(CNN) -- E-mails emerged on Wednesday purportedly from top aides to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie bolstering the case that access lane closures to the George Washington Bridge were borne from a political vendetta against opponents of the governor, and were not the result of an incompetent traffic study as his administration claimed.

"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie's deputy chief of staff for legislative and intergovernmental affairs, e-mailed David Wildstein, then the highest-level political appointee representing the state at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

That communication occurred roughly three weeks before the access lanes were closed last September, wreaking havoc on traffic from the New Jersey side of the nation's busiest bridge that crosses into New York.

"Got it," Wildstein replied.

CNN obtained the e-mails but none of those cited in this report responded for comment to confirm their veracity.

Democrats have alleged the lane closures were revenge against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for not endorsing Christie in his re-election effort, and the e-mails and text messages provide some evidence for that suspicion.

Christie's office could not be reached for comment, but the Governor has insisted he knew nothing about any political vendetta.

At a press conference last month, Christie said he could only repeat what his appointee, Port Authority Deputy Executive Director Bill Baroni, "has said publicly and to everybody in this office, which is they believed the traffic study was necessary and that they ordered it, but the way they did it was mistaken and they didn't follow protocols."

Christie announced at that time Baroni would leave the job, which he has. Wildstein resigned in December when the scandal started to get some notice.

On the first morning of the lane closures, in response to a phone message from Sokolich regarding an "urgent matter of public safety in Fort Lee," Kelly asked Wildstein if the Mayor's call had been returned.

Wildstein wrote to Kelly: "Radio silence. His name comes right after mayor Fulop." Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, a Democrat who also didn't endorse Christie.

Fulop claimed this week his decision was met on the same very day with news that New Jersey Cabinet and other high ranking officials were canceling meetings with him, and that a pension reform bill he had worked on was scuttled by a Democrat who had endorsed the Governor.

On the second day of the lane closures, at 8:04 am, Sokolich sent a text to Baroni. "Presently we have four very busy traffic lanes merging into only one toll booth. ... The bigger problem is getting kids to school. Help please. It's maddening."

Seeing that text, a person whose name has been redacted from the e-mails and text messages writes to Wildstein: "Is it wrong that I am smiling?"

"No," Wildstein responds.

"I feel badly about the kids," the unknown person writes.

"I guess," he or she adds a minute later.

Responds Wildstein: "They are the children of Buono voters."

Barbara Buono was Christie's Democratic opponent in the gubernatorial election that the governor won handily in November.

On September 13, Wildstein wrote to Kelly that the New York side of the bridge gave "Fort Lee back all three lanes this morning. We are appropriately going nuts. Samson helping us to retaliate."
David Samson chairs the Port Authority's Board of Commissioners and is a close Christie ally.

"We should talk," Sokolich wrote on September 17 to Wildstein, "Someone needs to tell me that the recent traffic debacle was not punitive in nature. The last four reporters that contacted me suggest that the people they are speaking with absolutely believe it to be punishment. Try as I may to dispel these rumors I am having a tough time. A private face-to-face would be important to me. Perhaps someone can enlighten me as to the errors of my ways. Let me know if you'll give me 10 minutes. Regards, Mark."

Wildstein sent the texts to Baroni.

"Have not heard back from Bridget," Wildstein noted.

"Fck," Baroni wrote back.

The next day, September 18, Wildstein e-mailed Bill Stepien, Christie's campaign manager, forwarding him a story from the Wall Street Journal titled "Bridge Jam's Cause a Mystery."

"I have empty boxes ready to take to work today, just in case," Wildstein wrote, an apparent reference to being fired. "It will be a tough November for this little Serbian," an apparent reference to Mayor Sokolich.

On October 3, Baroni asks Wildstein what the "Trenton feedback" is. Trenton is the capital of New Jersey and where Christie's headquarters are.

"Good," Wildstein wrote.

"Just good?" Baroni wrote. "gak."

"No I have only texted brudget (sic) and Nicole they were VERY happy," Wildstein responded. "Both said you are doing great. Charlie said you did GREAT."

The Port Authority, which is run jointly by New Jersey and New York, oversees the tunnels, bridges and seaports between the two states, as well as the metropolitan area's airports.

 Breotan wrote:
I think the last thing we want as a Governor (or even as President) is a Bart Simpson soundalike saying, "I didn't do it. Nobody saw me. Can't prove anything." every time someone in your administration does something wrong.

 Breotan wrote:
The problem is, Sebster, that you have to hold the guy at the top accountable or you've given him and his staff permission to do whatever they want. Bring in a staffer to do your dirty work, then if he gets caught say how disappointed your are and cut him loose. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.

I think the last thing we want as a Governor (or even as President) is a Bart Simpson soundalike saying, "I didn't do it. Nobody saw me. Can't prove anything." every time someone in your administration does something wrong.

 sebster wrote:
If they can't prove Christie's direct knowledge, then I'm not sure it can really be linked to him. I mean, yeah, we like to think the person in charge sets the tone for their office, and sometimes that's true (snip)

 whembly wrote:


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Update:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/christie_kelly_bridge_lane_closures_emails.html
Chris Christie on BridgeGate: “What I've seen today for the first time is unacceptable. I am outraged and deeply saddened..."

Meh... my problem with this is this:
Although Christie is not in the email chains... these are his aides, all in agreement on this tactic. Enjoying themselves over traffic snarls, smiling about schoolbusses full of kids stuck in traffic.

It's plausible that Christie didn't know... but, he owns this. He allowed an environment of this under his watch.

I have no problem believing that minor apparatchiks do this kind of stuff all the time, and not to curry favour with their current boss, but to prove their authority to others for what happens when their boss is gone - "you didn't get on board with supporting Christie, well know I'm going to punish you, so you better play along with whoever we're lining up for governor next time". They were likely doing it long before Christie, and will likely be doing it long after he's gone.

Christie is a guy who's been voted in to office for a short period, he's not God-Emperor of New Jersey.

Dude its New Jersey... the New Mexico of the North.

In this case, he kind of has a history of petty vindictiveness.

I still do like him though; I mean, he's a petty jerk who holds a grudge over even the scarcest slight and metes out retribution with glee, so there is a lot to like there.

"Is there any reason to think the politician promoted or allowed a culture where this kind of thing was encouraged or permitted?"

 Ouze wrote:

 sebster wrote:
If they can't prove Christie's direct knowledge, then I'm not sure it can really be linked to him. I mean, yeah, we like to think the person in charge sets the tone for their office, and sometimes that's true (snip)

In this case, he kind of has a history of petty vindictiveness.

I still do like him though; I mean, he's a petty jerk who holds a grudge over even the scarcest slight and metes out retribution with glee, so there is a lot to like there.

chaos0xomega wrote:
Fun fact, most of that caters to New Yorkers who invade our shore every summer...

BTW, New Jersey is actually one of the least corrupt states in the country: http://247wallst.com/special-report/2012/03/22/americas-most-corrupt-states/

chaos0xomega wrote:
Did you read the article or the study?
Also here if you want more sources: http://www.stateintegrity.org/your_state
http://www.stateintegrity.org/new_jersey

New Jersey's Gov. Chris Christie has been tagged as a favorite, if not the favorite, for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. His landslide re-election victory in 2013, a quarter-century after the Garden State last voted for a Republican presidential candidate, made him look formidable.

But today a top political aide was implicated in a scandal that began late last summer. Although no evidence has emerged that the governor himself was involved, the story is certain to raise questions about his leadership.

"Private messages between Governor's Christie's [sic] deputy chief of staff and two of his top executives at the Port Authority reveal a vindictive effort to create 'traffic problems in Fort Lee' by shutting lanes to the George Washington Bridge and apparent pleasure at the resulting gridlock," the Record of Bergen County reports.

Here's a primer for readers unfamiliar with New York-area geography and government: The George Washington Bridge, also known locally as the GWB, is one of three structures (the other two are tunnels) that convey automotive traffic between the Garden State and Manhattan. Fort Lee is a community of about 35,000 on the New Jersey side of the bridge. The bridge can be entered from various highways and Fort Lee surface streets, and tolls are collected on New York-bound vehicles only.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a joint venture between the two states, oversees a vast infrastructure empire including not just bridges and tunnels but also airports, bus and shipping terminals, an interstate subway known as the PATH, and the World Trade Center. Gov. Christie and Andrew Cuomo of New York each appoint six members of the authority's Board of Commissioners and have the power to veto actions of their own appointees.

