Christie is a liar

[Guest EXPAT]

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was asked how he would react if his child told him they were gay. Christie said “grab them and hug them and tell them I love them.” He then added that he would also say “that Dad believes that marriage is between one man and one woman.”

I really don't believe he believes this for one moment. I think this is what he believes he needs to do in order to win a national primary in the Republican party. That sad part is that his behavior is not real leadership despite what he may really believe.

[RA1]

I am not a fan of Christie.

Best regards,

RA1

[TampaYankee]

Christie is quite independent for a Republican in these times. Scratch 'quite' for 'very'. However, there are two third rails in GOP politics if I can stretch the metaphor: abortion choice and gay rights/marriage. It's not clear that any candidate could even get enough signatures to qualify for the dog catcher ballot in a GOP Primary. To expect him to take a stance contrary to these facts, whatever he believes, is to ask him to give a Shermanesque withdrawal from national office candidacy. I don't think he wants to do that.

'Leadership' is no great standard to bear if it leads you on Pickett's Charge and in the ash heap of history. Futile leadership in the face of unswerving intransigence may be exciting for the bystander or xhilarating for the romantic idealist as depicted in Les Miserables but the end is just as predictable.

[RA1]

I wondered if you meant John or General William Tecumseh at first but I suppose you mean WTS.

Best regards,

RA1

[Guest EXPAT]

Christie now gets the best of both worlds. He can tell the far right wing and the Christian Right that he did everything he could to not approve marriage in NJ and now "activist judges" have moved it forward and there was no real fight there. The middle and major donors in the east will and have applauded his stopping his appeal today because they think focusing on social issues loses elections for Republicans. So to Tampa's point, instead of showing real leadership in trying to create an environment of what he really believes, he just created a scenario that gives him somewhat the best of both worlds. That's not leadership. That's brinksmanship at its finest. And most people will be none-the-wiser of it.

[RA1]

Isn't this what pols today do? BO is a prime example.

Best regards,

RA1

[MsGuy]

The middle and major donors in the east will and have applauded his stopping his appeal today because they think focusing on social issues loses elections for Republicans.

I think it's more fundamental than that EXPAT.

I suspect the monied wing of the party fears they are losing control; that the freak show wings of the party, useful if somewhat noisy in the past, have gotten completely off the reservation.

What good does it do Silicon Valley to elect Republicans when the nativists block an immigration bill that would give them the tens of thousands of new visas they need to recruit top software engineers?

What good does it do Wall Street and Big Business types to elect Republicans only to see them make a serious run at defaulting on the US debt.

Whooping it up about Gays or aborted babies or Sharia law is all well and good and no doubt provides good entertainment for the great unwashed, but extending sequester another year instead of passing a budget has real consequences for the American economy.

As I mentioned in another post, some of the traditional funders of the Republican party are seriously debating whether they should deliberately sabotage the 2014 Congressional elections in order to regain control of the party. The folks with money haven't been challenged for control of the Republican party since Teddy Roosevelt's Bull Moose days (LOL & that time they blew up the party & elected Woodrow Wilson president rather accomodate the Progressives).

[AdamSmith]

'Moderate' Repub Senators are trying to help move this along: http://m.politico.com/iphone/story/1113/99511.html

[MsGuy]

AS, near as I can tell, the old bulls (& their pay masters) are just about fed up with tea party. And more than a little scared of them too.

Seems to be another case of "Don't conjure up demons you can't control."

Good article, by the way, although it requires a bit of reading between the lines.

[Guest Paragon]

Christie's presidential hopes are history now...and yes, he's a liar! Bridgegate is the end!

http://www.latimes.com/local/abcarian/la-me-ra-chris-christie-emails-bridge-closure-20140108,0,1740496.story#axzz2pqslELoi

[Guest Hoover42]

They're all scum, don't you know that now?

Apologies to anyone who actually has faith in politicians.

[AdamSmith]

The shit thickens.

Ex-Port Authority Official Says ‘Evidence Exists’ Christie Knew About Lane Closings

By KATE ZERNIKE

The New York Times

January 31, 2014

The former Port Authority official who personally oversaw the lane closings at the George Washington Bridge, central to the scandal now swirling around Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, said on Friday that “evidence exists” the governor knew about the lane closings when they were happening.

In a letter released by his lawyer, the former official, David Wildstein, a high school friend of Mr. Christie’s who was appointed with the governor’s blessing at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the bridge, described the order to close the lanes as “the Christie administration’s order” and said “evidence exists as well tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference” three weeks ago.

During his news conference, Mr. Christie specifically said he had no knowledge that traffic lanes leading to the bridge had been closed until after they were reopened. “I had no knowledge of this — of the planning, the execution or anything about it — and that I first found out about it after it was over,” he said. “And even then, what I was told was that it was a traffic study.”

The letter does not specify what the evidence was. Nonetheless, it is the first signal that Mr. Christie, a Republican, may have been aware of the closings, and marks a striking break with a previous ally.

The letter, sent from Mr. Wildstein’s lawyer, Alan Zegas, is to the Port Authority’s general counsel, contesting the agency’s decision over the legal fees. But it is clearly meant as a threat to the governor. Indeed, the allegations make up just one paragraph in a two-page letter that otherwise focuses on Mr. Wildstein’s demand that his legal fees be paid and that he be indemnified.

