Bridgegate

http://www.fapsinc.com/

?

Happy Resignation Day, Bridget Anne Kelly...

Christie cancelled an appearance in Ocean County this afternoon. Trenton is in code red damage control mode today...

captobins said:

fap fap fap it's all the rage with kids these days

Also the sound made by a flat tire.

I remember quite a few people posting that Dems were grasping at straws and that Christie would never be involved, where did those guys go?

Sure, it was stupid to do something like that, that's why it was believable.

faps: ah, ok, got it ;-)

It looks like quite a lot of important players on his team took part in this conversation, not just the deputy chief of staff...

So good to see political scandal that isn't sex-related.

I think "thug" is a better description than "bully."

jeffhandy said:

I remember quite a few people posting that Dems were grasping at straws and that Christie would never be involved, where did those guys go?

They are very much still around, protesting that the Dems are making political hay out of nothing, that people were merely temporarily inconvenienced, that the Dems have been pulling lots of similar stuff for years and nobody cared, and that the liberal collaborationist media is deliberately going after Christie and ignoring Obama's Benghazi scandal...

jeffhandy said:

I remember quite a few people posting that Dems were grasping at straws and that Christie would never be involved, where did those guys go?

Sure, it was stupid to do something like that, that's why it was believable.

I still can't believe they would leave such a trail of evidence.

I voted for Christie twice . I think he should resign & the Port Auth dismantled .

RobB said:

Never speak what you can nod and never nod what you can wink.

Never write anything.

I really didn't think they'd have been this dumb. I didn't expect this to turn up. I thought the story would hit a dead end for lack of evidence of this very kind. The story has legs now.

My comment: Thanks, Governor, on behalf of all of us born here and who work here, for making people in other places laugh at us and tell us that we're all just Tony Soprano ...

tjohn said:

jeffhandy said:

I remember quite a few people posting that Dems were grasping at straws and that Christie would never be involved, where did those guys go?

Sure, it was stupid to do something like that, that's why it was believable.

I still can't believe they would leave such a trail of evidence.

The apparent belief in their invincibility is consistent with other evidence that these folks haven't matured beyond the stage of adolescence.

I can't decide what's more disqualifying: Is it that they'd screw over their own constituents over something this petty? Or maybe that they're stupid enough to put it into writing?

Either way, is this the goombah you want to be President? Someone you want handling disaster relief, for example?

Unbefugginlievable.

this has been GOP SOP for some time now. that was the whole Bush Administration philsophy. states that didn't vote for us? f 'em!

and don't forget where Christie rose to prominence -- Bush's DOJ, which was notorious for its own scandalous vindictiveness toward those who didn't toe the party line.

“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Bridget Anne Kelly, one of three deputies on Christie’s senior staff, wrote to David Wildstein, a top Christie executive at the Port Authority, on Aug. 13, about three weeks before the closures. Wildstein, the official who ordered the closures and who resigned last month amid the escalating scandal, wrote back: “Got it.”

This exchange pretty much proves that there must have been prior discussions about the details of what to do to cause these traffic problems.

Good rant, tom. Thank you.

ml1 said:

this has been GOP SOP for some time now.

And how has Christie been doing with judicial appointments? Last I heard, he was holding up quite a few, and this was the reason the courts, especially in Essex county, were so backed up.

Holy Moses. Those are some dumb or arrogant people (or both). The thing is, while it's a very minor and arguably silly thing, it really makes you wonder what he would do if he has REAL power. It's disconcerting to say the least.

dobler88 said:

Holy Moses. Those are some dumb or arrogant people (or both). The thing is, while it's a very minor and arguably silly thing, it really makes you wonder what he would do if he has REAL power. It's disconcerting to say the least.

A classic case of the coverup being worse than the misdeed. Although, I suppose the frivolous misuse of authority in this case actually is rather serious.

jeffhandy said:

I remember quite a few people posting that Dems were grasping at straws and that Christie would never be involved, where did those guys go?

Well, I'm still here. And still wondering where the direct ties to Christie are.

Carry on.