On Sept. 13 the Record's "Road Warrior" columnist, John Cichowski, reported that the authority had closed two tollbooths and "narrowed the traffic patterns on its approaches from two Fort Lee streets." Badly snarled traffic resulted. "I've asked the Port for an explanation, but they haven't responded," the paper quoted Fort Lee's mayor, Mark Sokolich, as saying. "I thought we had a good relationship. Now I'm beginning to wonder if there's something I did wrong. Am I being sent some sort of message?"

Cichowski reported the next day that the tollbooths had reopened. "The Port Authority has conducted a week of study at the . . . bridge of traffic-safety patterns," a spokesman told the columnist. "We will now review those results and determine the best traffic patterns." Cichowski didn't buy it: "Answers to basic follow-up questions: What was the goal? Who authorized this plan? And why didn't the Port Authority publicly warn motorists about it?--were met with stone-cold silence."

Sokolich's and Cichowski's suspicions appear to have been well-founded, as the Record's Shawn Boburg reports today:

"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." . . .
On Sept. 9, the first morning of the lane closures, Kelly asked in an e-mail if Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich's numerous calls to Port Authority officials had been returned.
"Radio silence," Wildstein replied. "His name comes right after mayor Fulop," an apparent reference to Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop.

Although the Record cautions that "the explosive documents . . . don't spell out the precise reason for the apparent retribution," the paper notes that Sokolich and Fulop, who are Democrats, had both declined to endorse the re-election of the governor, who had the support of 61 other elected Democrats.

Here's the most damning exchange:

In one exchange of text messages on the second day of the lane closures, Wildstein alludes to messages the Fort Lee mayor had left complaining that school buses were having trouble getting through the traffic.
"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, making a reference to Barbara Buono, the Democratic candidate for governor.

Wildstein, who "resigned last month amid the escalating scandal," supplied the documents to state legislative investigators in response to a subpoena.

The New York Times's Kate Zernike notes that the emails refute "Mr. Christie's repeated avowals that no one in his office or campaign knew." It's possible that Christie didn't know they knew--but even so, as Zernike writes, the revelations undermine "the governor's carefully crafted reputation as the rare politician who will tell it like it is. . . . And the pettiness described in the emails flies against the image Mr. Christie's aides have sought to craft for him, of a new kind of leader, above the partisan politics and small-mindedness of Washington."

We'd like to develop the point with a bit more specificity. Christie's reputation as a straight talker has made for a flattering contrast with the smooth-talking Barack Obama. Obama's deceptions, most notably his fraudulent claims about ObamaCare, have seriously damaged public trust in Washington. Christie's supposed candor made him look as if he might be the man to restore it.

Worse, the Christie administration's evident abuse of the Port Authority is reminiscent of the Obama administration's abuse of the Internal Revenue Service. Neither the governor nor the president has been shown to be directly involved, but each must bear a measure of responsibility for his subordinates' actions. One of Obama's worst traits is his unvarnished contempt for his political opponents. The new revelations from Trenton suggest that Christie's administration, if not the man himself, has a similar quality.

Its sheer pettiness is what distinguishes the GWB scandal from the ObamaCare and IRS ones. The ObamaCare fraud was in the service of an ambitious ideological agenda, and as we have argued, the 2012 election was close enough that it is possible the IRS's suppression of opposition was necessary to secure the president a second term. Christie, by contrast, is not much of an ideologue and was cruising to an easy re-election.

In the latter regard, the bridge shenanigans look more like the Watergate burglary--a gratuitous misuse of power. "Reporters will eventually demand to know . . . what Christie knew and when he knew it," observes conservative blogger Sean Davis. "None of the defenses now available to Christie--intentional deceit or intentional ignorance--paint him in a favorable light." That's especially true if voters two years from now are looking for a corrective to the corruption and deception of the Obama years.

 LordofHats wrote:
And to think. People actually kind of liked that guy. Oh well XD

 whembly wrote:
Ya know... this is a golden opportunity for the GOP to hammer the IRS scandal. You just know that the media will be asking Republicans about Bridgegate...

Spoiler:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304347904579308632102026344?mod=WSJ_Opinion_MIDDLETopOpinion

New Jersey's Gov. Chris Christie has been tagged as a favorite, if not the favorite, for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. His landslide re-election victory in 2013, a quarter-century after the Garden State last voted for a Republican presidential candidate, made him look formidable.

But today a top political aide was implicated in a scandal that began late last summer. Although no evidence has emerged that the governor himself was involved, the story is certain to raise questions about his leadership.

"Private messages between Governor's Christie's [sic] deputy chief of staff and two of his top executives at the Port Authority reveal a vindictive effort to create 'traffic problems in Fort Lee' by shutting lanes to the George Washington Bridge and apparent pleasure at the resulting gridlock," the Record of Bergen County reports.

Here's a primer for readers unfamiliar with New York-area geography and government: The George Washington Bridge, also known locally as the GWB, is one of three structures (the other two are tunnels) that convey automotive traffic between the Garden State and Manhattan. Fort Lee is a community of about 35,000 on the New Jersey side of the bridge. The bridge can be entered from various highways and Fort Lee surface streets, and tolls are collected on New York-bound vehicles only.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a joint venture between the two states, oversees a vast infrastructure empire including not just bridges and tunnels but also airports, bus and shipping terminals, an interstate subway known as the PATH, and the World Trade Center. Gov. Christie and Andrew Cuomo of New York each appoint six members of the authority's Board of Commissioners and have the power to veto actions of their own appointees.

On Sept. 13 the Record's "Road Warrior" columnist, John Cichowski, reported that the authority had closed two tollbooths and "narrowed the traffic patterns on its approaches from two Fort Lee streets." Badly snarled traffic resulted. "I've asked the Port for an explanation, but they haven't responded," the paper quoted Fort Lee's mayor, Mark Sokolich, as saying. "I thought we had a good relationship. Now I'm beginning to wonder if there's something I did wrong. Am I being sent some sort of message?"

Cichowski reported the next day that the tollbooths had reopened. "The Port Authority has conducted a week of study at the . . . bridge of traffic-safety patterns," a spokesman told the columnist. "We will now review those results and determine the best traffic patterns." Cichowski didn't buy it: "Answers to basic follow-up questions: What was the goal? Who authorized this plan? And why didn't the Port Authority publicly warn motorists about it?--were met with stone-cold silence."

Sokolich's and Cichowski's suspicions appear to have been well-founded, as the Record's Shawn Boburg reports today:

"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." . . .
On Sept. 9, the first morning of the lane closures, Kelly asked in an e-mail if Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich's numerous calls to Port Authority officials had been returned.
"Radio silence," Wildstein replied. "His name comes right after mayor Fulop," an apparent reference to Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop.

Although the Record cautions that "the explosive documents . . . don't spell out the precise reason for the apparent retribution," the paper notes that Sokolich and Fulop, who are Democrats, had both declined to endorse the re-election of the governor, who had the support of 61 other elected Democrats.

Here's the most damning exchange:

In one exchange of text messages on the second day of the lane closures, Wildstein alludes to messages the Fort Lee mayor had left complaining that school buses were having trouble getting through the traffic.
"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, making a reference to Barbara Buono, the Democratic candidate for governor.

Wildstein, who "resigned last month amid the escalating scandal," supplied the documents to state legislative investigators in response to a subpoena.

The New York Times's Kate Zernike notes that the emails refute "Mr. Christie's repeated avowals that no one in his office or campaign knew." It's possible that Christie didn't know they knew--but even so, as Zernike writes, the revelations undermine "the governor's carefully crafted reputation as the rare politician who will tell it like it is. . . . And the pettiness described in the emails flies against the image Mr. Christie's aides have sought to craft for him, of a new kind of leader, above the partisan politics and small-mindedness of Washington."

We'd like to develop the point with a bit more specificity. Christie's reputation as a straight talker has made for a flattering contrast with the smooth-talking Barack Obama. Obama's deceptions, most notably his fraudulent claims about ObamaCare, have seriously damaged public trust in Washington. Christie's supposed candor made him look as if he might be the man to restore it.

Worse, the Christie administration's evident abuse of the Port Authority is reminiscent of the Obama administration's abuse of the Internal Revenue Service. Neither the governor nor the president has been shown to be directly involved, but each must bear a measure of responsibility for his subordinates' actions. One of Obama's worst traits is his unvarnished contempt for his political opponents. The new revelations from Trenton suggest that Christie's administration, if not the man himself, has a similar quality.

