Germanicus
01-08-2014, 04:40 PM
(Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was thrust deeper into a scandal with the release on Wednesday of emails showing his staff was involved in closing lanes at the George Washington Bridge, a move critics called political retribution.
At a news conference in Trenton, New Jersey, Deputy Assembly Speaker John Wisniewski, a Democrat, said revelations about the emails showed "government at its worst."
"Among other things, they call into serious question the honesty of this governor and his staff. As a result of what has been revealed today, this governor has a lot of explaining to do," Wisniewski said.
Christie often touts his willingness to work with opponents as well as allies - a stance seen as a way of positioning himself as a national candidate able to close bitter partisan divides and win the White House.
"Now we have concrete proof that the Christie administration saw them all as collateral damage in a vindictive quest to punish its political enemies," said the spokesman, Rob Duffey, in a statement.
Copies of the emails, many of them on private accounts, were obtained and published by the Bergen Record, The New York Times and other media.
The emails were supplied to the media by Wildstein, the Port Authority executive, in response to a subpoena issued by a panel of state lawmakers. A long-time Christie ally, Wildstein previously has admitted ordering the lane closures and resigned in December. He is due to testify before the panel on Thursday.
A second top Christie appointee at the Port Authority resigned a week later.
One email showed the Christie aide talking with Port Authority about ignoring Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, who was seeking an explanation for the unexpected closings.
"Radio silence," Wildstein said in an email when asked if anyone had returned the mayor's calls.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/08/us-usa-newjersey-bridge-idUSBREA0710H20140108
What a big fat liar. And a coward. Where is he hiding?
Chris Christie is an utter loon and I am not surprised at all that he would use his position to do such a disgusting thing. I saw the fat liar at a Town Hall ( as you Americans call those. (: Monorail! Monorail! Monorail! rabble rabble rabble!) and a kid asked him what he likes best about his job. The fat liar squeezed the opportunity ( why are young children asking this fat liar questions at a Town Hall? For the cameras? Seemed staged ) it for all its worth and he talks all nice to this kid in a stupid voice and tell the kid that when he goes to New York there is no traffic because he is the governor and path is cleared for the fat liar through traffic. And some in the crowd laughed. ( some looked lik they wished he would shut the fuck up and get back to serious questions ). So anyway, this fat liar is an admited megalomaniac. That enjoys the power he has over motorists/traffic.
And where is he? Hiding under his bed? Would he fit under there? What a liar and coward Obamas boyfriend Chris Christie is.
And this fat clown wants to be President? What a joke.
Maybe someone on 'mainstreet' should call a 'Town Hall' about this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVqVdQYC44Y
“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Bridget Anne Kelly, one of Christie’s deputies, wrote (http://www.northjersey.com/news/christie_kelly_bridge_lane_closures_emails.html) to David Wildstein, a top Christie appointee at the Port Authority, on Aug. 14. “Got it,” was his reply. (You can view all the e-mails here (http://www.northjersey.com/news/Documents_GWB_emails_between_Port_Authority_and_Ch ristie_administration.html).) What resulted was a week of traffic jams that held up emergency vehicles, buses filled with school children, and thousands of innocent commuters.
It gets worse. Somebody—the name is redacted, leaving it open to guessing—responded to the resulting mess (http://www.northjersey.com/news/christie_kelly_bridge_lane_closures_emails.html) with what is, shall we say, unpresidential glee:
“Is it wrong that I’m smiling,” the recipient of the text message responded to Wildstein. The person’s identity is not clear because the documents are partially redacted for unknown reasons.
“No,” Wildstein wrote in response.
“I feel badly about the kids,” the person replied to Wildstein. “I guess.”
“They are the children of Buono voters,” Wildstein wrote.
Until today, Christie had treated the bridge-closing scandal as a joke. Not anymore. As the Record puts it (http://www.northjersey.com/news/christie_kelly_bridge_lane_closures_emails.html):
“The documents obtained by The Record raise serious doubts about months of claims by the Christie administration that the September closures of local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge were part of a traffic study initiated solely by the Port Authority. Instead, they show that one of the governor’s top aides was deeply involved in the decision to choke off the borough’s access to the bridge, and they provide the strongest indication yet that it was part of a politically motivated vendetta—a notion that Christie has publicly denied.”
What’s so damaging to Christie about these revelations is that they expose him and his brain trust as breathtakingly venal and vindictive. Respectable politicians don’t block ambulances to retaliate at political opponents (in the parlance of right-wing talk-radio hosts, that’s called “bare-knuckle Chicago politics” and is practiced only by Democrats). The messages also shatter Christie’s carefully constructed image as a “nice” jerk fighting for the little guy. They show that he is, in fact, an entirely different kind of jerk, and that the little guy can go to hell.