Mr. Zegas did not respond to requests to discuss the letter, which also consisted of a strong defense of Mr. Wildstein against negative comments Mr. Christie made about him during the news conference. “Mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various statements that the governor made about him, and he can prove the inaccuracy of some,” the letter added.

The bridge scandal erupted in early January, when documents emerged revealing that a deputy chief of staff to the governor, Bridget Anne Kelly, had sent an email to Mr. Wildstein saying, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” the town at the New Jersey end of the bridge, where Mr. Christie’s aides had pursued but failed to receive an endorsement from the mayor, who is a Democrat. The letter does not delve into the motives behind the lane closings.

A spokesman for Mr. Christie did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Friday.

Mr. Christie has steadfastly denied that he knew before this month that anyone in his administration was responsible for the lane closings, and his administration has tried to portray the closures as the actions of a rogue staff member.

The governor fired Ms. Kelly.

The closings caused extensive gridlock in Fort Lee, stretching some commutes to four hours and delaying emergency vehicles.

Mr. Wildstein communicated the order to close the lanes to bridge operators. He resigned from his position as the director of interstate capital projects at the Port Authority in early December, saying that the scandal over the lane closings in September had become “a distraction.” In a statement that documents show was personally approved by the governor, the administration praised him as “a tireless advocate for New Jersey’s interests at the Port Authority.”

The Port Authority has since refused to pay his legal costs associated with inquiries by the New Jersey Legislature and United States attorney into the lane closings. In his two-hour news conference earlier this month, Mr. Christie said his friendship with Mr. Wildstein had been overstated; that while the governor had been class president and an athlete, he did not recall Mr. Wildstein well from that period and had rarely seen him in recent months.

The Wall Street Journal has since published photos showing the two men laughing together at a Sept. 11 anniversary event — which happened during the four days the lanes were closed. A high school baseball coach also recalled them as friends in high school.

The Legislature has sent subpoenas to Mr. Wildstein and 17 other people as well as the governor’s campaign and administration seeking information about the lane closings. That information is due back on Monday.

Ms. Kelly’s email was revealed in documents Mr. Wildstein submitted in response to an earlier subpoena from the legislature. But those documents were heavily redacted, leaving clues but no answers as to who else might have been involved in the lane closings. Some of the documents, for example, showed texts between Mr. Wildstein and Ms. Kelly trying to set up a meeting with the governor around the time the plan for the lane closings was hatched. But it is unclear what the meeting was about.

Other texts show Mr. Wildstein and Mr. Christie’s top appointee at the Port Authority, Bill Baroni, disparaging the mayor of Fort Lee during the lane closings, and discussing how to respond to the mayor’s complaints and inquiries from reporters. Those texts, too, are heavily redacted, but indicate that the two men were in contact with the governor’s office at the time.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/nyregion/christie-bridge.html?_r=0&referrer

Former Christie Ally Alleges Governor Knew About Lane Closures David Wildstein letter says Christie knew of lane closures SHUSHANNAH WALSHE, JOSH MARGOLIN and LISA SOLOWAY

Jan. 31, 2014—

abc.com

David Wildstein, the former Port Authority official who oversaw the George Washington Bridge lane closings that led to the bridgegate scandal, said today that "evidence exists" that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie knew about lanes closing as they were happening.

Christie has denied knowing that the lanes were being shut down and did not know about them and that he learned about it "after it was over." The lane closures caused traffic havoc for several days in Fort Lee, N.J., and for New York City commuters. In the letter, first reported by the New York Times and obtained by ABC News, Wildstein, also a former high school friend of Christie, writes "evidence exists...tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the Governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference...Mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various statements that the Governor made about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some."

In that press conference earlier this month Christie said "there's no way that anybody would think that I know about everything that's going on, not only in every agency of government at all times."

"So what I can tell you is if people find that hard to believe, I don't know what else to say except to tell them that I had no knowledge of this -- of the planning, the execution or anything about it -- and that I first found out about it after it was over," Christie said.

Christie, a Republican, and some of his aides were accused of closing the bridge lanes to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee who had declined to endorse him for reelection.

The governor's office issued a statement today saying that he had not "prior knowledge" of the lane closures, and that he "denies Mr. Wildstein's lawyer's other assertions.”

The statement in full reads: "Mr. Wildstein's lawyer confirms what the Governor has said all along - he had absolutely no prior knowledge of the lane closures before they happened and whatever Mr. Wildstein's motivations were for closing them to begin with. As the Governor said in a December 13th press conference, he only first learned lanes were closed when it was reported by the press and as he said in his January 9th press conference, had no indication that this was anything other than a traffic study until he read otherwise the morning of January 8th. The Governor denies Mr. Wildstein's lawyer's other assertions.”

The Star-Ledger, New Jersey's largest newspaper, said Christie should resign if Wildstein's allegation proves to be true.

Letter From David Wildstein's Lawyer

Copyright © 2014 ABC News Internet Ventures

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/christie-ally-alleges-governor-knew-lane-closures/print?id=22321159

[ihpguy]

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