Its sheer pettiness is what distinguishes the GWB scandal from the ObamaCare and IRS ones. The ObamaCare fraud was in the service of an ambitious ideological agenda, and as we have argued, the 2012 election was close enough that it is possible the IRS's suppression of opposition was necessary to secure the president a second term. Christie, by contrast, is not much of an ideologue and was cruising to an easy re-election.

In the latter regard, the bridge shenanigans look more like the Watergate burglary--a gratuitous misuse of power. "Reporters will eventually demand to know . . . what Christie knew and when he knew it," observes conservative blogger Sean Davis. "None of the defenses now available to Christie--intentional deceit or intentional ignorance--paint him in a favorable light." That's especially true if voters two years from now are looking for a corrective to the corruption and deception of the Obama years.

I'd argue that for pure pettiness... this bridge fiasco is more on a par with the shutdown of federal parks during the government shutdown than the IRS abuses. The IRS abuses appear to be intimidation for election purposes. The park blockades appeared to be pettiness to prove a point. The bridge fiasco also appears to be pettiness to prove a point.

Still... it's a black mark on Christie.

Funny how the press seems less excited about the IRS story though...


Automatically Appended Next Post:
EDIT:
Woah... his press conference on this...

Unequivocal apology AND questions afterward?

The contrast between Obama and Chris Christie in terms of owning a mess and fixing it is now pretty stark...

Aw dayum! Christie calls Kelly "stupid" and "deceitful" for her actions... The bus just hit her, then backed up over her. Then did it again.

o.O

Can't wait for the transcript...

 easysauce wrote:
love how the media trys to destroy christie over something one of his advisors said, that might tangentially mean he MAY have lied,

but will defend obamas lies about OB care et all till the cows come home....

I think the #1 problem with politik today are all the politicians in it

 Ouze wrote:
I see this thread has successfully gotten back on the usual message Re: Obama, History's Greatest Monster.

 whembly wrote:

 Ouze wrote:
I see this thread has successfully gotten back on the usual message Re: Obama, History's Greatest Monster.

Nah... it's the Media, History's Greatest Monster.

Case in point...

Four Dead in Benghazi- blame at the feet of the President: silence.
Lane Closure in NJ- Biggest scandal ever.

NSA collecting records (without a warrant) on every American- "Hey, I read about it in the newspaper."
Lane Closure in NJ- Biggest. Scandal. Ever.

IRS targeting Conservative groups: "Huh? What does that have to do with me?"
Lane Closure in NJ- Biggest! Scandal! Ever!

ObamaCare website rolled out with massive security flaws and, oh yeah, flat out doesn't work, "Oh, no one told me..."
Lane Closure in NJ- Biggest! Scandal! EVAH!!!

Email tells feds to make sequester as painful as promised

The White House announced Tuesday that it is canceling tours of the president’s home for the foreseeable future as the sequester spending cuts begin to bite and the administration makes good on its warnings of painful decisions.

Announcement of the decision — made in an email from the White House Visitors Office — came hours after The Washington Times reported on another administration email that seemed to show at least one agency has been instructed to make sure the cuts are as painful as President Obama promised they would be.

In the internal email, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service official Charles Brown said he asked if he could try to spread out the sequester cuts in his region to minimize the impact, and he said he was told not to do anything that would lessen the dire impacts Congress had been warned of.

“We have gone on record with a notification to Congress and whoever else that ‘APHIS would eliminate assistance to producers in 24 states in managing wildlife damage to the aquaculture industry, unless they provide funding to cover the costs.’ So it is our opinion that however you manage that reduction, you need to make sure you are not contradicting what we said the impact would be,” Mr. Brown, in the internal email, said his superiors told him.

Neither Mr. Brown nor the main APHIS office in Washington returned calls seeking comment, but Agriculture Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack, who oversees the agency, told Congress he is trying to give flexibility where he can.

“If we have flexibility, we’re going to try to use it to make sure we use sequester in the most equitable and least disruptive way,” the secretary told Rep. Kristi L. Noem, a South Dakota Republican who grilled Mr. Vilsack about the email. “There are some circumstances, and we’ve talked a lot about the meat inspection, where we do not have that flexibility because there are so few accounts.”

Ms. Noem told Mr. Vilsack that the email made it sound like the administration was sacrificing flexibility in order to justify its earlier dire predictions.

“I’m hopeful that isn’t an agenda that’s been put forward,” the congresswoman told Mr. Vilsack.

Late Tuesday evening, the Agriculture Department issued a statement disputing Mr. Brown’s read of the situation. The department said Mr. Brown had suggested dividing his region’s cuts among a number of states but he was told that idea was already part of their sequester plans.

“The APHIS budget officer explained that USDA is already proposing these steps in order to avoid furloughs. USDA is committed to doing all we can to minimize the impact of sequester [for] our employees and the farmers, ranchers, and rural communities we serve,” the department said in its statement.

The $85 billion in automatic spending cuts began Friday, leaving the White House with tough decisions to make — though it argues its hands are tied by the way the cuts were written into law.

That’s left the administration trying to balance dire predictions with good management.

Last week, immigration officials confirmed they were releasing immigrants awaiting deportation from their detention centers in order to save money, and this week top officials said they were already seeing long lines at airports because of cuts in screenings.

But those decisions are being scrutinized as agencies continue to advertise for job openings and spend on other priorities.

The White House had to fend off questions Tuesday about the Homeland Security Department’s decision to sign a $50 million contract for new uniforms for airport screeners, just days before the sequesters.

All sides in Washington agree there should be a way to lessen some of the impacts of the cuts.

The House will take at least a step toward that Wednesday when it votes on a new spending bill for the rest of fiscal year 2013 that would mitigate at least some of the sequester impacts in the Defense Department.

Senate Democrats are looking to write an even broader bill to rearrange money in several accounts.

Mr. Obama is pushing for the broadest possible deal later this year that would raise taxes and cut entitlement spending in order to restore some of the money trimmed in sequestration.

The White House said he made calls to some key members of Congress to sound them out on the prospects for that kind of deal.

“The president is engaging with lawmakers of both parties and will continue to do so,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters.

For now, though, the cuts remain in place — and that means the end of White House tours.

“Due to staffing reductions resulting from sequestration, we regret to inform you that White House Tours will be canceled effective Saturday, March 9, 2013 until further notice. Unfortunately, we will not be able to reschedule affected tours,” the White House said in an email to members of Congress.

The decision drew a derisive response from Capitol Hill, where Republicans said the move undercut Mr. Obama’s promises of openness.

Rep. Bill Johnson, Ohio Republican, said President Lincoln managed to keep the White House open during the darkest days of the Civil War, and wondered why Mr. Obama couldn’t do the same.

“If the president is unable to figure out how to keep the White House open to the American people after an 8.2 percent budget cut, then the American people are entitled to some answers from their chief executive as to why.”

The Capitol is facing its own cuts.

At the Capitol, staffers entering the building’s West Front were told Tuesday that the doorway there would be closed as of next week due to sequestration. That entrance is currently limited to credentialed visitors, so it won’t affect the public.

 Alexzandvar wrote:
The amount of tin foil hatting in this thread is so massive I swear you could see it from space.

The media was all OVER Bengazi, the IRS, The Obamacare website. What do you all watch!?!?!?

When Obamacare came out every news channel was jumping in on the disaster. I mean common, denying that the media doesn't give Obama just as much crap as the rest of the politicians in this country is absurd.

This is just like watching the daily show and seeing a segment were fox news makes a claim about OTHER networks not covering something negative about Obama, cut to OTHER netowrks covering something negative about Obama.

 whembly wrote:

 Ouze wrote:
I see this thread has successfully gotten back on the usual message Re: Obama, History's Greatest Monster.

Nah... it's the Media, History's Greatest Monster.

Case in point...

Four Dead in Benghazi- blame at the feet of the President: silence.
Lane Closure in NJ- Biggest scandal ever.

NSA collecting records (without a warrant) on every American- "Hey, I read about it in the newspaper."
Lane Closure in NJ- Biggest. Scandal. Ever.

IRS targeting Conservative groups: "Huh? What does that have to do with me?"
Lane Closure in NJ- Biggest! Scandal! Ever!

ObamaCare website rolled out with massive security flaws and, oh yeah, flat out doesn't work, "Oh, no one told me..."
Lane Closure in NJ- Biggest! Scandal! EVAH!!!

 d-usa wrote:

 whembly wrote:

 Ouze wrote:
I see this thread has successfully gotten back on the usual message Re: Obama, History's Greatest Monster.

Nah... it's the Media, History's Greatest Monster.

Case in point...

