Chris Christie traffic scandal: An end to presidential plans?

Why anyone thought that dude in swimming trunks would be good for tourism is beyond me.

 

Eh, the Sandy thing doesn't seem to compelling to me. Tourism is important to the rebuilding of Jersey Shore. And Chris Christie is actually a pretty good spokesman to feature because he can speak with authority that not many other spokesmen can match.

Sure, he gets incumbency benefit this way, which is an advantage incumbents always have. And, the extra $2m in cost doesn't seem justified since I assume Christie wasn't actually paid for being in the ad. It'd be nice to have some clarity on why the bid was so much higher; Christie presence might have nothing at all to do with the price.

 

Mike "Christian Socialist" Huckabee won't win the GOP nomination. Too many from both the hard right and traditional Republican camps would veto his candidacy. He doesn't have a chance.

I doubt Huckabee could even do well in the Iowa caucuses if he lasted that long.

 

Who were the henchmen trying to please if they did this without Christie's knowledge?

 

too funny!

Christie's hometown newspaper

What Chris Christie bridge scandal? Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi!

By Star-Ledger Editorial Board

Somehow, the right’s response to Chris Christie’s still-breaking Bridgegate scandal has devolved into this: Why are you writing about New Jersey traffic jams, because Benghazi!

In letters to newspapers and online comments, in phone calls to their favorite conservative radio and TV pundits, conservatives are in a state of collective denial: They refuse to acknowledge there’s anything to Gov. Chris Christie and the George Washington Bridge scandal until President Obama and the consular attack in Benghazi get equal time.

The Republicans’ nothing-to-see-here talking points come from on high: Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee (and, like Christie, a Morris County guy) praised Christie’s 111-minute apology news conference last week, suggesting others should follow the governor’s lead: “Now, only if Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would give us 111 seconds of that, would we find out some things we want to find out about Obamacare, Benghazi, the IRS.”

On "Fox News Sunday," Karl Rove responded to Bob Woodward’s comment that the Bridgegate scandal was significant because it originated in Christie’s office: “So did Benghazi, and so did IRS … come out of appointees of President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton!”

What’s clear is that, scandal or not, most of the Republican Party won’t abandon Christie – the only GOP candidate assumed to have the juice to compete for the White House in 2016. Just the opposite: They’re circling the wagons and shoveling Benghazi and other old news at the public to divert attention from headlines coming out of New Jersey.

What’s the difference? Here are three reasons the unrelated Bridgegate and Benghazi stories aren’t getting equal time – and shouldn’t.

Intent: America’s press corps has looked at Benghazi, the IRS scandal and the other Obama-related scandals tossed around last weekend. In each case, the facts dampened the early cries of conspiracy and cover-up. In Benghazi, neither congressional investigators nor the New York Times found evidence to support the idea of a concerted executive branch failure or cover-up. In the IRS fiasco, an investigation found both conservative and liberal political groups were subject to review – and everyone got what they wanted, anyway.

The Bridgegate story blew up last week precisely when documented evidence surfaced that Christie’s top aides ordered the George Washington Bridge closures, presumably for political revenge against Fort Lee’s mayor, and that the dangerous traffic jams that resulted were premeditated.

Coverage: It’s hard to argue that Benghazi, the IRS scandal or Obamacare’s glitchy website weren’t covered in full. Each story was subject to intense coverage when it broke – just as Bridgegate is breaking now. To expect coverage of old stories to increase because of an uncomfortable new story is silly.

Just as silly are suggestions that New Jersey media, including The Star-Ledger, are spending too much time covering a breaking story of corruption in the governor’s office. Because Benghazi?

Cover-ups: Each scandal resuscitated by the right last week began with cover-up allegations that have faded under the bright lights of media coverage and federal investigation.

Meanwhile, new evidence that Christie’s aides tried to cover their tracks is surfacing as thousands of newly released documents and e-mails are made public. None of the evidence suggests the governor was involved at that level, but there are a lot of questions about the GWB lane closures that still haven’t been answered.

Bridgegate isn’t Watergate yet, but the comparison has been made. But it’s not Benghazi, either – no matter how desperately the right wing would like everyone to believe it is.

 

It's especially interesting to see them drag this out again when just yesterday the FBI said this:
[rquoter]WASHINGTON — F.B.I. investigators do not believe Internal Revenue Service officials committed crimes in the unusually heavy scrutiny of conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status, a law enforcement official said Monday.[/rquoter]
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/14/u...ikely-in-scrutiny-by-the-irs.html?ref=us&_r=0

 

Oh my...

“I have had no contact with David Wildstein in a long time, a long time, well before the election,” Christie said. “You know, I could probably count on one hand the number of conversations I’ve had with David since he worked at the Port Authority. I did not interact with David.”

--Chris Christie [last week]



Gov. Chris Christie was with the official who arranged the closure of local lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 11, 2013 — the third day of the closures, and well after they had triggered outrage from local officials beset by heavy traffic.

WSJ

 

Here's an interesting take by one of my favorite writers; he arguably knows human nature better than anyone else I've ever heard express themselves (just based on The Wire alone).

http://davidsimon.com/the-highways-jammed-with-broken-heroes/

"“The highway’s jammed with broken heroes…”
08 JAN

He knew.

We can say this now with certainty if we ask ourselves one basic question about human nature: What good does it do a political operative to screw over the opposition if you can’t then tell your boss about it? Where is the joy for any lickspittle hack in the office hierarchy if he or she can’t pull off a dirty trick against a political adversary, then walk down the hall and tell the boss just how well you did on his behalf? What would be the point?

I’ve actually found New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s bluster and anger to be endearing at times, if only for the plain-speaking insistence on results. I don’t find anger to be a particularly negative trait when that anger is offered on behalf of others, nor do I regard argument as anything other than a worthy endeavor if the argument is actually about something. I didn’t agree with Mr. Christie on any number of issues, but I found him credible as a public servant. He reminded me in some respects of the late Maryland Governor and Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer — Mayor Annoyed as we knew him, the angriest, melon-headedest white man in our tarnished state’s political firmament. ”Do It Now,” was Mr. Schaefer’s daily mantra, and while he could be stubborn and bullying at points — and petty and juvenile at his worst moments — he got quite a bit done during his tenure. My city and state could have done a lot worse with more restrained and thoughtful leadership.

But even Mr. Schaefer’s petulance and childishness had its limits. ..." (continued at the link)

 

Good, the more they can pile on this guy the better.

 

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That's gonna sting.

 

I love the democrats' faux outrage! It just shows how scared they are...

 

I don't think it's outrage. I think it's amusement. Faux has been dropping scandals like this on Dems for a decade.

 

I have zero interest in this from a national or political republican/democrat perspective.

to assume that is lazy thinking.

 

I think it was actually Bruce. But i can see where you got confused -- similar age and relevance to music today.

 

Huge misunderstanding. Attempting to continue with his diet, Christy angrily told his staff to "close the f****** fridge already."

 

Damn right I'm scared of the possibility of Chris Christie, the vindictive control freak, leading this country.

He'll probably start WW3 with Russia when he finds out the conference chairs at the Kremlin aren't wide enough for him.

 

Obama and his henchmen use the NSA and the IRS to get at their enemies. Christie's staffers used a traffic jam. Obama loses again

 

Doesn't it ever bother you to lie so much? Have you no shame?