Gov Christie tribal traits.

[Islandman]

The issue is whether it can be shown he was directly responsible for the action or not.

If it can be shown then his political career is over. Otherwise it will be an uncomfortable issue he will have to deal with.

[Lazie]

The issue is whether it can be shown he was directly responsible for the action or not.

If it can be shown then his political career is over. Otherwise it will be an uncomfortable issue he will have to deal with.

Well he is trying to distance himself from it, but this man's personality is one where you need his permission to go for coffee break. He knew about it.

[Jangle]

Whether or not it can be proven that he was directly responsible for the action is neither here nor there in the political world. He is very guilty by association. I heard his Democratic counterpart, the lady that ran against him (I forgot her name), say that it is a well known fact that the Guv runs his office in a para-military fashion where nothing is done without his knowledge. his staff has to seek permission to go the bathroom. He will be seriously damaged by this.

[Sir X]

The issue is will his adversaries spin it to make him appear culpable.

They will....how effective will it be when his confrontational interviews are interjected....very.

[Gamma]

it is linked to him and he will have to take responsbioity otherwise the message is that 1, he hires some wicked persons and or he cannot control them ... either way ... it nuh look good!!

it does not come across as a rogue act but shows some co-ordination

[Assasin]

Well the former defense secetary (Repbulican) saying this White house is the most centered one since Nixon so go figure.

A little bit of politics inna it. A so the thing set, you have to take it with a grain of salt.

[Jawge]

Too late lesson learned here for fighting petty battles. Should have called off the aides (who are really gun slingers and not warriors) too much civilian casualty in that battle just to make a point. I can only wonder if the now "firings" is to protect the mail server (gold mine) from the FBI. Ah well as the saga unfolds. These are people are amateurs shooting from the hip and thinking they cannot be touched. Emails? wow.

One more lesson here: Many times I tell people it's not about race but one being caught in a turf war. What if the mayor was black (well African distinct black)? Most would be saying it's race. well what can I tell you they call it "pay back".

[Islandman]

I think he must have had some idea what was going on.

[Islandman]

Whether or not it can be proven that he was directly responsible for the action is neither here nor there in the political world.

Don't agree with that at all.Obama almost certainly knew more about the NSA spying than he admits, and probably knew the true story behind Benghazi long before he claims to have, but not being able to show it beyond a reasonable doubt is the difference between an embarrassing situation and possible impeachment.

Christie is certainly damaged and at the very least now will have to be on the defensive with his attitude, so cussing people out won't fly anymore.

Story still unfolding though, it could easily get worse for him.

[MdmeX]

cho, governors do them thing all the time. Nothing big coming out of it but Hiilary all the way!!!

Hillary -- phew -- I do not want to me fed anymore Clintons!!

[Assasin]

Well pick your medicine, cause you soon have another Bush running. Give me a Hilary.

[MdmeX]

Are you telling me that there is no one in the Democratic party but Clinton?

[Time]

Email scandal: Here's why Chris Christie will never be president
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Chris Christie in hot water
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at a gathering Tuesday in Union City, N.J., finds himself embroiled in controversy. (Mel Evans / January 7, 2014)
By Robin Abcarian
January 8, 2014, 12:51 p.m.

That sound you’re hearing is the air going out of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s 2016 Republican presidential aspirations, thanks to the scandal known as Bridgegate.

We’ve always known that Christie, a former federal prosecutor, has a temper. He can be nasty and combative -- particularly when it comes to entrenched liberal interests like labor unions -- and, frankly, that’s what a whole lot of Republicans like about him. (His temper is also beloved by Democrats who believe his explosive tendencies are their best secret weapon against him.)

He's popular with Republicans and Democrats because of what passes these days in politics for an “independent streak.”

PHOTOS: The best political photos of 2013

That -- or so they say -- was what allowed him to put the welfare of his state over partisan politics when he publicly teamed up with President Obama after New Jersey was hard hit by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

The photos of the two men touring devastated shoreline towns were a godsend at a time when both needed a boost. Obama, in the middle of a tough reelection campaign, needed to demonstrate the indispensability of big government with a competent and compassionate emergency response, and Christie needed to show himself as a major player on the national stage, putting constituents over Republican electoral politics. (His embrace of Obama, which included a semi-hug, ticked off plenty of Mitt Romney supporters, coming as it did days before the November election.)

But I'm putting my money against Christie recovering from this scandal.

Last summer, in a stunningly petty act, Christie’s minions apparently ordered the closure of bridge lanes leading into New York City to punish a Democratic mayor who refused to endorse him for reelection.

In an explosive story Wednesday, the Bergen Record revealed a cache of private emails that seemed to show Christie’s staff and appointees orchestrated the closure of lanes leading onto the George Washington Bridge to plague the small town of Fort Lee, whose Democratic mayor, Mark Sokolich, had failed to endorse Christie for reelection.

This is dirty politics at its worst. It's like chucking a brick through a window because a shopowner won’t pay you protection money. No one wants a potential president who acts like a mob boss.

The lane closures, starting on Sept. 9, resulted in four days of what the Record called “paralyzing gridlock” in Fort Lee, a small town of 35,000, as folks trying to get across the bridge into Manhattan were stuck in jams that lasted for hours.

Here's the money quote in the emails, from the Record's story:

" '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.' ”

Kelly’s feckless email is bound to go down in history as one of the all-time great political blunders. It becomes the smoking gun that kills Christie’s national political aspirations. Whether he knew about the plan, Christie hired the people and created the atmosphere that allowed this sort of behavior to flourish.

What kind of callousness does it take to snicker about the idea that schoolchildren are missing their first day of school?

“They are the children of Buono voters,” one official wrote, referring to Christie’s Democratic opponent, Barbara Buono, whom he trounced in the November election.

We do know that Christie blatantly lied about the closures, insisting that they were part of a fictional “traffic study.”

If Christie has a single shred of decency — or a conscience -- he will apologize to the people of New Jersey in general and Fort Lee in particular. He will undertake a study to tote up the amount of money his administration cost citizens who were prevented from going about their business because someone had a political ax to grind. And he will donate that money to Fort Lee.

You know what the stupidest part of this whole scandal is? Christie didn’t need Sokolich’s support. At the time of the bridge lane closures, he was leading handily in the polls, and in November, he won by a landslide.

The only thing worse than a sore loser is a sore winner.



http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...#ixzz2pqL0Ytaz

It was a spell check error, he told his aide to block the FRIDGE and the dam spell checker change it to block the BRIDGE.

[Assasin]

No but it is hard to come up against that camp with so much power, money and control. I don't see Obama II coming through.