Four Dead in Benghazi- blame at the feet of the President: silence.
Lane Closure in NJ- Biggest scandal ever.

NSA collecting records (without a warrant) on every American- "Hey, I read about it in the newspaper."
Lane Closure in NJ- Biggest. Scandal. Ever.

IRS targeting Conservative groups: "Huh? What does that have to do with me?"
Lane Closure in NJ- Biggest! Scandal! Ever!

ObamaCare website rolled out with massive security flaws and, oh yeah, flat out doesn't work, "Oh, no one told me..."
Lane Closure in NJ- Biggest! Scandal! EVAH!!!

How the hell do I know about any of these things? Oh yeah...the media.

 gorgon wrote:

 LordofHats wrote:
And to think. People actually kind of liked that guy. Oh well XD

People like him because all they know about him are brohugs with Obama and pics of him in a windbreaker standing on a boardwalk after the hurricane. As his exposure increases and people start learning about his record AND personality, he'll become less and less the great moderate hope.

In less than 24 hours, the big three networks have devoted 17 times more coverage to a traffic scandal involving Chris Christie than they've allowed in the last six months to Barack Obama's Internal Revenue Service controversy. Since the story broke on Wednesday that aides to the New Jersey governor punished a local mayor's lack of endorsement with a massive traffic jam, ABC, CBS and NBC have responded with 34 minutes and 28 seconds of coverage. Since July 1, these same networks managed a scant two minutes and eight seconds for the IRS targeting of Tea Party groups.

In contrast, journalists such as Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos pounced on the developing Christie story. The GMA host opened the program on Thursday by announcing, "Chris Christie in crisis. Calls at this hour for the feds to step in, investigate the explosive e-mails."

Stephanopoulos later wondered, "One of the big questions right now, how much has it hampered his White House prospects?" Guest Matt Dowd insisted that, on a scale from one to ten, the controversy was already at a "four or five."

On the CBS Evening News, anchor Scott Pelley sounded a similar alarm: "Tonight, a potential presidential candidate caught up in scandal. E-mails show massive New Jersey traffic jams were engineered by aides to Governor Chris Christie as political payback."

NBC Nightly News host Brian Williams immediately spun the story as a political pitfall for the possible presidential contender: "In a jam. A big problem for a man with big ambitions. Tonight, how a traffic nightmare on the world's busiest bridge has spilled into a full blown scandal with the power to damage Chris Christie's political future."

Since Wednesday night, NBC included six reports over 14 minutes and 14 seconds. CBS devoted five reports over 12 minutes and 27 seconds. ABC managed 4 stories over seven minutes and 47 seconds.

As a comparison over the last six months, NBC featured a scant five seconds on updating the IRS story. CBS responded with a minute and 41 seconds. ABC produced a meager 22 seconds.

Although the media downplayed the IRS controversy from July through December (it first broke in May), it's not as though there wasn't much happening. As the Media Research Center documented, many potential story leads developed.

In December, House investigator Darrell Issa announced that the FBI and IRS chief counsel is stonewalling the investigation. In October, newly obtained e-mails showed that the scandal-plagued Lois Lerner, the woman at the center of the controversy, illegally gave Tea Party tax info to the FEC. That same month, it came out that an IRS official may have given confidential information to the White House.

These stories were buried by ABC, CBS and NBC, the same networks that have immediately deluged Republican Chris Christie, a 2016 contender, with coverage for his scandal.

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
The GOP's insane primaries blew the moderate hope out of the water last time:

Voters Shocked Christie Botched Such An Easy Political Cover-Up

WASHINGTON—Following revelations this week that staffers under New Jersey Governor Chris Christie manipulated traffic in a small New Jersey town to punish its mayor, mortified Americans across the nation reported that they were shocked to learn the potential 2016 presidential candidate could possibly fumble such an easy political cover-up. “Man, this guy wants to be President of the United States and he can’t even conceal an act of corruption this rinky-dink and run-of-the-mill from voters? It’s crazy,” Newark resident Carolyn Baum said in agreement with millions of stunned Americans, adding that she holds potential presidential candidates to much higher standards of subterfuge and graft. “I mean, this is a total softball. If he can’t even bully one little small-town mayor into submission by oppressing his constituents and get away with it, how can we reasonably believe he’s politically skilled enough to cover up national scandals like orchestrating a foreign war, illegally colluding with big business, or violating the civil liberties of millions of Americans? It’s a little scary, to be honest.” At press time, many Americans reported their faith in Christie’s presidential qualifications was somewhat restored after he released a series of statements pinning the blame on others and throwing top aides under the bus.

 Seaward wrote:

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
The GOP's insane primaries blew the moderate hope out of the water last time:

See, Huntsman's what is known as "a Democrat." He had zero hope of making it through.

Christie doesn't have much, either, and it's got nothing to do with how long and hard he hugged Obama. He's been on the wrong side of what single issue voters care about. I, for example, wouldn't consider voting for him due to his stance on Second Amendment issues.

 whembly wrote:
Here's some food for thought:

There's Already 17 Times More Coverage on Christie Scandal Than in Last Six Months of IRS

 Seaward wrote:

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
The GOP's insane primaries blew the moderate hope out of the water last time:

See, Huntsman's what is known as "a Democrat." He had zero hope of making it through.

Christie doesn't have much, either, and it's got nothing to do with how long and hard he hugged Obama. He's been on the wrong side of what single issue voters care about. I, for example, wouldn't consider voting for him due to his stance on Second Amendment issues.

 whembly wrote:
Here's some food for thought:

There's Already 17 Times More Coverage on Christie Scandal Than in Last Six Months of IRS

In less than 24 hours, the big three networks have devoted 17 times more coverage to a traffic scandal involving Chris Christie than they've allowed in the last six months to Barack Obama's Internal Revenue Service controversy. Since the story broke on Wednesday that aides to the New Jersey governor punished a local mayor's lack of endorsement with a massive traffic jam, ABC, CBS and NBC have responded with 34 minutes and 28 seconds of coverage. Since July 1, these same networks managed a scant two minutes and eight seconds for the IRS targeting of Tea Party groups.

In contrast, journalists such as Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos pounced on the developing Christie story. The GMA host opened the program on Thursday by announcing, "Chris Christie in crisis. Calls at this hour for the feds to step in, investigate the explosive e-mails."

Stephanopoulos later wondered, "One of the big questions right now, how much has it hampered his White House prospects?" Guest Matt Dowd insisted that, on a scale from one to ten, the controversy was already at a "four or five."

On the CBS Evening News, anchor Scott Pelley sounded a similar alarm: "Tonight, a potential presidential candidate caught up in scandal. E-mails show massive New Jersey traffic jams were engineered by aides to Governor Chris Christie as political payback."

NBC Nightly News host Brian Williams immediately spun the story as a political pitfall for the possible presidential contender: "In a jam. A big problem for a man with big ambitions. Tonight, how a traffic nightmare on the world's busiest bridge has spilled into a full blown scandal with the power to damage Chris Christie's political future."

Since Wednesday night, NBC included six reports over 14 minutes and 14 seconds. CBS devoted five reports over 12 minutes and 27 seconds. ABC managed 4 stories over seven minutes and 47 seconds.

As a comparison over the last six months, NBC featured a scant five seconds on updating the IRS story. CBS responded with a minute and 41 seconds. ABC produced a meager 22 seconds.

Although the media downplayed the IRS controversy from July through December (it first broke in May), it's not as though there wasn't much happening. As the Media Research Center documented, many potential story leads developed.

In December, House investigator Darrell Issa announced that the FBI and IRS chief counsel is stonewalling the investigation. In October, newly obtained e-mails showed that the scandal-plagued Lois Lerner, the woman at the center of the controversy, illegally gave Tea Party tax info to the FEC. That same month, it came out that an IRS official may have given confidential information to the White House.

These stories were buried by ABC, CBS and NBC, the same networks that have immediately deluged Republican Chris Christie, a 2016 contender, with coverage for his scandal.

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:

 gorgon wrote:

 LordofHats wrote:
And to think. People actually kind of liked that guy. Oh well XD

People like him because all they know about him are brohugs with Obama and pics of him in a windbreaker standing on a boardwalk after the hurricane. As his exposure increases and people start learning about his record AND personality, he'll become less and less the great moderate hope.

The GOP's insane primaries blew the moderate hope out of the water last time:



A man who's reduced homelessness in the state of Utah by 74%, by giving all the homeless an apartment and a case worker and reduced the crime and health expenditure in doing so, saving his state's taxpayers by deploying common sense and preventative remedy.

