Well, the whole bridge gate thing has been quite a story. I'm having a hard time believing Christie was not in on this, but for now, he seems to have found a reprieve until more incriminating evidence against him can be found, or if one of the people he has happily tossed under the bus decides to talk. While the main story has been that the closing of the George Washington Bridge was an act of retaliation towards the Fort Lee Mayor for not supporting Christie's re-election campaign, Rachel Maddow today covered an angle which could be just as disturbing if true.
In a turf battle over democrats blocking appointment of judges, which seems to have become an automatic tool used by the minority party to continuously say, "F' You" to the party in power, Governor Christie pre-emptively pulled a nomination he wanted to make to place a judge on the state Supreme Court. This was a judge he liked, this was a judge he wanted to nominate, and he bitterly held a press conference saying that he was pulling this nomination because he did not want to subject this judge that he respected to the "animals" of the Democrat controlled state senate. On the afternoon he held this angry press conference, the next morning was the first day of the four day bridge shut down. As it turns out, the woman who chairs that judicial committee, who is a Democrat, is also the state representative of Fort Lee. Coincidence?
If this is true, it actually bothers me more than the story that this was a retaliation against the mayor of Fort Lee for not supporting Christie's re-election campaign. It bothers me because it is just another example of what has become an accepted practice of not just voting against things you don't agree with, but taking extra steps to defiantly extend a middle finger to the person and party that won the election. At the Federal level, the antics of McConnell and the tea party are seen as glorious support of the constitution. To me, it's just a bunch of vindictive assholes using their power to win a cockfight after losing at the voting booth. Nothing justifies what Christie, or his aides did, but when I heard about the blocking of judges by the Democrats, I found myself feeling just as much contempt for the woman chairing the judicial committee, just as I also had contempt for Harry Reid when he pulled the same shit in the senate.
Backstabbing and paybacks will always be a part of politics. But, in today's world, the paybacks aren't just legislator to legislator. Instead, the function of government is being blocked or outright shutdown solely for the purpose of legislators being able to metaphorically slap their genitalia in each others faces. If it stopped there, I really wouldn't care what a bunch of Alpha assholes do to each other. Instead, millions of people who have nothing to gain and everything to lose get abused and outright pissed on just because some legislator got denied something that he or she feels is their birthright.
Max,
ReplyDeleteGood morning! typical language usage aside, I share your rancor about the politics of politics. Gee, pretty soon you might even support the notion that they all be thwon out, yes?
Carpe weekendem, but make sure you do your homework :-).
Jean
After this weekend, it's back to solitary for me. No breaks from Jan 13 to mid December. I started to read ahead to at least have my reading for the first week done, but this is going to be a very busy semester, probably the make or break for this year anyway.
DeleteAt one time, I agreed with the concept of just arbitrarily throwing them all out, but I no longer agree with this approach. One of the many things I disagree with far left and far right voters about is the sense of victim hood, the belief that we are all just getting screwed and that we dont' have a say in the matter. We do have a say in the matter and these people we elect are doing exactly what their constituents sent them there to do. I've long blathered about the stupid Reagan axiom that "Government IS the problem" because we have reached an absurd extreme. Collectively, we aren't sending people to govern because we've bought into a belief that governing is bullshit.
To loop it back, throwing them all out will not change anything. They will be no better and no worse than the intentions that sent them there.
If Christie were a liberal (which he pretty much is) this story would have never been covered.
ReplyDeleteSo Christie IS a liberal but if he was a liberal this would never be covered. I'll assume this is kind of typical badump bump CHING post. I understand the ingrained belief that liberals can always abuse power and never have to answer to it, but it's gotten a little ridiculous. Eliot Spitzer ring a bell? This was not a matter of a local council person having the fire department come out to fill up their pool, this was a major event.
DeleteThe scope of this was so major that anyone would have been called out on it and honestly, they almost got away with it. If the lamestream media and local reporters hadn't stuck with it, it would not have become a major story.
No gotta it just proves that right ,left, liberal, conservative, tea party, etc most politicians and their gangs are only out for themselves, and yes I did include tea party. As a related story it was announced yesterday that the US Congress now contains more certified millionaires then at any other time in history.
ReplyDeleteThis makes total sense. The top wealthiest control over 48% or so of the country's wealth, it's only logical that they should also have a similar representation in congress. True, Democrats are also part of the millionaires club, but these days, they have been just as willing to vote for the wealthy as Republicans have.
DeleteSadly...
DeleteAt the end of the day we're talking about traffic. Or as Max would say, fucking traffic.