Christie is scary and the most angry, abusive, vindictive politician since Nixon. There's no telling what he's capable of. He's also been an ineffective, and short sighted Governor. Just one example: because of his veto of the rail tunnel future commuters are guaranteed the same frustrating, slow and delayed train service we have today. And because of the last election he will not go quietly. I predict similar actions in the future. His kind usually dig in.

When was the last time there was so much sustained glee in a thread?

dobler88 said:

Holy Moses. Those are some dumb or arrogant people (or both). The thing is, while it's a very minor and arguably silly thing, it really makes you wonder what he would do if he has REAL power. It's disconcerting to say the least.

Traffic jams are not minor at this scale. Place a value on people's time. I don't care what rate you use, even $1/hour. Multiply that by the number of people and by how many hours they were delayed. It adds up to a lot. And there are lost wages, lost business, and other things. This was not minor!

ctrzaska said:

jeffhandy said:

I remember quite a few people posting that Dems were grasping at straws and that Christie would never be involved, where did those guys go?

Well, I'm still here. And still wondering where the direct ties to Christie are.

Carry on.

Betcha the ties are in the "redacted" blacked out portions of the email.
This gets better and better.........

tjohn said:

Although, I suppose the frivolous misuse of authority in this case actually is rather serious.

Misuse of power can be criminal, and in today's political landscape, it needs to be better defined. As Christie is concerned, the slope of his "misuse" no doubt is quite slippery.

tjohn said:

dobler88 said:

Holy Moses. Those are some dumb or arrogant people (or both). The thing is, while it's a very minor and arguably silly thing, it really makes you wonder what he would do if he has REAL power. It's disconcerting to say the least.

A classic case of the coverup being worse than the misdeed. Although, I suppose the frivolous misuse of authority in this case actually is rather serious.

There is nothing frivolous about this.

When you create a massive traffic jam you're causing the delay of emergency services. How would you like it when a family member has a heart attack and the ambulance is delayed 5 or 10 minutes due to clogged traffic?

It also heightens the risk for children going to school. You have school buses competing on clogged roads with impatient drivers and children walking to school needing to get around clogged impatient traffic. Not every street crossing has traffic wardens.

“Is it wrong that I am smiling?” Mr. Wildstein texted Ms. Kelly.

“No,” she texted back.

“I feel badly about the kids,” he texted.

“They are the children of Buono voters,” she said, referring to Mr. Christie’s Democratic opponent, Barbara Buono, who was trailing consistently in the polls and lost by a wide margin.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/nyregion/christie-aide-tied-to-bridge-lane-closings.html?hp&_r=0

Yeah, F*** the kids. They're only the children of Buono voters.

This is clearly a case of official misconduct.

N.J.S.A. 2C:30-2 
 
A public servant is guilty of official misconduct when, with  
purpose to obtain a benefit for himself or another or to injure or to  
deprive another of a benefit:  
 
a. He commits an act relating to his office but  
constituting an unauthorized exercise of his official  
functions, knowing that such act is unauthorized or  
he is committing such act in an unauthorized  
manner; or  
 
b. He knowingly refrains from performing a duty  
which is imposed upon him by law or is clearly
inherent in the nature of his office.  

But I don't expect real charges to be filed. Charges are files when someone shoplifts $20 but when the elite do something illegal then its just a misunderstanding that can be worked out.

One way or the other, CC has a big problem. There is no way that he can convince anybody that he was not in the know. Even if it cannot be proven in a legal sense, this story is of the sticky variety and he won't easily be able to wash it off.

ctrzaska said:

jeffhandy said:

I remember quite a few people posting that Dems were grasping at straws and that Christie would never be involved, where did those guys go?

Well, I'm still here. And still wondering where the direct ties to Christie are.

That is a very weak defense.
Even if there are no direct ties, this thing reflects very poorly on Christie. It would suggest he was asleep at the switch as top aides and political appointees ran amok and wreaked havoc...also would call into question his judgement in selecting those people for positions of such responsibility.

This issue is what did he know and when did he know it, or in the alternative whether he should have known.
Betcha the blacked out portions of the emails give lots of good detail about that........