Good grief, I'd have given him my vote, if I could vote, over here.

Moderate hopes can't get traction in the hardline primaries, so instead we ended up with a string of lunatics and a tractionless beige billionaire who shifted his opinions like a coastal breeze.

Even if Christie were some form of saint, he's embraced Obama, not towed the line on total opposition and that alone has seen him labelled a RINO, he wouldn't survive the primaries with the current climate in the GOP.

Too many fethtards booing gay servicemen and too many nominees unwilling to reprimand them.

 Easy E wrote:


Or, BridgeGate is breaking and still has some strings to follow, while the IRS story is old news and doesn't really lead anywhere else at the moment.

Conspiracy!

 whembly wrote:

 Easy E wrote:


Or, BridgeGate is breaking and still has some strings to follow, while the IRS story is old news and doesn't really lead anywhere else at the moment.

Conspiracy!

C'mon... there's a difference in reporting an event vs. investigating an event.

Can you agree with that?

 Tannhauser42 wrote:

 whembly wrote:

 Easy E wrote:


Or, BridgeGate is breaking and still has some strings to follow, while the IRS story is old news and doesn't really lead anywhere else at the moment.

Conspiracy!

C'mon... there's a difference in reporting an event vs. investigating an event.

Can you agree with that?

Certainly there's a difference, but which one brings in more viewers right now?

 Easy E wrote:
No, because that is what viewers actually want in News.... new stuff. Once the IRS Investigation learns some new stuff, it will then be in the news.

On second thought, forget everything I just said. It is much more fun when you are paranoid and believe in the vast left-wing media conspiracy. You want to believe!

 Spacemanvic wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
No, because that is what viewers actually want in News.... new stuff. Once the IRS Investigation learns some new stuff, it will then be in the news.

On second thought, forget everything I just said. It is much more fun when you are paranoid and believe in the vast left-wing media conspiracy. You want to believe!

Must be more fun to live in ignorance and think youre getting the truth....

 d-usa wrote:
The Republicans are the Democrats greatest allies at this point. I'm waiting to see if they can throw another election like 2012.

 Easy E wrote:
No, because that is what viewers actually want in News.... new stuff. Once the IRS Investigation learns some new stuff, it will then be in the news.

On second thought, forget everything I just said. It is much more fun when you are paranoid and believe in the vast left-wing media conspiracy. You want to believe!

Christie and the IRS
Contrast the Governor's contrition with Obama's lack thereof.

Now that we have your attention, allow us to explain. Governor Chris Christie apologized to New Jersey on Thursday for aides who closed traffic lanes in order to punish a Democratic mayor, and he fired a deputy chief of staff. We mention the IRS because Mr. Christie's contrition contrasts so sharply with President Obama's handling of the tax agency's abuse of political opponents and his reluctance to fire anyone other than a military general for anything.

In his long press conference in Trenton, Mr. Christie was properly contrite, saying he had been "lied to" by the senior aide he proceeded to fire. He also said he is withdrawing his support for his former campaign manager to run the state Republican Party because the man had shown "callous and indifferent" behavior toward the people inconvenienced by the traffic-lane closures. If Mr. Christie really didn't know about this cheap exercise in political payback, and nothing new emerges, the incident shouldn't interfere with the Governor's expected presidential run.

That doesn't mean Mr. Christie shouldn't learn from the experience. One lesson is that he's going to have to upgrade the quality of his advisers as he moves onto the national scene. The traffic-lane-as-vendetta ploy is so dumb and petty that anyone who would attempt it isn't ready for prime time. Never mind putting it in email.

Mitt Romney was supposed to be a crack manager, but he surrounded himself with campaign lightweights and he suffered for it. One of Mr. Christie's selling points for the White House will be that he is an executive who has run a sizable state, so the media will descend on Trenton even more than it did on Wasilla, Alaska, for Sarah Palin. Better to clean out the hack loyalists now.

Which brings us to the Obama Administration, which quickly leaked to the media that the U.S. Attorney is investigating the lane closures as a criminal matter. Well, that sure was fast, and nice of Eric Holder's Justice Department to show its typical discretion when investigating political opponents.

This is the same Administration that won't tell Congress what resources it is devoting to the IRS probe, and appears to be slow-rolling it. It has also doubled down by expanding the political vetting of 501(c)(4) groups seeking tax-exempt status. Lois Lerner, who ran the IRS tax-exempt shop and took the Fifth before Congress, was allowed to "retire," presumably with a pension. Acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller resigned under pressure but no other heads have rolled. Yet compared to using the IRS against political opponents during an election campaign, closing traffic lanes for four days is jaywalking.

We raise this mostly because our media friends have been complicit in dismissing the IRS abuses, and for that matter every other legal abuse during the Obama years. The exception is the Edward Snowden theft of National Security Agency documents, which so far have exposed not a single example of law-breaking.

Not that this should make Mr. Christie or any other potential GOP candidate complacent. Republicans operate under a double media standard that holds them to a much lower scandal threshold. In that sense the pathetic New Jersey traffic-lane scandal may be, as Mr. Obama likes to say, a teachable moment.

 Kanluwen wrote:
I like how you post an opinion article as though it's fact.

How ya doing there pot?

In less than 24 hours, the big three networks have devoted 17 times more coverage to a traffic scandal involving Chris Christie than they've allowed in the last six months to Barack Obama's Internal Revenue Service controversy. Since the story broke on Wednesday that aides to the New Jersey governor punished a local mayor's lack of endorsement with a massive traffic jam, ABC, CBS and NBC have responded with 34 minutes and 28 seconds of coverage. Since July 1, these same networks managed a scant two minutes and eight seconds for the IRS targeting of Tea Party groups.

In contrast, journalists such as Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos pounced on the developing Christie story. The GMA host opened the program on Thursday by announcing, "Chris Christie in crisis. Calls at this hour for the feds to step in, investigate the explosive e-mails."

Stephanopoulos later wondered, "One of the big questions right now, how much has it hampered his White House prospects?" Guest Matt Dowd insisted that, on a scale from one to ten, the controversy was already at a "four or five."

On the CBS Evening News, anchor Scott Pelley sounded a similar alarm: "Tonight, a potential presidential candidate caught up in scandal. E-mails show massive New Jersey traffic jams were engineered by aides to Governor Chris Christie as political payback."

NBC Nightly News host Brian Williams immediately spun the story as a political pitfall for the possible presidential contender: "In a jam. A big problem for a man with big ambitions. Tonight, how a traffic nightmare on the world's busiest bridge has spilled into a full blown scandal with the power to damage Chris Christie's political future."

Since Wednesday night, NBC included six reports over 14 minutes and 14 seconds. CBS devoted five reports over 12 minutes and 27 seconds. ABC managed 4 stories over seven minutes and 47 seconds.

As a comparison over the last six months, NBC featured a scant five seconds on updating the IRS story. CBS responded with a minute and 41 seconds. ABC produced a meager 22 seconds.

Although the media downplayed the IRS controversy from July through December (it first broke in May), it's not as though there wasn't much happening. As the Media Research Center documented, many potential story leads developed.

In December, House investigator Darrell Issa announced that the FBI and IRS chief counsel is stonewalling the investigation. In October, newly obtained e-mails showed that the scandal-plagued Lois Lerner, the woman at the center of the controversy, illegally gave Tea Party tax info to the FEC. That same month, it came out that an IRS official may have given confidential information to the White House.

These stories were buried by ABC, CBS and NBC, the same networks that have immediately deluged Republican Chris Christie, a 2016 contender, with coverage for his scandal.

 Easy E wrote:
No, because that is what viewers actually want in News.... new stuff. Once the IRS Investigation learns some new stuff, it will then be in the news.

On second thought, forget everything I just said. It is much more fun when you are paranoid and believe in the vast left-wing media conspiracy. You want to believe!

 Easy E wrote:

 Spacemanvic wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
No, because that is what viewers actually want in News.... new stuff. Once the IRS Investigation learns some new stuff, it will then be in the news.

On second thought, forget everything I just said. It is much more fun when you are paranoid and believe in the vast left-wing media conspiracy. You want to believe!

Must be more fun to live in ignorance and think youre getting the truth....

Yeah, it is. I'm not angry and afraid all the time.

Class-action suit filed over bridge
By JOSE DELREAL | 1/9/14 6:52 PM EST Updated: 1/10/14 10:44 AM EST

A class-action complaint has been filed in federal court against top government officials connected to the George Washington Bridge scandal, the Fort Lee, N.J., attorney behind the move said Thursday.