DeleteBig deal. In Jersey, a few miles from the GWBridge we got bodies, lot's and lot's of bodies, underneath piles of garbage and sleepin wid da fishes in swamps.
Traffic? As Max would say, big fuckin deal.
Can any one here please provide background sources for this story? All we have here in Aust. is a small item on National Television that Gov Christie has sacked a staffer for organizing a major traffic jam so that the blame could fall on a political opponent. My interest is purely in the factual area. I hold no brief either for or against Christie (or the Republicans)
DeleteKingston,
DeleteApparently the Aussie media isn't a bunch of liberal hacks like here in America. This is a non-story and should be treated as such.
GOTTA:
DeleteMy thanks but I think you need to understand that the image of America is damaged by these "Non Stories" here in Aust. Gov Christie is portrayed as a fat blustering man and the impression we are left with is that he is interested only in his own success. It was mentioned in the TV presentation Christie is a Republican Politician. Unfortunately, and I cast no blame here, both in Australia and in your country we seem to think the worst of the leaders the majority of us have elected to govern us. We also have difficulty in understanding the political nomenclature in each others countries. A Liberal here is a Republican (in broad terms) in your country. In America you have the philosophically left leaning Democrats, this is our “Labor” party and some tend to label them socialists (not me). At the fringes we have the “Greens” a small leftist party ostensibly interested mainly in conservation issues. In fact they hold the balance of power in the Senate (The upper house of the National Government) and their political clout has been the cause of much difficulty for the Government over the past three years.
In America you too seem to have a rebellious “Rump” in the Tea Party grouping of the Republican Party. I have been following this for some time and although the butt of comedians and their jokes, I do for see the influence of the T P to grow amid the general disenchantment with the mainstream parties. We never hear of the T P lot in our media, Sara Palin is forgotten here and John McCain is seldom mentioned. The comments reported recently were focused on the deadlock on the Hill re the financial shutdown. Our media tended to ascribe the blame to ultra right Republicans and for this of course, here in Aust we instantly think of tea party members.
One thing about Political debate, it it is no longer the civilized gentlemanly discussion it once was, Media sound bytes and attention grabbing one liners. Perhaps I can find agreement with William if someone in his group can bring the outstanding oratory of Patrick Henry to the table. “Give me liberty or give me death” is, in my view, only the punch line for a magnificent oration. There have been many others, in your country and mine, Gettysburg, Kennedy Think Not what my country etc, FDR and his fireside chats and the garden hose, the list goes on and we have those memorable moments here. My concern is that sometimes we need to look under the headlines to discover the truth.
Cheers and again thanks for your response.
Christie is my governor. He has been "relatively" good for Jersey.
DeleteHe did kiss Obama's ass after hurricane Sandy, partially understandable.
For his own benefit he was invisible filling Senator Laughtenbergs seat after he croaked with a nonentity. More invisible still in his non support of the repub candidate in a specially dated election. Therefore handing the senate seat to leftist Cory Booker.
The traffic cone "crisis" is sheer fabrication by the Clinton controlled New York media propagandists.
Fact is Christie couldn't beat Hillary with a ping pong paddle. Probably can't even carry New Jersey in the 2016 election. He is the NY-NJ financial centers boy, same as Romney was, same as McCain was before him. They set um up, they mow em down, they know full well they are not conservatives, just democrat lite's.
Christie ain't got a chance in hell king of winning the support of Tea Party or conservatives in th 2016 primary.
Kingston, if you haven't looked at this already, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Bridge you might find it a little interesting. My initial contention that we have come to accept the use of the powers of an office to abuse political rivals is pretty much supported here by gotta and William who claim it's just a little traffic jam that isn't a big deal. Look at the number of cars that use and bridge and decide for yourself. So far, the known evidence is that this was done to punish somebody. Who, exactly, is not clear.
ReplyDeleteIs this less news worthy that Obama knowing that million would lose their healthcare before his re-election and failing to mention that little fact?
DeleteThe point, politicians both party are equally as guilty of misinformation. Did the IRS intentionally target TP groups before the election to ensure they were not as effective as they might have been?
DeleteThe real issue is why has this bridge shut down garnered so much media attention as scandals went largely unreported in Washington? Is it because this is a Republican?
Having asked the questions, if Christie ordered it, knew about it and did nothing, the consequences are his alone. Why the double standard when it comes to the WH?
Benghazi.........
DeleteFast and Furious.........
IRS targeting of conservative groups..........
OOOORRRR
Traffic delays......
Hmm, I wonder which is worse.
"Hmm, I wonder which is worse."