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-08/fort-lee-bridge-closing-scandal-shatters-chris-christies-nice-guy-image-imperils-his-presidential-campaign
Ha ha!
At a news conference in Trenton, New Jersey, Deputy Assembly Speaker John Wisniewski, a Democrat, said revelations about the emails showed "government at its worst."
"Among other things, they call into serious question the honesty of this governor and his staff. As a result of what has been revealed today, this governor has a lot of explaining to do," Wisniewski said.
Christie often touts his willingness to work with opponents as well as allies - a stance seen as a way of positioning himself as a national candidate able to close bitter partisan divides and win the White House.
"Now we have concrete proof that the Christie administration saw them all as collateral damage in a vindictive quest to punish its political enemies," said the spokesman, Rob Duffey, in a statement.
Copies of the emails, many of them on private accounts, were obtained and published by the Bergen Record, The New York Times and other media.
The emails were supplied to the media by Wildstein, the Port Authority executive, in response to a subpoena issued by a panel of state lawmakers. A long-time Christie ally, Wildstein previously has admitted ordering the lane closures and resigned in December. He is due to testify before the panel on Thursday.
A second top Christie appointee at the Port Authority resigned a week later.
One email showed the Christie aide talking with Port Authority about ignoring Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, who was seeking an explanation for the unexpected closings.
"Radio silence," Wildstein said in an email when asked if anyone had returned the mayor's calls.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/08/us-usa-newjersey-bridge-idUSBREA0710H20140108
What a big fat liar. And a coward. Where is he hiding?
Chris Christie is an utter loon and I am not surprised at all that he would use his position to do such a disgusting thing. I saw the fat liar at a Town Hall ( as you Americans call those. (: Monorail! Monorail! Monorail! rabble rabble rabble!) and a kid asked him what he likes best about his job. The fat liar squeezed the opportunity ( why are young children asking this fat liar questions at a Town Hall? For the cameras? Seemed staged ) it for all its worth and he talks all nice to this kid in a stupid voice and tell the kid that when he goes to New York there is no traffic because he is the governor and path is cleared for the fat liar through traffic. And some in the crowd laughed. ( some looked lik they wished he would shut the fuck up and get back to serious questions ). So anyway, this fat liar is an admited megalomaniac. That enjoys the power he has over motorists/traffic.
And where is he? Hiding under his bed? Would he fit under there? What a liar and coward Obamas boyfriend Chris Christie is.
And this fat clown wants to be President? What a joke.
Maybe someone on 'mainstreet' should call a 'Town Hall' about this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVqVdQYC44Y
“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” Bridget Anne Kelly, one of Christie’s deputies, wrote (http://www.northjersey.com/news/christie_kelly_bridge_lane_closures_emails.html) to David Wildstein, a top Christie appointee at the Port Authority, on Aug. 14. “Got it,” was his reply. (You can view all the e-mails here (http://www.northjersey.com/news/Documents_GWB_emails_between_Port_Authority_and_Ch ristie_administration.html).) What resulted was a week of traffic jams that held up emergency vehicles, buses filled with school children, and thousands of innocent commuters.
It gets worse. Somebody—the name is redacted, leaving it open to guessing—responded to the resulting mess (http://www.northjersey.com/news/christie_kelly_bridge_lane_closures_emails.html) with what is, shall we say, unpresidential glee:
“Is it wrong that I’m smiling,” the recipient of the text message responded to Wildstein. The person’s identity is not clear because the documents are partially redacted for unknown reasons.
“No,” Wildstein wrote in response.
“I feel badly about the kids,” the person replied to Wildstein. “I guess.”
“They are the children of Buono voters,” Wildstein wrote.
Until today, Christie had treated the bridge-closing scandal as a joke. Not anymore. As the Record puts it (http://www.northjersey.com/news/christie_kelly_bridge_lane_closures_emails.html):
“The documents obtained by The Record raise serious doubts about months of claims by the Christie administration that the September closures of local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge were part of a traffic study initiated solely by the Port Authority. Instead, they show that one of the governor’s top aides was deeply involved in the decision to choke off the borough’s access to the bridge, and they provide the strongest indication yet that it was part of a politically motivated vendetta—a notion that Christie has publicly denied.”
What’s so damaging to Christie about these revelations is that they expose him and his brain trust as breathtakingly venal and vindictive. Respectable politicians don’t block ambulances to retaliate at political opponents (in the parlance of right-wing talk-radio hosts, that’s called “bare-knuckle Chicago politics” and is practiced only by Democrats). The messages also shatter Christie’s carefully constructed image as a “nice” jerk fighting for the little guy. They show that he is, in fact, an entirely different kind of jerk, and that the little guy can go to hell.
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-08/fort-lee-bridge-closing-scandal-shatters-chris-christies-nice-guy-image-imperils-his-presidential-campaign
Ha ha!