The complaint — filed in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey by attorney Rosemarie Arnold — takes aim at key players in the controversy, naming Republican Gov. Chris Christie, his formeraide Bridget Kelly, former Port Authority officials Bill Baroni and David Wildstein, the state of New Jersey and the Port Authority as defendants.

As a class action, the exact number of members has not yet been determined, but according to the filing, it “includes any and all individuals and business owners” who were inconvenienced or hurt by the lane closures between Sept. 9 and Sept. 13. According to Arnold, the plaintiffs work or live in or near Fort Lee or New York City and are citing economic damages by the lane closures.

The complaint follows a whirlwind week for Christie, who said in a press conference Thursday that he was blindsided by a report in The Record that said senior members of his staff were connected with the lane closures on the George Washington Bridge.

Arnold, who officially filed the complaint Thursday, said she was first contacted by potential plaintiffs about suing back in September when allegations surfaced that the closures were politically motivated. At the time, however, she was hesitant to move forward because of a lack of evidence. Following the revelation that top Christie aides were connected to the closures, she now feels confident moving forward.

“At the time, I said, ‘You know, you have to be able to prove it. You can’t have these unsubstantiated allegations,’” Arnold said. “Now I think we have what we need. This is not a situation that complies with the 14th Amendment.”

Moving forward, the class listed in the complaint has to be certified by meeting certain criteria; Arnold said she is “100 percent” certain those steps will be cleared.

Arnold also stressed that her clients were not merely “inconvenienced” by the road closures.

“I have a client that suffers from panic attacks. And while she was stuck in this traffic, she started to have a panic attack. She and her husband were just trapped like rats,” Arnold said. “She walked out of the car, she threw up, and then she just wanted to leave, but she couldn’t walk home. The traffic was disastrous. And this was a deliberate attempt. This was the desired result of the political motivated closure.”

 Frazzled wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
No, because that is what viewers actually want in News.... new stuff. Once the IRS Investigation learns some new stuff, it will then be in the news.

On second thought, forget everything I just said. It is much more fun when you are paranoid and believe in the vast left-wing media conspiracy. You want to believe!

not really. Obama just appointed an Obama bundler to investigate Obama's administration for using the government to attack Obama's enemies. Strangely nothing about it in the NYT, WAPO, MSNBC, NBC, etc. etc. just those "right wing wacko" sites.

if this were Christie it would be wall to wall coverage.

 Ouze wrote:
How about you guys start a different thread about Obama and the IRS? The urge to make every single vaguely political thread about Obama is overwhelming, I know, but this thread is about Chris Christie's bridge thing.

 Alexzandvar wrote:
If your train of thought goes as this

>See something happen in politics
>find way to relate Obama no matter how indirect
>Proceed to harp on how Obama is the worst president ever
>Repeat

You need an intervention, and I don't say this because of just this thread, I say this because of how can't seem to go without shoehorning obama's failures into almost every thread.

I saw a post criticizing obama in the WH40k background section, holy crackers!

 whembly wrote:

 Alexzandvar wrote:
If your train of thought goes as this

>See something happen in politics
>find way to relate Obama no matter how indirect
>Proceed to harp on how Obama is the worst president ever
>Repeat

You need an intervention, and I don't say this because of just this thread, I say this because of how can't seem to go without shoehorning obama's failures into almost every thread.

I saw a post criticizing obama in the WH40k background section, holy crackers!

This is the OT forum...

Obama is the fething President of the United States? He ain't a nobody.... comes with the territory.

Funny how I tried to do a compare/contrast, ya'll want to attack me.

I guess it's working.

 Easy E wrote:
I think Whembly can take Fraz's crown as "Most Successful Poster at Trolling the Dakka Dakk OT Forum".

Sorry Fraz, no one stays on top forever.

Whembly, I doff my cap to you sir. Well done.

 Easy E wrote:
I think Whembly can take Fraz's crown as "Most Successful Poster at Trolling the Dakka Dakk OT Forum".

Sorry Fraz, no one stays on top forever.

Whembly, I doff my cap to you sir. Well done.

 Kanluwen wrote:
WAKE UP SHEEPLE!

Seriously though, if you do not understand why the idea of a "left-wing media conspiracy covering up the IRS investigation" is ridiculous I think you might want to bow out of this discussion.

 d-usa wrote:
The Obamablaming is getting pretty pathetic when even whembly goes "wait...wut?".

 whembly wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
The Obamablaming is getting pretty pathetic when even whembly goes "wait...wut?".

That picture doesn't make sense... isn't that when those contractors were killed and strung up on the bridge shortly after the Operation Iraqi Freedom?

 Kanluwen wrote:
CHRIS CHRISTIE WAS IN FALLUJAH!

It all makes sense now! Thank you Spacemanvic for opening our eyes!

 whembly wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
The Obamablaming is getting pretty pathetic when even whembly goes "wait...wut?".

That picture doesn't make sense... isn't that when those contractors were killed and strung up on the bridge shortly after the Operation Iraqi Freedom?

 d-usa wrote:

 Kanluwen wrote:
CHRIS CHRISTIE WAS IN FALLUJAH!

It all makes sense now! Thank you Spacemanvic for opening our eyes!

So it's his fault it fell, because he didn't order the lanes closed?

 Spacemanvic wrote:
Ohbumbo's mishandling of foreign policy lead to the eventual fall of the city. Not much of a peep in the media.

 Spacemanvic wrote:
Thats the photo of Fallujah bridge with the the dead contractors strung on it, which lead to the two battles for Fallujah.

SO......

Ohbumbo's mishandling of foreign policy lead to the eventual fall of the city. Not much of a peep in the media. Round Boy closes a bridge in NJ and there is a call for investigations.

 Goliath wrote:
Also, do you really have to constantly use those ridiculous names for Obama?

 Ouze wrote:

 Spacemanvic wrote:
Ohbumbo's mishandling of foreign policy lead to the eventual fall of the city. Not much of a peep in the media.

I see nothing factually inaccurate in your statements, nothing at all.

Scandals That Make News Media's 'Bridgegate Mania' Look Like a Joke
Whatever happened in New Jersey under Governor Chris Christie in regards to the already-infamous “bridgegate,” the open gloating by the media over the unacceptable behavior of the Republican governor’s staffers is extremely revealing.

Regardless of one’s views on Governor Chris Christie, this coordinated political feeding frenzy is liberal hypocrisy at its finest. Take a look at some of these over-the-top headlines:

Here are 25 underreported stories that most news media barely reported on, or blew by as quickly as possible because Democrats are involved.

1. Fast & Furious

Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt by the U.S. House for refusing to turn over Department of Justice documents related to the Fast and Furious gunrunning scandal, which led to hundreds of Mexican civilians being killed and U.S. border patrol agent Brian Terry’s death. (See NBC News, August 3, 2011 and Independent Journal Review, June 29, 2012.)

2. Benghazi

Tyrone Woods, Sean Smith, Christopher Stevens and Glen Doherty were killed during the attack, which came without any rescue attempt by the Obama administration. Nevertheless, the White House tried to cover up what happened by blaming a YouTube for causing the terrorist attack, even though there was no protest at the Libyan mission.

3. IRS Targeting Scandal

The IRS not only admitted that it had targeted the Tea Party and other conservative groups during the 2012 presidential campaign in an effort to challenge their tax-exempt status applications, but it also apologized for doing so. But where is the rest of the investigation, and what about accountability?

4. AP/Fox News Tracking

Eric Holder, the man who abruptly recused himself from the AP & Fox phone records scandal, signed off on the private email search warrant claiming Fox reporter James Rosen was a suspected criminal. Holder appears to have misled Congress by feigning he knew nothing about it. The Department of Justice also tracked the phone calls of AP news reporters.

5. ObamaCare’s No-Bid Website

According to a senior watchdog reporter at the Washington Examiner, federal officials only considered one firm to design the ObamaCare exchange website instead of putting the task up for competitive bidding.

6. NSA Scandal

At a Congressional hearing, Senator Ron Wyden asked Director of National Intelligence James Clapper if the NSA collect “any type of data” on law-abiding citizens. And Clapper said no. If the reports in the Washington Post and elsewhere on PRISM are accurate, then this statement appears to be a lie.

7. Weinergate

Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner confessed that he tweeted a bulging-underpants photo of himself to a young woman and admitted to “inappropriate” exchanges with six women before and after getting married at a press conference in New York shortly before resigning. (See Huffington Post, June 6, 2011.)