DeleteThat's an easy one, it's a purely political response. If you aren't the one sitting in traffic, you probably don't give a crap about the people who got stuck in it because it doesn't effect you. None of the other ones affected you personally either, but they offend your politics. So, the answer is simple, the stuff that offends your political beliefs is what is worse and of course, that means anything Obama does. No discretion, no context, just anti Obama. Basically the mirror image of all the liberals who were endlessly outraged by Bush and Cheney.
To your comment Lou, I made the point that both parties do it and rather than being outraged the most about the actual shut down of the bridge, I am outraged that our political system has come to the point where someone has the balls to shut a bridge down for four days purely as a retaliatory measure.
But, in a world that has that supreme asshole Daryl Issa trotting around the country BEGGING for people to come and tell him how shitty their health care is, I simply can't give credence to the theory that somehow there is no scrutiny of Obama and his alleged endless corruption and screwing of the country. It does get picked up, the drum does get beaten, and people eventually get reach a point of outrage fatigue.
I was reading today now that some Democrat in Jersey is launching a jihad to say Christie misappropriated money by putting himself in a tourism ad because it helped his reelection. THAT, to me, is some real stupid shit. It's like looking for a Lewinski dress. But, like Daryl Issa, he's got a committee, he's got subpoena power and he's gonna make a crusade of it. But, I suppose it's all simple. Demcrat = bad, all Republican = good. Process? doesn't matter.
http://legalinsurrection.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Media-Scales-590-LI.jpg
DeleteIs the real world, not government you don't do your job, you get fired. In government they hide you.
Delete1. Who was fired over the fiasco web site? Who was the program manager? Who was responsible for the decision to put the web site on line when it clearly wasn't ready. Why aren't they held accountable.
2. Ask the same question about any of the fiasco's of the Obama administration, any administration.
The difference is they are both the same, Americans deserve better than this administration. They thought they were getting better than the Bush administration and got more of the same.
You have to ask yourself, we know know Obama knee that Obama knew millions would lose their healthcare policies after the election. Where's the outrage from the media? Where's the outrage from the Democrats as they all run for cover.
Maybe your right, people are just tired of our government.
I get your point, but throughout my life Lou, I've worked with many an incompetent idiot who was not fired simply because they had connections or because they could charm their way out of it. How does a guy like Jaimie Dimon keep his job? The people in the real world who get fired are little people. Not those at the top. At that level, whether government or private sector, it's not the people at the top who take the fall. Maybe that's just an American thing.
DeleteAs a liberal, I will readily admit that we got much of the same in Obama that we did in Bush, and it really sucks. He hasn't deleveraged Wall Street, he hasn't taken us away from a state of perpetual war, and I don't think he's stood up very well for the people of his base. He's not all shuck and jive to me, but I'm not going to bother trying to sell that brand of crazy here.
Who was fired? No one that I can tell. I want the shit to work and if firing someone is what it takes, than that's what I want done. If a public firing is what the mob needs, find someone and throw them to the crowd so the mob can go find the next thing to be outraged about. There was plenty of people I wanted fired when Bush was president and it didn't happen. Name me one person in that entire shit house of an administration that was accountable for anything. Even when Scooter Libby got convicted, Bush said, "Suck it, you get nothing". The roll out was a disaster, and now people getting insurance. End result is what I care about.
I look at the bitterness and pettiness I see everyday around me, it doesn't look much different from Washington. If we carried ourselves better in all of our personal lives and truly gave a crap about others besides ourselves, kinda like the bible says, our government would look much different. As voters, we probably do deserve better, but like I said before, look at the reality show of our primaries. Look at how much money is spent for no reason but to smear an opponent into a loss. I'm still hoping for better next time around.
and now people are getting insurance.
ReplyDeleteYup, me too.
I had my policy cancelled. In 2011 I changed my deductible from 1K to 2.5K. That triggered a cancellation.
My new insurance, I have access to BC pills, don't need them, mental heal care, don't need that, maternity benefits, don't really need that either. All for the price of 200 bucks more a month. Went from 1K a month to 1200 a month.
Having said that, I could have gone through the exchange and saved 50 bucks a month. I chose to buy directly from an insurance company as none of the money I spend will directly support the ACA.
Did Obama know millions of insurance policies would be cancelled before the election, yes he did. Did he say anything about it? No he didn't. What a cool political move to screw the voters. People deserve this political hack and the additional money it will cost them. Except of course millions less are now insured than in December of 2013. Why is it you don't care about this end result? The fact governments one size fits all demands costs everyone more money. But that's not what it 's all about, it's about his legacy.