE ALLOWS LISTENING TO A CALL BETWEEN A TERRORIST AND AMERICAN CITIZEN". And then, when the President was Democrat, all the screams stopped and all the newspapers shut up, and NSA was listening not just on some calls, but collecting everything wholesale.

And the only thing you have to say is "racism!!!"

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Vigilante wrote:
The IRS "scandal" is barely that and was an act of an overly ambitious IRS office in Cincinnati.

Oh, yeah, using the power of the IRS to suppress political opponents, yeah, right - barely a scandal.

Buddy, this is like one of the most hugest one in the history of the USA.

If it were not for Fast&Furious where the US government armed drug cartels, people actually died, and Holder lied to the Congress.

Vigilante wrote:

That would simply be a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's been obvious from the start how Republicans, especially the extremists, were going to react to anything Obama did as President. First of all, there is NO DOUBT that many people were completely freaked out that a black man had been elected President.

Vigilante wrote:
They poo-pooped every attempt he made at bipartisanship and pretended he wasn't compromising when, in fact, they just wanted everything their way.

Vigilante wrote:
They have treated his poorly executed attempt at health-care reform as if it were another 9-11. .

Vigilante wrote:
Dozens of Embassy attacks happened under Bush but Benghazi is the worst event in history and Obama and Clinton should have known it was happening.

Vigilante wrote:
Obama has continued the NSA and Fast&Furious, which were both started looong before he was elected.

Vigilante wrote:
The NSA program has always been monitored by congress and the courts but under this black Prez suddenly it's the second worst thing ever.

Vigilante wrote:
The IRS "scandal" is barely that and was an act of an overly ambitious IRS office in Cincinnati.

hero69 wrote:
just like obama to the blame to the iinitial fumblle of obamacare, christie needs to "man" up and take the blame for this fiasco.

JCMan8 wrote:
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nyrgravey9 wrote:
Finally, a common sense article for you knuckleheads. It's not a strawman argument, or whatever the hell is you people come up with to deflect from your paltry positions. It goes to show just how out of whack the media's, and most your, priorities are.

Wall Street journal, suckas

If this thread is any indication, the most recent comment on your article might be correct. "This country is deeply divided and headed towards a violent collision."

Monroe wrote:
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WhoElseCouldIBe wrote:
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Monroe wrote:
Ft. Lee mayor today accepts Christie's apology, and states he believes that Christie had nothing to do with the lane alterations.

Carry on.

No, do not carry on, do not collect $500.

Why do we care what the Ft. Lee mayor thinks? This is a corruption case and we should get to the root of it.

Circle back. The mayor of the affected town believes that Christie had nothing to do with conegate. The woman whose mom died during the traffic jam (and who may have been dead for some time on her bathroom floor) thinks the traffic had nothing to do with conegate.

Christie holds an almost two hour press conference, taking every question thrown at him, explaining what happened. He takes accountability, and fires everyone who acted wrongly under his purview. Which is what leaders do.

Note to the looney left; learn from this. Can anyone name a staffer of Obama or Mrs. Clinton who has been fired for Obamacare, IRS Gate, or Benghazi?

I eagerly await any response. 600 million dollars of taxpayer money wasted on Obamacare.com. 4 dead in Benghazi. The IRS selectively going after groups in a dirty tricks manner. Who's been fired? Anyone?

nyrgravey9 wrote:
Finally, a common sense article for you knuckleheads. It's not a strawman argument, or whatever the hell is you people come up with to deflect from your paltry positions. It goes to show just how out of whack the media's, and most your, priorities are.

Wall Street journal, suckas

WhoElseCouldIBe wrote:
Quote:

Monroe wrote:
Ft. Lee mayor today accepts Christie's apology, and states he believes that Christie had nothing to do with the lane alterations.

Carry on.

No, do not carry on, do not collect $500.

Why do we care what the Ft. Lee mayor thinks? This is a corruption case and we should get to the root of it.

Monroe wrote:
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Bogart wrote:
So what actually happened today was Issa and a conservative legal group are trying to make an issue out of the investigator's politics even though it would have been illegal for the DOJ to look into her politics.

That's not wrongdoing by Obama's Justice Department. That's more opportunistic public relations by Darryl Issa.

First, the issue is that Justice and the Obama administration is following up the IRS abuses with an investigation. How could they not, especially after they've apologized for the abuses?

Second, choosing a Democrat and Obama contributor is a bit, well, transparent. So would it be OK if Christie gave a Republican and Christie donor a lead role in a conegate investigation? That would be hunky dory, right?

Monroe wrote:
Ft. Lee mayor today accepts Christie's apology, and states he believes that Christie had nothing to do with the lane alterations.

Carry on.

Bogart wrote:
So what actually happened today was Issa and a conservative legal group are trying to make an issue out of the investigator's politics even though it would have been illegal for the DOJ to look into her politics.

That's not wrongdoing by Obama's Justice Department. That's more opportunistic public relations by Darryl Issa.