8. Spitzer Prostitution Scandal

Former Governor Elliot Spitzer resigned after it was discovered he had engaged in financial transactions with prostitute Ashley Dupre. Spitzer is pictured above holding a press conference with his humiliated wife Silda Wall. Spitzer later landed a short-running show on CNN. (See NY Daily News, June 23, 2010.)

9. Jon Edwards’ Infidelity

In 2008, John Edwards admitted he had cheated on his cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth, with former campaign staffer Rielle Hunter during his second presidential campaign. He was later indicted June 2011 on federal campaign finance charges. (See Huffington Post, June 1, 2012.)

10. Chris Dodd – Countrywide Scandal
Former Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee Chris Dodd (among five other politicians) received favorable loans from Countrywide that would have saved him up to $70,000, among other financial scandals. He is now Chairman of the Motion Pictures Association of America. (See NY Post, March 30, 2009.)

11. GSA Scandal

The General Services Administration or GSA held a lavish party during a five-day conference in Las Vegas, blowing over $820,000 in taxpayer dollars on shrimp and champagne, commemorative coins, and a mind reader/motivational speaker. (See ABC News, April 16, 2012.)

12. IRS Waste

The IRS blew $50 million dollars for extravagant conferences and ridiculous training videos, doled out $70 million in bonuses and even sent 23,994 tax refunds worth a combined $46,378,040 to “unauthorized” alien workers at one address in Atlanta, Georgia. All without a slap on the wrist.

13. Solyndra/ Green Energy

The now-bankrupt solar energy company, was able to procure $535 million in government loan guarantees. This was after the Obama campaign received over a $100,000 in donations from the “green energy” company, partly bundled for the Obama campaign by major investor and oilman George Kaiser. (See WSJ, September 9, 2011)

14. Charlie Rangel

Resigned Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and current Congressman Charlie Rangel failed to report rental income from vacation property in the Dominican Republic as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional income and assets on his financial disclosure statements. (See Huffington Post, July 29, 2010)

15. Maxine Waters – Banking

Current Congresswoman Maxine Waters was brought up on House ethics charges after personally lobbying for a bailout of OneUnited bank, where her husband had previously sat on the board and owned about $350,000 in the bank’s stock. (See Bloomberg, August 11, 2010.)

16. Tony Rezko

According to ABC News, convicted criminal and Obama bundler Tony Rezko made a sweetheart real estate deal with Barack Obama, saving the future president hundreds of thousands of dollars. Obama later said it was a “boneheaded mistake.” (See Townhall, July 16, 2012.)

17. Fannie Mae

Franklin Raines, former Fannie Mae CEO, received million dollar bonuses on top of $91 million salary at FM although the mortgage giant was at center of housing meltdown storm in 2008. Both Raines and former FM CEO Jim Johnson ($21 million salary) worked with the Obama campaign. Obama was the #3 receiver of campaign dollars from Fannie Mae, a so-called “private-public” partnership. (See Politico, October 31, 2011.)

18. Jon Corzine – MF Global

Billionaire bundler for Obama and former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, as CEO of the imploded financial services firm MF Global, apparently perjured himself in Congressional hearings, because he did order $200 million in funds to be moved from MF Global’s customer accounts to illegally cover brokerage accounts at JP Morgan Chase. Chase’s CEO Jamie Dimon is a close associate of Barack Obama. (See Politico, May 14, 2012 and Bloomberg March 23, 2012)

19. Geithner Tax Evasion

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner failed to pay Social Security taxes, even though he was advised by his employer to do so. He only admitted to the tax evasion after he was caught by an IRS audit. (See Washington Post, January 19, 200.)

20. Jesse Jackson Jr.

The Office of Congressional Ethics found “substantial reason to believe” that Jesse Jackson Jr. attempted to buy Obama’s Senate seat from convicted former Governor Rod Blagojevich by giving campaign contributions. He was later convicted of illegal misuse of campaign funds. (See Politico, December 2, 2011.)

21. David Wu

Oregon Congressman David Wu resigned after the teenage daughter of a friend accused Wu of “aggressive and unwanted sexual behavior.” (See CBS News, July 26, 2011.)

22. David Paterson

According to the NY Daily News, former NY Governor David Paterson “personally directed two female staffers to pressure a domestic violence victim who was pointing the finger at his right-hand man,” his aide David Johnson. (See NY Daily News, March 2, 2010.)

23. Eric Massa

Former NY Representative Eric Massa resigns after sexual harassment allegations were made by a male staffer. Massa later confessed to the charges. (See CBS News, March 5, 2010.)

24. Tom Donilon – National Security Leaks

National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, a man who before the Obama administration had no serious experience in national security, has been widely speculated to have leaked high level security secrets. (See Gateway Pundit, June 11, 2012.)

This list is just the tip of the iceberg from the past few years, surely many people who get news outside of the major left-wing news media can think of many other examples.

So, why is it that Chris Christie is responsibe for everything his staffers do, while nothing in the White House is Obama’s fault?l

 Ouze wrote:
"It's OK I did something bad because someone else did something bad that one time".

To watch this Sunday's political talk shows was to watch an orchestra come together into one soaring melody. Enough time had passed, since the first revelations in the New Jersey bridge closing scandal, for Republicans to form a consensus. Could they defend the details of the scandal? Good question. Let's talk about Benghazi.

Karl Rove, on Fox News Sunday:
You'll notice we haven't been hearing a lot from the Clinton camp about this. The contrast with President Clinton and Secretary Clinton's handling of Benghazi. So I think it's going to be hard for Democrats to turn this into an issue.

Rudy Giuliani, on This Week:
How did President Obama not know about the IRS targeting right wing groups? You know, massive numbers of right wing groups... and the reality is, things go wrong in an administration. And frankly, you know, he was in campaign-mode at the time, during campaign-mode you miss a lot of things. You're not paying as much attention. We see that with Benghazi.

Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, on This Week:
I think it is a very big difference than how this administration has handled a lot of things that have happened, whether IRS, whether it's Benghazi, whether it's the -- you can keep your health insurance if you want it. But nobody has been fired over that.

Reince Priebus, on Meet the Press:
He stood there for 111 minutes, in an open dialogue with the press. 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 I.R.S..

Kim Strassel, the Wall Street Journal columnist who's single-handedly (and without much pick-up outside the News Corp universe) attempted to expand the "I.R.S. scandal" into an administration-wide conspiracy, on Meet the Press:

This is not Watergate. This is not even the I.R.S. targeting of last year. In fact-- it's not even, if you think about this as a raw display of political power, it's not even this White House using the sequester and the shutdown to inconvenience millions of Americans, as they did, too, to make a political point.

Other conservatives, people generally less interested in the welfare of the party or a branch of the party, approached the story differently. George Will rebutted the panelists who kept insisting that the Obama scandals, which have petered out upon examination, were not "phony," but Obama said they were, so by the transitive property Christie's less serious scandal was definitely phony. Whatever, said well: "This is not a phony scandal because as the principal Watergate scholar knows, John Dean sent a memo to Mr. Higby, who was the assistant of the Chief of Staff Haldeman, saying, we should use the machinery -- the federal machinery of government to screw our enemy."

Brit Hume took another tack.

It's too bad that this occured on Howard Kurtz's show, where it was up to the bland and air-filling Lauren Ashburn to debate this. The idea that Christie's "masculine" approach to politics had been degraded by a "feminized" political culture is at odds with basically all coverage of Christie. He got famous, nationally, for his hectoring town hall appearances (put on and filmed at no small expense by his office). The coverage of his re-election couldn't have been more soft-focus -- the national media was mostly interested in whether Christie would run up the score and run for president, not questioning his style.

 d-usa wrote:
His hand didn't burn when he shook hands with the Obamination, so he will never win a primary...

 Ouze wrote:
At this point the media appears to be in full "we need to come up with something to keep this story going" mode. I guess they're running with the fact he had a job created for one of his bros that didn't exist before? This is, literally, the front page story on CNN right now.

As someone with no strong feelings about this guy previous to this, I have to say this sauce is getting awfully weak, no? The bridge story, that's pretty legit, but all the other "stories" are just... nonissues. I mean, he got his friend a job? Wow, welcome to every manager in the history of ever, FFS.

 Ouze wrote:
At this point the media appears to be in full "we need to come up with something to keep this story going" mode. I guess they're running with the fact he had a job created for one of his bros that didn't exist before? This is, literally, the front page story on CNN right now.

As someone with no strong feelings about this guy previous to this, I have to say this sauce is getting awfully weak, no? The bridge story, that's pretty legit, but all the other "stories" are just... nonissues. I mean, he got his friend a job? Wow, welcome to every manager in the history of ever, FFS.

If they're actively hunting for stuff on the guy and the worst they can find is that a job was created, then he may be the most honest governor in the history of the US, let alone New Jersey.

Really, until they find something that directly links him personally to the bridge closure, or some aide breaks and comes out saying Christie set up a culture where such political punishments were encouraged, I just don't think there's anything substantial here.

 Frazzled wrote:

If they're actively hunting for stuff on the guy and the worst they can find is that a job was created, then he may be the most honest governor in the history of the US, let alone New Jersey.

Really, until they find something that directly links him personally to the bridge closure, or some aide breaks and comes out saying Christie set up a culture where such political punishments were encouraged, I just don't think there's anything substantial here.

I hate to say it but, I agree with Sebster completely.

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The Democratic mayor of a town severely flooded by Superstorm Sandy said Sunday that she was told an ultimatum tying recovery funds to her support for a prime real estate project came directly from Republican Gov. Chris Christie, a claim a Christie spokesman called "categorically false."

Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer said she met with federal prosecutors in Newark for several hours Sunday at their request and turned over a journal and other documents.

(CNN) -- New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno is expected to "categorically deny" allegations Monday that she gave Hoboken's Mayor an ultimatum to support a redevelopment plan backed by Gov. Chris Christie in order to receive Hurricane Sandy recovery aid, a source said.

Guadagno's remarks will be the first time a senior Christie official has addressed the charges Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer first made Saturday on MSNBC.

Zimmer went even further Sunday, implicating Christie directly in an interview on CNN.

On CNN's State of the Union, Zimmer said Guadagno told her that Sandy relief funds hinged on her support for a real estate development project by the Rockefeller Group -- a directive that she said came directly from Christie.
"She said that to me -- is that this is a direct message from the governor," Zimmer said.

The alleged incident happened last May after Guadagno toured a grocery store that had reopened after suffering $10 million in flooding damage from Sandy.

The lieutenant governor recalls having a conversation with Zimmer that day, but says she remembers Zimmer arguing that Sandy recovery aid and redevelopment were the same issue, according to the source close to Guadagno, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

"Kim remembers in their conversation that she was talking about redevelopment and making investments in Hoboken. She remembers Zimmer pressing Kim for money for Sandy. Kim remembers saying you can't tie the two together," the source said. "And she remembers Zimmer continuing to press and showing her a map of the city and pressing for aid for Sandy."

Guadagno remembers it as a "friendly conversation," the source said. "Zimmer was laser-focused on getting Hoboken money for Sandy recovery and that is not the role Kim Guadagno plays in the administration," the source said.

She remembers telling Zimmer that the administration would like to do more to redevelop Hoboken, but she doesn't recall talking to her specifically about The Rockefeller Group project. But the source said Guadagno, a veteran prosecutor and former county sheriff, is still going through her records, preparing for a possible subpoena.

In remarks Monday morning -- at a volunteer event in Union Beach, New Jersey honoring the Martin Luther King Jr. National Day of Service -- Guadagno is expected to make the point that, "My job in the governor's office is to oversee redevelopment and reinvestment in New Jersey," the source said.

In fact, a governor's directive prevents Guadagno from working on the Sandy recovery efforts because she was personally affected by the superstorm -- her home in Monmouth Beach was damaged by the storm, the source said. She was at the Hoboken grocery store in her role as an advocate for the state's business community.

"Kim can't talk about Sandy," the source said. "She can't do it."

And Guadagno twice returned to Hoboken after that May visit -- once spending more than two hours touring farmers' markets with Zimmer -- and the Hoboken mayor never brought up the May conversation or indicated that it had upset her, the source said.

Zimmer's comments Saturday and Sunday are a change from what she told CNN on January 11. She said then that while she wondered whether Sandy aid funds were being withheld because she didn't endorse the governor's re-election, she concluded that "I don't think that's the case."

"I don't think it was retaliation and I don't have any reason to think it's retaliation, but I'm not satisfied with the amount of money I've gotten so far," Zimmer told CNN then. She did not mention her concerns about the redevelopment project.

 motyak wrote:
Not that I'm calling her a liar but; oooh a journal, hard evidence! I hope the other stuff she handed over had more to it.

The city whose Democratic mayor said GOP Gov. Chris Christie’s administration tied Superstorm Sandy aid to her support for a real estate project has, so far, received a level of aid from state-run programs that is similar to what other towns got, a review of grant data shows. Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer is no longer discussing her allegations that New Jersey’s second-largest city has been shortchanged on Sandy funds, that its aid is being held “hostage” as political leverage or that she feared further retribution in the next round of funding.

 Jihadin wrote:
Think the Wheelchair Truthers in TX taking precedence.....Governor race is ugly in Texas.

 whembly wrote:

 Jihadin wrote:
Think the Wheelchair Truthers in TX taking precedence.....Governor race is ugly in Texas.

"Wheelchair Truthers"

wut?

o.O

 Frazzled wrote:

 whembly wrote:

 Jihadin wrote:
Think the Wheelchair Truthers in TX taking precedence.....Governor race is ugly in Texas.

"Wheelchair Truthers"

wut?

o.O

Wendy "Burnem right of the Womb" Davis was caught on video making a joke that her opponentn hasn't walked in her shoes. Demo supporters laughed. Her opponent is paralyzed.

She will get 2% of the vote.

 Frazzled wrote:

 whembly wrote:

 Jihadin wrote:
Think the Wheelchair Truthers in TX taking precedence.....Governor race is ugly in Texas.

"Wheelchair Truthers"

wut?

o.O

Wendy "Burnem right of the Womb" Davis was caught on video making a joke that her opponentn hasn't walked in her shoes. Demo supporters laughed. Her opponent is paralyzed.

She will get 2% of the vote.

Initially I was interested in looking at her quals until I found out she was a California style anti gun advocate, then I moved on.

 Frazzled wrote:
Well it looks like the fat lady er man, has sung:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/nyregion/christie-bridge.html?smid=tw-share

 Frazzled wrote:
Good enough to crush his presidential chances. I, and most could care about his governor level stuff.

Due to his lack of faith in our Bill of Rights I was growing less enthused with him. Antics like this wouldn't be helpful in motivating me to vote for him.

MT @mlcalderone: NYT orig reported Wildstein "has the evidence,": http://bit.ly/1n3mY1T Now: "evidence exists" http://nyti.ms/1a8j8nw

 Jihadin wrote:
Jeb Bush.....

 whembly wrote:
Looks like the NYT made a stealth edit:

MT @mlcalderone: NYT orig reported Wildstein "has the evidence,": http://bit.ly/1n3mY1T Now: "evidence exists" http://nyti.ms/1a8j8nw

The U.S. Justice Department investigation into New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s role in “Bridgegate” has thus far uncovered no information he either knew in advance or directed the closure of traffic lanes on the George Washington Bridge, federal officials tell NBC 4 New York.

The September 2013 closures -- where several entrance lanes to the George Washington Bridge in Ft. Lee were shut down causing a traffic nightmare for commuters -- has been the subject of several federal and state investigations.

Federal officials caution that the investigation begun nine months ago is ongoing and that no final determination has been made, but say that after nine months authorities have uncovered no information Christie either knew in advance or ordered the closure of traffic lanes.

According to one former federal prosecutor, who had no involvement in any of the probes into the bridge closure, investigations of this kind will often turn up a solid connection early in the inquiry.

“My experience with federal law enforcement is that once you reach critical mass if you don’t have it within nine months or so you’re not likely to ever get it,” former federal prosecutor Robert W. Ray said.

When the final report is issued, Christie may still face complications from the scandal, said Lee Miringoff, Director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion.

“That’s good news for him,” Miringoff said. “The bad news remains that politically as chief executive it looks like he was not in control of his administration at the time when this occurred. So that remains the downside for him. That doesn’t go away but this panel provides greater credibility barring any further revelations coming out.”

Assemblyman John Wisniewski said the state legislative committee's investigation into the bridge lane closures is continuing.

"This is not a Chris Christie investigation," he said in a statement. "It's an investigation as to why this happened and who authorized it. As a consequence, this does not change our position."

Spokesmen for the U.S. Justice Department, the FBI, New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman’s office and Gov. Christie all declined comment.

Talking Points Memo ✔ @TPM
Follow
Report: Federal probe has not yet linked Christie to bridge scandal http://bit.ly/1u50G8b